Protections and Controls Engineer for Cutting-Edge Research

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 134,906 - 164,965; Full time

Job summary

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory seeks a controls and protection systems engineer to maintain and enhance protection systems for SSRL’sadvanced instrumentation. You will develop motion control, data acquisition interfaces, and operator dashboards while ensuring safety and reliability for beam operations.

You will collaborate with accelerator physics, operations, vacuum, and experimental teams to design, test, and deploy robust control solutions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or related engineering discipline with at least 2 years of experience.
• Experience documenting engineering changes and writing SOPs or runbooks.
• Experience developing operator interfaces (HMIs/ GUIs/ dashboards) using Python.
• Demonstrated ability to design motion control systems.

Responsibilities

• Operational Support: provide 24/7 on‑call support for Protection Systems during beam operations.
• Troubleshoot, repair, and validate interlocks for protection, motion control, and data acquisition systems.
• Assist with test procedures and interlock chain testing during maintenance shutdowns.
• Develop motion control systems and instrumentation in collaboration with scientists and staff.
• Direct electronics and mechanical technicians through fabrication and installation of new devices.
• Create production‑level HMIs, GUIs, and dashboards for protection systems and instrumentation.
• Produce and maintain system documentation and apply version control and change management.

Skills

Python

Linux

Motion control

Electrical conditioning

Documentation

On-call

Communication

EPICS

Galil controllers

FPGA (VHDL/Modelsim)

Protel

Education

Bachelor’s degree in electrical/computer engineering or related

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

None

Job description

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory seeks a controls and protection systems engineer to maintain and enhance protection systems for SSRL’sadvanced instrumentation. You will develop motion control, data acquisition interfaces, and operator dashboards while ensuring safety and reliability for beam operations.

You will collaborate with accelerator physics, operations, vacuum, and experimental teams to design, test, and deploy robust control solutions.