Senior Controls Technician: Industrial Automation & Uptime

Apply; Everett (WA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision plans

31 Days PTO

10 Paid holidays

401(k) match up to 5%

Disability & life insurance

Parental leave

Wellness stipend

Job summary

Helion is seeking a Senior Controls Technician in Everett, WA to maintain and improve automated manufacturing equipment used in building high‑voltage capacitors and modules for fusion reactor systems. You will troubleshoot PLC/HMI systems, support maintenance, and collaborate with Controls Engineering and Factory Development to enhance system architecture and readiness for scale.

The role requires 5+ years in industrial automation, hands-on troubleshooting, electrical safety, and experience with

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience supporting industrial automation, controls, or production equipment in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• High school diploma or equivalent required; technical degree, apprenticeship, military technical training, or formal controls training may be considered in place of some direct experience.
• Strong hands‑on troubleshooting ability with PLC/HMI‑controlled equipment, electrical controls, instrumentation, sensors, drives (VFD and Servo), industrial networks, electrically and pneumatically controlled valves and machine safety systems.
• Ability to read and understand electrical schematics and process diagrams.
• Experience supporting robotics and SCADA/HMI platforms used in automated manufacturing environments; examples may include Fanuc, Ignition, FactoryTalk, Rockwell/Studio 5000, Siemens/TIA Portal, or similar systems.
• Ability to safely troubleshoot energized industrial systems when appropriate, while following lockout/tagout, electrical safety (NFPA 70E), arc‑flash, machine guarding, and site safety procedures.
• Ability to document troubleshooting steps, root cause, corrective actions, procedures, and minor controls changes clearly to support handoff, repeatability, and future maintenance.
• Ability to work assigned schedules as operations evolve, including day, swing, night, rotating, overtime, weekend, or on‑call coverage as needed.

Responsibilities

• Maintain, troubleshoot, and restore complex automated manufacturing equipment, including PLC/HMI-controlled systems, instrumentation, drives, sensors, safety circuits, robotics, and SCADA interfaces.
• Support production uptime through rapid diagnosis of electrical, controls, network, and automation faults while following lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and established escalation practices.
• Perform controlled minor updates to PLC/HMI logic, parameters, alarms, recipes, and operator interfaces to support equipment operation, maintenance, and reliability; escalate larger changes through engineering change control.
• Support controls checkout, commissioning, validation, and handoff for new or modified equipment in partnership with Controls Engineering, Factory Development, equipment vendors, and system integrators.
• Improve maintainability by documenting faults, root causes, corrective actions, procedures, and troubleshooting guides in the CMMS and relevant controls documentation.
• Identify recurring controls issues, weak architectures, obsolete components, and support gaps; help define practical improvements that reduce downtime, improve technician leverage, and prepare systems for production scale.
• Other duties as required.

Skills

Industrial automation

PLC troubleshooting

HMI troubleshooting

Instrumentation

Sensors

Drives (VFD & Servo)

Safety systems

Electrical schematics

Robotics

SCADA

Electrical safety

Documentation

Flexibility

Physical stamina

Education

High school diploma

Technical degree / Apprenticeship

Tools

Fanuc

Ignition

FactoryTalk

Rockwell/Studio 5000

Siemens/TIA Portal

Job description

Helion is seeking a Senior Controls Technician in Everett, WA to maintain and improve automated manufacturing equipment used in building high‑voltage capacitors and modules for fusion reactor systems. You will troubleshoot PLC/HMI systems, support maintenance, and collaborate with Controls Engineering and Factory Development to enhance system architecture and readiness for scale.

The role requires 5+ years in industrial automation, hands-on troubleshooting, electrical safety, and experience with