Controls and Automation Engineer

Phoenix Tailings•Rochester, NY

21d•$80,000 - $150,000•Onsite

About The Position

Phoenix Tailings is seeking controls and automation professionals interested in future opportunities at its Rochester Freedom Facility, a commercial-scale rare earth separation facility planned to expand U.S. capacity to process and separate rare earth materials. The facility is being developed toward operations in 2027 and 2028. The Controls and Automation team will keep the plant's measurement and control systems accurate, available, and useful to operations. The work includes supporting programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), alarms, sensors, and instrumentation. This role will help solve control logic and communications problems and ensure operators can rely on the information and systems used to run the plant. Responsibilities and hiring needs may evolve as the facility progresses toward startup and operations.

Requirements

Degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field, or relevant technical training with equivalent industrial automation experience.
Hands-on experience programming or troubleshooting PLCs and supporting HMI or SCADA applications, including alarms, trends, and operator interfaces.
Working knowledge of process instrumentation, sensor calibration, field wiring, and industrial communications used to monitor and control plant equipment.
Ability to perform equipment checkout and commissioning tests, read electrical or control drawings, and document faults and system changes clearly.

Responsibilities

Develop and support PLC logic, HMI displays, alarms, and operating trends that give operators reliable visibility and control of the separations process.
Verify sensors, instrumentation, field wiring, and process signals through calibration checks, input/output checkout, and commissioning tests.
Troubleshoot control logic, industrial communications, and instrument problems by comparing system data with field conditions to identify underlying faults.
Support equipment checkout and startup with operations and IT, testing automated responses and clarifying ownership of plant-network and control-system issues.
Maintain control narratives, instrument records, input/output lists, and as-built documentation so changes can be understood, maintained, and safely supported.