Senior Controls Engineer - Turbomachinery & Power Systems

Approach Venture; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Company-paid medical, dental, and视视觉保险

Fully stocked kitchen with snacks, and

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Approach Venture in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Senior Controls Engineer to own the controls architecture for a megawatt-scale power system. You will lead real-time software, protection logic, and data acquisition, and drive how the system starts, operates, responds to faults, and safely shuts down.

This hands-on role spans controls development, hardware integration, testing, and commissioning, coordinating with mechanical, electrical, turbomachinery, and test engineers to deliver robust,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Experience developing real-time controls for complex hardware.
• Hands-on with sensors, instrumentation, signal conditioning, and data acquisition.

Responsibilities

• Own the controls architecture for a megawatt-scale power generation system, including controllers, I/O, sensors, actuators, safety systems, and software.
• Develop closed-loop controls for startup, operation, transients, and shutdown.
• Design protection and trip logic for overspeed, faults, load loss, and sensor failures.
• Write, integrate, and debug real-time control software for complex hardware.
• Build bench and hardware-in-the-loop environments to validate control logic prior to field operation.
• Own instrumentation and data acquisition, including sensor selection, conditioning, sampling, logging, and telemetry.
• Integrate drives, valves, sensors, actuators, and other hardware via industrial networks.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, thermofluids, turbomachinery, and test engineers to align controls across the system.
• Support hardware bring-up, commissioning, testing, tuning, and troubleshooting on equipment.
• Analyze data to identify anomalies and iterate on software and control strategies.

Skills

Real-time controls

Hardware integration

Data acquisition

LabVIEW

Python

C/C++

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in Controls Engineering or related field

Tools

PLC

cRIO/PXI

Industrial controllers

Job description

Job Description

Job Description

Senior Controls Engineer - Own the controls architecture for next-generation power systems

Hawthorne, CA | On-site

Opportunity Summary

Join a well-funded seed-stage energy hardware startup developing compact, modular power generation systems for rapidly growing electricity demand. The company has strong customer traction, hardware actively being built and tested, and a platform designed to generate power using multiple conventional and next-generation heat sources. As a Senior Controls Engineer, you will own the controls architecture, real-time software, protection logic, and operational data acquisition for a megawatt-scale power system. You will develop how the system starts, operates, responds to changing conditions, protects itself during faults, and safely shuts down. This is a hands-on role spanning controls development, hardware integration, simulation, commissioning, and testing.

About Us

We are a well-capitalized, venture-backed energy startup building a new generation of compact power conversion hardware. Our technology is designed to pair with multiple heat sources, supporting near-term power generation as well as future nuclear and renewable energy applications. With experienced turbomachinery engineers, customer demand, and initial hardware moving through build and test, the team is transitioning quickly from development into full-scale system demonstration and deployment.

Job Duties

• Own the controls architecture for a megawatt-scale power generation system, including controllers, I/O, sensors, actuators, safety systems, and software
• Develop closed-loop controls governing startup, normal operation, transient conditions, and shutdown
• Design machine protection and automated trip logic for conditions such as overspeed, unstable operation, loss of load, sensor failures, and other system faults
• Write, integrate, and debug real-time control software for complex physical hardware
• Develop bench and hardware-in-the-loop test environments to validate control logic before operating full-scale equipment
• Own operational instrumentation and data acquisition, including sensor selection, signal conditioning, sampling requirements, logging, and system telemetry
• Integrate drives, valves, sensors, actuators, and other hardware using industrial and real-time communication networks
• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, thermofluids, turbomachinery, and test engineers to integrate controls across the full system
• Support hardware bring-up, commissioning, test campaigns, controls tuning, and troubleshooting directly on the equipment
• Analyze system data, identify unexpected behavior, and rapidly iterate on software and control strategies
• Help establish a controls architecture that can mature from development hardware into repeatable field-deployed systems

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Controls Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related discipline
• Experience developing real-time controls for complex physical hardware using PLCs, cRIO/PXI systems, industrial controllers, or comparable platforms
• Strong understanding of closed-loop controls, control-system architecture, state-based sequencing, and machine protection
• Ability to personally write, integrate, and debug control software using LabVIEW, Python, C/C++, or similar languages and environments
• Hands-on experience with sensors, instrumentation, signal conditioning, data acquisition, and hardware interfaces
• Working knowledge of thermal-fluid systems, rotating equipment, turbomachinery, or similarly complex electromechanical systems
• Experience troubleshooting systems where software, electrical hardware, sensors, actuators, and mechanical hardware interact
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving engineering environment with significant individual ownership

Preferred Experience

• Controls development for turbomachinery, rotating machinery, power generation equipment, propulsion systems, or other high-energy hardware
• Experience with industrial communication protocols such as CAN, EtherCAT, Modbus, or similar networks
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing and plant or system simulation
• Safety-critical controls, fault management, interlocks, or functional safety practices
• Experience developing controls for high-pressure, high-temperature, or high-speed rotating systems
• Building instrumentation and DAQ architectures for new hardware or test systems
• Commissioning and tuning complex hardware in a laboratory, test facility, or field environment
• Experience taking a controls system from early prototype through integrated hardware testing
• Early-stage startup or rapid hardware development experience

Why Join Us

• Join a well-funded seed-stage company with active customer traction and hardware already moving through build and test
• Take end-to-end ownership of the controls system for a new power generation platform
• Work directly with a highly technical team across controls, turbomachinery, thermofluids, electrical systems, mechanical design, and testing
• Help develop technology capable of generating power from multiple heat sources across both current and emerging energy markets
• Meaningful equity ownership
• Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Fully stocked kitchen with snacks, coffee, and lunch

Compensation Details

$180,000 - $220,000