Senior Machine Protection Systems Engineer

Stanfordlivetickets; Menlo Park (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

18+ PTO days per year

Health benefits

Flexible work options

Tuition and training assistance

403b plan

Mental health programs

Commuter benefits

Job summary

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's SSRL seeks a Safety Systems Engineer to maintain and upgrade machine protection interlocks. You will design and implement PLC-based interlocks, calibrate legacy hardware, and develop diagnostics to quickly detect fault conditions, protecting the storage ring and instrumentation.

The role requires collaboration with accelerator physics, operations, vacuum, controls, and experimental groups, with on-site duties in Menlo Park, CA.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical or computer engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum 2 years of experience with PLC-based interlock systems.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex, mixed-technology environments.
• Experience documenting changes and writing SOPs.
• Strong cross-disciplinary communication.
• Willingness to provide 24/7 on-call support for the assigned systems.

Responsibilities

• Migrate legacy MPS hardware to modern PLC-based interlock systems.
• Troubleshoot and calibrate legacy vacuum gauge controllers and relay logic.
• Architect and program safety interlock logic using Studio 5000.
• Develop HMI screens and data-logging for fault detection.
• Lead test procedures and Dry Run testing to verify beam protection.
• Maintain system documentation and apply change-control practices.
• Provide 24/7 on-call support for protection systems.

Skills

PLC interlock systems

Studio 5000 (Ladder, Structured Text)

Allen-Bradley PLCs

HMI design

Diagnostics & troubleshooting

Python

EPICS

Education

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or computer engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Studio 5000

PLC interlocks hardware

HMI programming tools

Job description

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's SSRL seeks a Safety Systems Engineer to maintain and upgrade machine protection interlocks. You will design and implement PLC-based interlocks, calibrate legacy hardware, and develop diagnostics to quickly detect fault conditions, protecting the storage ring and instrumentation.

The role requires collaboration with accelerator physics, operations, vacuum, controls, and experimental groups, with on-site duties in Menlo Park, CA.