Senior Control Engineer

Voltify•Jacksonville, FL

6d•$140,000 - $180,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Voltify is developing the next generation of rail transportation with battery locomotives that fast charge autonomously and dynamically through a dedicated self-sustained microgrid network. This role focuses on leading the development and operation of complex microgrid control systems integrated with our Electric Locomotive charging infrastructure. The engineer will own the full control stack, from field-level device integration through SCADA development to cloud-connected analytics and optimization. This involves designing and implementing control logic using Ignition by Inductive Automation, integrating diverse energy assets, and extending into software engineering for cloud backends, data pipelines, and internal tools. The systems will directly command physical hardware, optimizing energy flows for next-generation rail transportation. This is a high-impact role requiring deep control systems expertise and modern software engineering capabilities, emphasizing extreme ownership and speed.

Requirements

5+ years of hands-on experience with Ignition by Inductive Automation — including project design, scripting (Python/Jython), tag configuration, alarming, transaction groups, and gateway network architecture.
Expertise in microgrid control systems — you understand power flows, protection schemes, islanding/reconnection logic, and the coordination of DERs (solar, BESS, gensets, loads).
Strong proficiency in Python — beyond Ignition scripting, you can build standalone services, data processing pipelines, and automation tools.
Proven track record integrating software with physical hardware. You are comfortable debugging issues where the "bug" might be a loose wire, a protocol mismatch, or a misconfigured register map.
Fluency in industrial communication protocols: Modbus TCP, OPC-UA, DNP3, or CANbus.
Demonstrate strong research and learning capabilities with excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Experience in defining MVPs, conducting code reviews, mentoring junior engineers, and making architectural decisions that balance speed with reliability.
Experience or strong willingness to work with AWS services (DynamoDB, Lambda, IoT Core) for cloud-connected control applications.

Nice To Haves

Experience with JavaScript/TypeScript for frontend/dashboard tasks.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain microgrid SCADA/HMI systems in Ignition (scripting, alarming, reporting, tag architecture, and gateway administration).
Architect and implement control logic for complex microgrid systems — managing solar inverters, battery energy storage systems (BESS), grid-tie interconnections, and EV/locomotive chargers.
Integrate diverse industrial hardware using protocols such as Modbus TCP/RTU, OPC-UA, DNP3, and CANbus.
Implement the bi-directional communication pipeline (Cloud ↔ Edge) via MQTT, ensuring data integrity and handling connectivity edge cases.
Develop Python-based backend services, converting optimization model outputs into actionable commands for field devices.
Build internal management dashboards to monitor system health, energy flows, and operational metrics.
Support cloud infrastructure and data pipelines on AWS (DynamoDB, Lambda, IoT Core) to complement edge control systems
Travel occasionally for on-site commissioning, integration testing, and troubleshooting at deployment locations