Senior Controls Engineer - ORC Plants (On-Site, Equity)

MaC VC; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

Daily catered lunch

Free EV charging

401k retirement options

Job summary

Critical Energy in Hawthorne, CA, seeks a Senior Controls Engineer to own instrumentation and controls for ORC power plants. Translate CONOPS and safety requirements into hardware procurement and software control schemes; join the commissioning team on-site.

You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems teams to deliver safe, reliable controls for rapid geothermal deployments, including FAT/SAT and field commissioning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, mechanical, mechatronics or related field.
• 5+ years designing, programming and commissioning industrial control systems.
• PLC programming experience with Beckhoff, Allen-Bradley or Siemens.
• Experience with Structured Text (IEC 61131-3).
• Experience developing HMI/SCADA applications with strong usability.
• Proficiency reading electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and P&IDs.
• Experience with EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, OPC-UA protocols.
• Familiarity with NEC, NFPA 79, UL 508A for industrial control panel design.
• Strong troubleshooting across mechanical/electrical/software domains.
• Self-motivated in a fast-paced startup environment.

Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and commission PLC-based control systems for ORC power plant processes.
• Design and implement HMI and SCADA applications for operator visibility, alarm management, and control functionality.
• Develop control strategies for key process loops and sequencing.
• Specify, select, and integrate field instrumentation (pressure, flow, temp, level).
• Design and lay out industrial electrical control panels compliant with NEC/NFPA/UL 508A; manage builds and wiring.
• Implement safety instrumented functions per IEC 61511 including SIL verification.
• Integrate plant devices across EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, OPC-UA.
• Maintain controls documentation (I/O lists, diagrams, FAT/SAT procedures).
• Support factory acceptance testing and field commissioning.
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems teams to ensure safety and reliability.
• Contribute to reusable code libraries and controls standards.

Skills

PLC programming

Structured Text (IEC 61131-3)

HMI/SCADA development

Electrical schematics / wiring

Industrial protocols (EtherCAT, Modbus

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical/mechanical/mechatronics

Tools

Beckhoff PLC

Allen-Bradley PLC

Siemens PLC

Job description

Critical Energy in Hawthorne, CA, seeks a Senior Controls Engineer to own instrumentation and controls for ORC power plants. Translate CONOPS and safety requirements into hardware procurement and software control schemes; join the commissioning team on-site.

You will collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems teams to deliver safe, reliable controls for rapid geothermal deployments, including FAT/SAT and field commissioning.