Senior Electrical Controls Engineer – Equity Options

ASSOCIATED CONTROLS & DESIGN; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

100% company‑covered medical, dental, and vision

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

401k retirement options

Daily catered lunch

Free EV charging

Social and team‑building outings

Job summary

Voiceflow in Hawthorne, CA is seeking a Senior Electrical Engineer to lead the design and development of control systems for innovative geothermal energy solutions. This role involves collaboration with engineering teams on system performance and controls architecture.

Candidates should have a background in electrical engineering and hands-on experience with industrial control systems. The position offers a competitive salary, equity options, and comprehensive benefits.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing and programming industrial control systems.
• Experience with Structured Text (ST) or IEC 61131‑3 standard language.
• Proficiency reading and producing electrical schematics and wiring diagrams.

Responsibilities

• Architect, develop, and commission PLC‑based control systems.
• Design and implement HMI and SCADA applications.
• Develop and maintain controls documentation including I/O lists and network diagrams.

Skills

PLC programming experience

Industrial control systems design

HMI and SCADA applications development

Analytical and troubleshooting skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or related field

Tools

Beckhoff

Allen‑Bradley

Siemens

Job description

Company Description:

Critical Energy is an innovative, early-stage, venture-backed cleantech company on a mission to accelerate the global energy transition through abundant, low-cost clean energy. Founded by an ex-SpaceX engineer, Critical Energy designs and manufactures factory-built, modular power plants. These rapidly deployable systems convert heat into electricity using a closed-loop thermodynamic cycle and can be installed in just weeks.

Critical Energy’s technology delivers high-efficiency, 24/7 power for geothermal applications and waste heat recovery (including from data center gas turbines), making clean energy practical and cost-effective for demanding sectors like AI hyperscalers and data centers. Backed by top climate and technology investors, Critical Energy is scaling rapidly.

Our Mission:

To build an abundant, low-cost, 100% clean energy future through groundbreaking geothermal innovation.

We are a team of passionate engineers, designers, and visionaries building cutting-edge solutions to meet the world’s energy needs with 100% clean energy. We are in the initial stages of development and building our team. This is your chance to join on the ground floor of something big! If you are ready to work at a fun, fast-paced, groundbreaking organization that is positioned to revolutionize geothermal energy, apply today!

About the Role:

We are seeking Senior Electrical Engineer, Controls to own the design, development, and deployment of the instrumentation and controls of our heat-to-electricity ORC products. You will collaborate closely with the systems and turbomachinery teams to translate CONOPS, safety, and system performance requirements into instrumentation hardware procurement decisions and software control schemes. This role will also be part of the commissioning team, including factory acceptance testing and onsite deployments at customer sites. This is a full-time, on-site position located in our Hawthorne, CA facility.

Responsibilities:

• Architect, develop, and commission PLC-based control systems for ORC power plant processes including working fluid pumps, air-cooled condensers, heat exchangers, and auxiliary systems

• Design and implement HMI and SCADA applications providing operators with clear process visibility, alarm management, and control functionality

• Develop control strategies for key process loops including pressure control, working fluid flow regulation, heat source management, and startup/shutdown sequencing

• Specify, select, and integrate field instrumentation including pressure transmitters, flow meters, temperature transmitters, and level devices

• Design and lay out industrial electrical control panels compliant with NEC, NFPA 79, and UL 508A, manage panel builds, field wiring, and loop checkout

• Implement and maintain safety instrumented functions per IEC 61511 principles including SIL verification, cause and effect matrix development, and SIS logic implementation

• Integrate plant devices across industrial communication protocols including EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, DNP3, and OPC-UA

• Develop and maintain controls documentation including I/O lists, network architecture diagrams, functional descriptions, cause and effect matrices, and FAT/SAT procedures

• Support factory acceptance testing and field commissioning of control systems for future plant deployments

• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineering teams to ensure controls architecture supports plant performance, safety, and reliability requirements

• Contribute to development of controls standards, templates, and reusable code libraries to drive consistency across future plant designs

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field

• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, programming, and commissioning industrial control systems

• Demonstrated PLC programming experience: Beckhoff, Allen-Bradley or Siemens acceptable

• Experience with Structured Text (ST) or similar IEC 61131-3 standard language

• Experience developing HMI and SCADA applications from scratch with emphasis on operator usability and alarm rationalization

• Proficiency reading and producing electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and P&IDs

• Experience with industrial fieldbus and communication protocols (EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, OPC-UA, or equivalent)

• Familiarity with NEC, NFPA 79, and UL 508A for industrial control panel design

• Strong first-principles analytical and troubleshooting skills, able to debug complex system interactions across mechanical, electrical, and software domains

• Highly self-motivated with demonstrated ability to drive tasks to completion with minimal supervision in a fast-paced startup environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with ORC, geothermal, Rankine-cycle, or other power generation systems

• Experience with VFD-driven motor systems including tuning, commissioning, and integration with PLC control loops

• Familiarity with IEC 61511 safety instrumented systems and SIL classification

• Experience with data historian platforms and process data infrastructure

• Python experience for data acquisition, analysis, or PLC/SCADA integration

• Experience with AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN for controls documentation

• Exposure to API 670 machinery protection systems

• Experience supporting hardware bring-up, FAT, SAT, and commissioning in field environments

• NFPA 70E electrical safety certification

Compensation:

• Base salary ranges from $140-200k per annum

• Equity options

• 100% company-covered Platinum or HD/HSA (with company contribution) medical

• 100% company-covered dental and vision

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

• 401k retirement options

• Daily catered lunch

• Free EV charging

• Several annual social and team building outings