Lead Control Engineer

North Wind; Saint Paul (MN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

North Wind in Saint Paul, MN seeks a senior Electrical Engineer to lead design, integration, and testing of wind tunnel and hypersonic ground-test equipment. You will own control systems, data acquisition, and power distribution, delivering robust solutions for one-off facilities and major upgrades.

Ideal candidates have 10+ years in electrical engineering, strong leadership, and experience with PLCs, documentation, and multi-project planning.

Qualifications

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering required.
• 10+ years of practical work experience in design of electrical circuits and electro-mechanical systems preferred.
• Experience leading a team and mentoring engineers/designers.
• US Person status required due to security requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead Engineers are fully responsible for a given project within Electrical/Controls scope. Interface with PM, scheduling, and chief engineering.
• Design and develop electrical subsystems, including data acquisition, control loops, and power distribution.
• Perform control account management: maintain schedule and budget, ensure scope alignment.
• Document and present designs, calculations, and validation plans; lead reviews.
• Provide support to procurement, production, and installation; travel for reviews and commissioning.
• Assist marketing in developing proposals and cost estimates.

Skills

PLC programming

Electrical design

Leadership / mentoring

Project management

Data acquisition systems

Controls & automation

Team coordination

Documentation & reviews

Travel willingness

Industrial safety standards knowledge

Education

Bachelors or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering

Equivalent combination of education and experience in Electrical Engineering

Job description

Summary : Responsible for design, implementation, test, and support of electrical equipment, wiring, control equipment, and data acquisition systems used in wind tunnel and hypersonic ground test projects. This is a diverse role that includes designing and validating predominantly custom one-off equipment and components for new tunnel facilities as well as major capability upgrades to existing facilities.

Responsibilities

• Leadership - Lead Engineers are fully responsible for a given project within the scope of controls and electrical engineering. Responsibilities include interface with project management, scheduling, and chief engineering. On some projects the role of Control Account Manager is assigned, which encompasses budget oversight for controls and electrical accounts. Depending on project size, this role also includes assigning/delegating tasks to a team of engineers and/or designers, overseeing the progress of those tasks, and working with management regarding staffing and workload. Provide guidance and mentorship for newer engineers and interns. At North Wind we encourage an open-door policy, it’s vitally important that everyone feels comfortable asking questions and working with others to find the best solution for a given task or problem. Senior members of the engineering team are key to this and are empowered to also be proactive in helping other members of the project team and department as a whole.
• Design & Analysis - Develop or iterate system design solutions to meet customer requirements. Partner with designers and the project team to deliver a complete design package (drawings, BOMs, etc.). Design and develop electronic subsystems, including data acquisition systems, control loops, and control and integration of electro-mechanical valves, servos, motors, transformers, contactors, and instrumentation (temperatures, pressures, flow, etc.). Design junction boxes and panel layouts, including part selection and sizing of panel equipment (relays, circuit breakers, switches, pushbuttons, etc.). Design facility-support systems, including networks (fiber and copper), CCTV, VoIP, and control consoles. Design DC and AC power distribution systems including integration with power substations.
• Scope, Schedule, Budget - Perform control account management tasks maintaining schedule and budget within Electrical/Controls engineering scope. Lead team and create deliverables to ensure system design aligns with as-sold scope, customer requirements, quality standards, and industry codes. Communicate regularly with project team on status, issues, and variances to plan.
• Document & Present - Document and present work in accordance with quality requirements. Prepare design criteria, calculation packages, procurement specifications, technical reports, validation plans, and product manuals. Participate and lead internal and customer design reviews. Present major designs or design changes to internal engineering review board.
• Support - Interface with procurement, production, and installation teams to quickly resolve issues discovered during assembly and test. Travel to customer and subcontractor sites for design reviews, site surveys, and system commissioning.
• Quote - Assist marketing in developing proposals for future work. Develop concepts, cost estimates, proposal write-ups, analyses, options, and recommendations.

Preferred Education / Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from an accredited university or related discipline.
• 10+ years of practical work experience in design of electrical circuits, electro-mechanical systems, hardware integration, power distribution or similar role.
• Experience leading a team and/or mentoring engineers/designers.
• A combination of education and experience equivalent to above.
• Due to security requirements, US Person status is required.

Preferred Knowledge / Ability

• Experience with design and implementation of automation or data acquisition systems in an industrial setting.
• Proficiency with PLC programming; 10 years’ experience is highly desired.
• Strong PLC, electro-mechanical systems, and software programming experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with one-line power diagrams and electrical load sizing
• Experience with designing and reviewing P&ID drawings.
• Experience with sensor hardware selections (thermocouples, RTDs, pressure transducers, LVDTs, switches, etc.)
• Experience with industry standards and requirements including NFPA 70 / NEC, UL508A, ISA, NIST / DoD cybersecurity compliance
• Experience in earned value systems as a Control Account Manager.
• Must be a self-starter, able to balance priorities between multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to work effectively and productively as an individual contributor and collaborate as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills and positive attitude.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally. Travel typically is less than 15%.