Staff Instrumentation and Controls Engineer

Mariana Minerals; Houston, San Francisco (TX, CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mariana Minerals is seeking an experienced Instrumentation and Controls Engineer to lead the development and deployment of plant instrumentation, controls, and refining processes. You will collaborate with software teams to advance capital project execution and automated plant optimization.

You will oversee instrument selection, calibration, and installation, mentor junior engineers, and drive cross-functional teams through concept, design, commissioning, and handover to operations.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years direct experience as an instrumentation engineer.
• Experience with brownfield and greenfield equipment design.
• Experience with evaluation, selection, and installation of analyzers/instrumentation.
• Strong I&C fundamentals and system integration experience.
• Leadership of engineers and technicians on capital projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead equipment scopes from concept through installation and ramp.
• Manage external equipment providers and licensors for integrated mineral refining scopes.
• Drive cross-functional teams to de-risk scale-up and commercialize novel processes.
• Support hiring, mentoring, and day-to-day management of junior engineers.
• Lead selection, procurement, calibration, and installation of instruments, valves, and analyzers.

Skills

Instrumentation concepts

Control systems

HMI programming

P&ID review

Team leadership

Project management

Measurement technology

Equipment design

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical or Instrumentation Engineering

Tools

SCADA

PLC

HMI

Instrumentation design software

Job description

About Mariana Minerals

Mariana Minerals is a software-first, vertically integrated minerals company on a mission to supply the critical minerals powering modern energy, AI, and defense technologies. We’re reimagining the minerals supply chain by combining deep industry expertise with advanced software, automation, and data-driven decision-making.

Role Overview

Mariana Minerals is looking for a highly motivated Instrumentation and Controls Engineer to work on building the critical minerals supply chain.

As the I&C Engineer at Mariana Minerals, you will lead the development and deployment of first-of-its-kind chemical refining processes, while also playing a critical role in the development of software for capital project execution and automated plant optimization. Responsibilities will include leading equipment and plant-wide instrument and controls infrastructure scopes from concept through to design, installation, commissioning, ramp, and handover to the operations team, and supporting the buildout of an in‑house engineering team.

What You’ll Do

• Lead equipment scopes from concept and modeling validation, through procurement, engineering, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and ramp

• Manage external equipment providers, technology licensors, and engineering companies to deliver fully integrated and functional mineral refining scopes

• Drive cross‑functional teams of lab technicians, pilot plant engineers, process engineers, and project engineers to lead the technical equipment scale‑up and de‑risk the commercialization of novel mineral refining processes

• Support the hiring, mentorship, and day‑to‑day management of junior engineers

• Lead selection, procurement, calibration, and installation of instruments, valves, and analyzers

• Support development of machine learning applications with an emphasis on control and optimization of industrial facilities

• Identify and support opportunities for the software and machine learning teams to automate capital project execution workflows and develop advanced plant control algorithms

What You’ll Bring

• Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals and demonstrated ability to leverage the understanding to solve challenging problems

• Experience with equipment engineering and design. Including but not limited to:

• Brownfield equipment modifications and upgrades

• Greenfield equipment design

• Evaluation and optimization of operating equipment

• Operations support

  Strong I&C fundamentals

• Minimum 7 years direct experience as an instrumentation engineer, including

• Measurement technology evaluation, including novel technologies

• Instrument specification and procurement

• Instrument detailed design and interface with construction teams

• Field inspections and QA/QC

• Calibration, startup support, troubleshooting

• Experience in design, procurement, installation, and operations support of analyzers

• Review of P&IDs and development of instrumentation deliverables

• Experience with control system programming

• Experience with HMI programming

  Experience with the following industries and/or production environments:

• Industrial manufacturing

• Large-scale mining or mineral processing

• Large-scale chemical production processes

• Engineering, procurement, and construction firms

• Experience with direct or indirect leadership of engineers and technicians

• Experience with project management and execution of medium to large scale (>$5M) capital projects

Our culture is built on four principles:

Everyone Gets Home Safe. We never put speed or cost ahead of people.

Extreme Ownership. We take full responsibility for outcomes, relentlessly driving toward solutions.

Engineer Out Requirements, then Automate. We simplify, optimize, and then automate for scale.

Share Your Legos. We collaborate openly, share knowledge, and empower each other to build bigger, better solutions.

Join us as we build the future of responsible mineral sourcing and supply!