Process Controls Engineer - Pilot Plant Automation

Mariana Minerals; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Mariana Minerals is seeking a Process Controls Engineer to lead the development and deployment of plant controls and automation software for the critical minerals refinery. You will drive instrument and control system design, vendor coordination, and plant-wide optimization initiatives.

The role requires deep Siemens PLC experience, HMI programming, and strong collaboration with lab, pilot plant, and engineering teams to scale novel refining processes and support capital projects.

Qualifications

• Strong controls fundamentals and experience with Siemens PLC systems.
• Minimum 5 years experience in the Siemens PLC environment.
• Experience designing low voltage (480V and below) power distribution.
• Experience selecting, sizing, and configuring VFDs.
• Experience programming HMI (Ignition preferred) and training operations personnel.
• Experience supporting installation of electrical, instrumentation, and controls equipment, including drawings, field and cabinet terminations, energization procedures (LOTO), and troubleshooting.
• Experience with industrial manufacturing, mining or mineral processing, chemical production processes, EPC firms, and leadership of engineers and technicians.
• Experience with pilot plants and execution of small capital projects.

Responsibilities

• Develop standards for controls programming.
• Lead equipment scopes from concept and modeling validation, through procurement, engineering, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and ramp.
• Manage external equipment providers, technology licensors, and engineering companies to deliver integrated mineral refining scopes.
• Drive cross-functional teams of lab technicians, pilot plant engineers, process engineers, and project engineers for scale-up and de-risking.
• Support hiring, mentorship, and day-to-day management of junior process engineers.
• Develop technoeconomic models for new projects and technologies.
• Prepare and present bankable engineering deliverables for financing reviews.
• Identify and implement process engineering and project management software tools.
• Support software and ML teams to automate capital project execution workflows.

Skills

Siemens S7 PLC

HMI programming

Electrical design

Power distribution

VFD configuration

Team leadership

EI&C knowledge

Tools

Ignition

Job description

Mariana Minerals is seeking a Process Controls Engineer to lead the development and deployment of plant controls and automation software for the critical minerals refinery. You will drive instrument and control system design, vendor coordination, and plant-wide optimization initiatives.

The role requires deep Siemens PLC experience, HMI programming, and strong collaboration with lab, pilot plant, and engineering teams to scale novel refining processes and support capital projects.