Controls & SCADA, Lead Engineer

Stealth Startup; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity & Ownership

Founding Team

Mission-Critical Impact

Hardware-in-the-loop testing

OT cybersecurity

Job summary

Stealth Startup in the San Francisco Bay Area is building a multi-megawatt turbine control system for its first generation unit. This full-time, on-site role requires defining architecture, writing logic from startup to grid sync, and ensuring safe shutdown within aggressive timelines.

You will instrument health monitoring, implement data systems for operators, and validate hardware during testing, with commissioning in the field under the head of engineering.

Qualifications

• 5+ years writing and commissioning controls logic for turbines or critical rotating equipment.
• Experience with turbine or engine control platforms (Woodward/Mark VIe/Rockwell/Siemens).
• SCADA, HMI and remote monitoring integration; on-site commissioning under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Build the control system for our first multi-megawatt generator and pass factory tests.
• Define the control architecture and write startup, grid synchronization and shutdown logic.
• Design instrumentation for engine health and implement real-time condition monitoring.
• Validate on the bench, tune in field and report to Head of Engineering.

Tools

Woodward

Mark VIe

Rockwell

Siemens

Job description

We are building the vertically integrated, distributed utility for hyperscalers. While legacy turbine manufacturers are sold out for the next half-decade, AI data centres are bleeding millions per day on idle compute. We wedge into this market with multi-megawatt generators that deploy behind the meter in a fraction of the traditional timeline. From there, we are building domestic gigafactories for proprietary systems, operating as a distributed utility that owns the customer relationship.

Role Description

This is a full-time, on-site role based in the San Francisco Bay Area. You'll build the control system for our first power generation unit. It has to pass factory acceptance testing on an aggressive timeline, and it has to run itself.

You'll define the control architecture and write the logic that runs the turbine through its full operating cycle, from startup to grid synchronization to safe shutdown. You'll design the instrumentation that tracks the engine's critical health parameters. You'll also build the condition monitoring that keeps the unit inside its operating and maintenance limits, and the data systems that give our operators, partners and customers real-time visibility.

You'll validate everything on the bench before it reaches hardware, then tune it during testing and commission it in the field. You'll report to our Head of Engineering and work closely with our electrical and turbomachinery teams.

Qualifications

• 5+ years writing and commissioning controls logic for turbines, engines or critical rotating equipment, running unattended in the field
• Turbine or engine control platform experience (Woodward, Mark VIe, Rockwell, Siemens or similar): sequencing, fuel control, synchronization and trips
• SCADA, HMI and remote monitoring integration
• You've been on site for commissioning and fixed your own logic under pressure

Bonus

• Condition monitoring and vibration systems; historians
• Grid operator real-time telemetry (ERCOT or CAISO)
• Functional safety and burner management
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing and OT cybersecurity
• Equity & Ownership: You will be stepping into a foundational role on the Founding Team, with the agency to own full systems as we scale.
• Mission-Critical Impact: You will actively address the immediate AI power crisis by building the infrastructure powering American data centers.
• Uncharted Innovation: You will have the opportunity to explore the uncharted, using courage and discipline to transform uncertainty into opportunity in a high-velocity environment.
• Long-Term Empire Building: You will be part of a company working to turn an initial wedge strategy into the American power company that AI needs.