Principal Automation and Controls Engineer

Valar Atomics • Torrance, CA

21h

About The Position

Valar Atomics is seeking Principal Automation and Controls Engineers to own the technical direction of the controls software discipline across our reactor and nuclear fuel manufacturing facilities. The role spans the full controls software domain: PLC and DCS applications, SCADA and HMI, batch control, alarm management, safety logic, historians and plant data, and enterprise integration, but at the level of architecture, strategy, and design authority rather than routine application development. This is a principal position: you will define the control system and plant data architecture and technology roadmap for a first-of-a-kind nuclear program, hold final technical approval authority within the discipline, direct the resolution of the highest-consequence and most novel control problems, represent the discipline in licensing, cybersecurity, and strategic vendor engagements, and build the engineering capability of the organization around you. Where a Staff engineer owns the discipline's standards and quality, the Principal engineer owns where the discipline is going. The team values operator-focused design, data integrity, disciplined documentation, and a safety-first culture.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Electronic, Computer, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years of controls software, PLC/DCS, or SCADA engineering experience in process industries.
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of controls software scope across multiple major capital projects, including at least one taken from functional specification through commissioning, startup, and initial operations.
• Track record of architecture-level technical leadership: defining control system architecture, platform strategy, or software standards and practices that were adopted across an organization or program, not just a single project.
• Recognized technical authority in at least one deep area of the discipline (for example: batch architecture, SCADA and data architecture, safety application software, alarm and HMI engineering, or OT cybersecurity), evidenced by design authority roles, published work, standards participation, or a verifiable internal reputation as the final technical reference.
• Deep, hands-on command of the full controls software domain: PLC/DCS application architecture across IEC 61131-3 languages, SCADA and HMI systems, ISA-88 batch, ISA-18.2 alarm management, historians and data modelling, enterprise integration, and software configuration management.
• Substantial safety application software experience under IEC 61511, including formal validation regimes and approval or independent-review authority over safety logic.
• Working command of OT cybersecurity architecture under IEC 62443 or NIST SP 800-82, sufficient to own the control system security strategy and defend it to assessors.
• Experience directing and developing other engineers, including senior-level engineers, and reviewing and approving their work as a formal checker or design authority.
• Experience representing an engineering discipline to external parties regulators, assessors, certification bodies, major platform vendors, or client design authorities.

Nice To Haves

• Professional Engineer (PE) license.
• ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP), platform certifications, or equivalent credentials.
• Nuclear digital I&C experience, including software qualification under NQA-1 or 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, digital I&C safety case content, or familiarity with IEC 61513 / IEC 60880 / IEEE 7-4.3.2.
• Experience defining control system architecture for first-of-a-kind or prototype plants where no established precedent existed.
• Experience leading or defending cybersecurity assessments of industrial control systems.
• Experience with virtualised or containerised control system infrastructure at an architecture and lifecycle-strategy level.
• Participation in industry standards committees or working groups (ISA, IEEE, IEC, or equivalent).
• Experience with GAMP 5 or 21 CFR Part 11 regulated software validation environments.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the control system architecture and technology roadmap across the reactor program and fuel manufacturing facilities, including PLC/DCS, SCADA, SIS, and HMI platform strategy, controller and server segregation architecture, and the plant data architecture from historian through enterprise integration.
• Author and own the discipline's philosophy and basis documents — control system architecture basis, alarm philosophy, HMI philosophy, batch architecture basis, software validation and testing philosophy, and configuration management and change control philosophy that constrain and guide all downstream application development.
• Direct control strategy development for first-of-a-kind plant control problems where no established solution exists, sponsoring control approach trade studies, platform capability evaluations, prototyping campaigns, and validation strategies with long-term consequences.
• Own the discipline's standards program: set the framework and priorities for coding standards, template libraries, display and alarm standards, and testing practice; delegate authorship to staff and senior engineers and approve standards for release; drive convergence across projects and sites.
• Evaluate emerging controls and data technology — virtualization and containerization, advanced regulatory and model-based control, analytics and anomaly detection, and evolving SCADA and historian platforms — and decide what enters the toolkit, what is piloted, and what is excluded, balancing innovation against nuclear quality and long-term supportability.
• Serve as the discipline design authority: hold final technical approval within controls software for architecture decisions, safety-significant applications, deviations from standards, and concessions; adjudicate technical disputes within the discipline and represent its position in cross-discipline conflicts at program level.
• Own the technical integrity of safety application software across the fleet under IEC 61511: the safety software development and validation regime, independence and review requirements, and approval of safety-significant software changes.
• Own software quality governance for the discipline: the assurance model for in-house, contractor, and integrator code; audit and surveillance approach; and the criteria by which applications are accepted into operation.
• Lead the discipline's engagement in the highest-consequence program reviews: preliminary and critical design reviews, safety case and licensing reviews, cyber assessments, and software readiness reviews for major commissioning and startup milestones.
• Direct root cause investigations for the most significant software-related events — spurious trips, sequence failures, data loss, cyber incidents and approve corrective action strategy, ensuring findings are institutionalized in architecture, standards, and training.
• Personally execute or lead engineering on the small set of problems where the consequence of error or the degree of novelty warrants the discipline's most senior engineer, and know which problems those are.
• Support the nuclear licensing effort as the senior controls software voice: contribute to and defend the digital I&C and software content of the safety case, including software qualification, development process, and cybersecurity arguments; support regulatory interactions and audits.
• Represent Valar Atomics to strategic controls platform vendors and system integrators at a senior technical level; own long-term platform relationships, roadmap influence, qualification expectations, and escalation of systemic vendor quality issues.
• Represent the company in industry and standards forums as appropriate (ISA, IEEE, IEC, advanced reactor industry groups); bring emerging digital I&C, cybersecurity, and standards developments back into company strategy before they become constraints.
• Define the technical competencies the controls software organization needs, shape role definitions and the technical career ladder with the Director, set the hiring bar, and lead technical interviews for senior positions.
• Mentor staff and senior engineers toward independent technical authority; sponsor their development through delegation of ownership with oversight rather than retention of scope.
• Advise IC&E leadership on technical risk, resourcing, and sequencing for the program; provide independent technical judgment on schedule and cost pressure where it intersects software quality and safety.
• Maintain disciplined engineering records consistent with nuclear quality requirements, ensuring traceability of design decisions, software changes, and test results, and setting the example for the discipline's

Benefits

• Competitive base salary
• Equity ownership in a rapidly growing advanced energy company
• Comprehensive medical benefits
• Unlimited PTO
• Free daily lunch and dinner provided onsite
• Generous PPE stipend
• High-impact startup environment with significant ownership and autonomy
• Opportunities for rapid career growth and internal advancement
• Direct collaboration with experienced operators, engineers, and industry leaders
• The opportunity to help build and scale transformative energy technology from the ground up

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal