Controls Engineer

Periodic Labs • Menlo Park, CA

92d

About The Position

Join a world-class team of scientists and engineers pushing the boundaries of materials research in a groundbreaking lab where AI and automation unlock discoveries at unprecedented speed and scale. We’re building an autonomous lab to speed up materials discovery, and we are looking for a Controls Engineer who loves turning complex equipment into reliable, safe, and observable systems. You’ll design the controls architecture for outsourced tools and in-house automation, then work with integrators to bring it to life. You’ll be hands-on from specification through installation and production handoff, partnering with scientists, facilities, and vendors to make the whole lab run as one coherent system.

Requirements

• BS in EE/ME/Controls or equivalent.
• 3+ years in industrial automation for labs/pilot/manufacturing.
• Hands-on experience with PLCs, HMIs, motion, and industrial networks.
• Experience with safety PLCs, functional safety validation, and LOTO practices.
• Scripting for test/diagnostics (Python preferred) and practical electrical debugging.
• Experience with SCADA platforms (e.g., Ignition), data historians, and OPC UA or similar data standards.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with robotic cells or vision integration; basic electrical panel practices.
• Containers or CI/CD for deploying controls logic; Git-based workflows.
• Functional safety coursework or certification.
• Demonstrated accomplishments recognized in your field.

Responsibilities

• Define the controls architecture: states, alarms, naming, and data flows that make systems understandable and maintainable.
• Specify platforms and components (PLC/robot controller, operator interface, motion, I/O, networks) to meet safety and performance needs.
• Build and execute bring-up plans: I/O checkout, sequence dry runs, and end-to-end workflow trials; drive issues to closure.
• Design and roll out real-time supervisory dashboards (Ignition or similar).
• Implement observability: trending, diagnostics, alarm rationalization, and set sensible thresholds and responses.

What This Job Offers

• Education Level: Bachelor's degree