Senior Instrumentation & Controls Specialist

AUSTIN POWDER COMPANY; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Austin Powder Company is seeking a Senior Instrumentation & Controls Specialist to design, procure, plan, and support I&C systems and equipment within a process environment.

You will lead FEED and EPC efforts, manage instrumentation, CEMS, and automation, and mentor staff while ensuring regulatory compliance and equipment reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 5+ years of instrumentation and controls experience in a chemical manufacturing environment.
• Experience inspecting, maintaining, and specifying control, SIS, and instrumentation systems.
• CFSP certification preferred.
• Safety Instrumented Systems Certificate Programs completed.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Maintenance, Technical, and Operations teams to achieve equipment reliability goals.
• Provide daily technical support to resolve design, maintenance, and operational issues.
• Manage and support instrumentation, CEMS, and automation systems (PLC/DCS), including troubleshooting and documentation.
• Ensure accurate maintenance of schematics, loop drawings, and interlocks.
• Lead FEED and EPC projects; develop work scopes and oversee contractors.
• Review control narratives, logic diagrams, and ensure plant standards compliance.
• Facilitate HAZOP and SIL reviews; maintain functional safety plans.
• Participate in safety and environmental initiatives; drive process improvements.
• Lead root cause investigations for instrument/control incidents; provide on-site supervision.
• On-call manager responsibilities as needed.

Skills

Instrumentation & Controls design

PLC/DCS troubleshooting

Equipment reliability

Field supervision

P&ID reading

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering

CFSP certification

Safety Instrumented Systems Certificate Program

Tools

Emerson DeltaV

Rockwell Automation

Foundation Fieldbus

DCS/PLC/HMI

Job description

Join the Family - Come work for an exciting company offering great benefits, challenging opportunities, and colleagues who feel more like family.

Overview The Senior Instrumentation & Controls Specialist is responsible for the design, procurement, planning, and support of the instrumentation & controls systems and equipment. In addition, this role assists in planning technical studies, evaluations, and plant project designs, including modifications to improve efficiency and equipment reliability. The Senior Instrument Control Specialist has one direct report and reports directly to the Engineering Manager.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Collaborate with Maintenance, Technical, and Operations teams to establish and achieve equipment reliability goals.
• Provide daily technical support to resolve design, maintenance, and operational issues for both immediate and long-term solutions.
• Manage and support all instrumentation, CEMS, and automation systems (PLC/DCS), including troubleshooting, programming changes, documentation, and training.
• Ensure accurate maintenance of schematics, loop drawings, and interlocks.
• Maintain accurate engineering documentation, update PM and calibration procedures, and retrieve and analyze process/environmental data.
• Prepare and submit records to meet operational and regulatory requirements.
• Lead engineering teams on front-end engineering design (FEED) and EPC projects.
• Develop work scopes, direct contractors, and oversee project execution.
• Review and compile control narratives, logic diagrams, cause-and-effect matrices, and ensure compliance with plant and industry standards.
• Facilitate HAZOP studies, SIL reviews, and maintain functional safety plans.
• Participate in safety and environmental initiatives to ensure regulatory compliance and overall employee safety.
• Drive process improvements, support capital projects, and assist in planning and execution of turnaround activities.
• Lead root cause failure investigations for instrument/control-related incidents.
• Provide field supervision on critical equipment, troubleshoot recurring instrumentation issues, and assume on-call manager responsibilities as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or other related field.
• 5+ years of instrumentation and controls experience preferably in a chemical manufacturing environment.
• Experience inspecting, maintaining, and specifying control, SIS, and instrumentation systems and equipment.
• Certified Functional Safety Professional (CFSP) certification is preferred.
• Completion of Safety Instrumented Systems Certificate Program(s).
• Project & budget management experience preferred.

Skills and Knowledge

• Understanding of compressor control systems.
• Emerson DeltaV and Rockwell Software products a plus.
• Foundation Fieldbus experience a plus.
• DCS, PLC, HMI, Historian, database programming and management.
• Knowledgeable in the theory and workings of instrumentation – control valve assembly, level, flow, pressure, temperature, pH, conductivity and gas analyzers.
• Ability to read and understand P&IDs, schematic diagrams, wiring diagrams and technical manuals.
• Exceptional instrumentation and controls logic troubleshooting skills.
• Familiar with smart instrumentation, pneumatics and hydraulics.
• Working knowledge of Process Safety Management (PSM) and a good understanding of general process control.
• Reliability and defect elimination skills.
• Possesses strong organizational and communication skills.
• Possesses complex problem solving, critical thinking, strong mathematics skills, systems evaluation, and operation analysis.
• Experienced in RCFA, RCM, or equivalent methodology.
• Competent computer knowledge – CMMS, Excel, Word, analysis software, etc.
• Knowledge of leadership techniques, principles and procedures to assign work, schedule, supervise, train and evaluate the work of assigned staff.

0 Work Environment

US Nitrogen, LLC operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This position will be exposed to all elements of the weather on the plant site.

Austin Powder is an Equal Opportunity and Aff…

This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a).

These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and for inquiring about, discussing or disclosing compensation. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

SINCE 1833, IMPROVING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN. Austin Powder has been making explosives for over 190 years and we take great pride in improving the world we live in. In 1833, the Austin family created the company to produce black powder that would help break the rock, mine the minerals and build the canals and railroads to develop the frontier. Initially along the banks of the Cuyahoga River near Akron, Ohio, we grew as the country grew. Today, Austin Powder is a world leader in the industrial explosives industry with a passionate commitment towards safety, a relentless customer focus, a family culture work environment, and a demonstration of respect of towards all. As in our early years, our mission continues to be to improve the world we live in through the safe and responsible use of explosives. Our success has been based on our core values and this has proven to be universally true around the globe as the company has expanded to be one of the leading providers of industrial explosives and blasting services in the world.