Senior Controls Engineer

Heirloom Carbon • Brisbane, CA

2d • $145,000 - $185,000

About The Position

As a Senior Controls Engineer at Heirloom, you will develop industrial automation solutions supporting research, engineering, and scaled commercial deployments. The role requires broad controls engineering expertise—including PLC programming, SCADA, control panel design, electrical engineering, field wiring, networking, and communications—and the ability to independently drive projects, develop libraries and architectures, and bring Heirloom’s technologies to life. You will lead projects, steer design practices, and improve the controls team’s ability to deliver custom automation solutions effectively at scale.

Requirements

• 7 or more years of experience designing and deploying industrial automation systems.
• Strong PLC programming background, especially developing applications from scratch.
• Experience with distributed HMI/SCADA applications, including graphical design, data collection, alarm management, and server infrastructure.
• Experience with controls electrical engineering, including UL 508A control panel design and fabrication, field wiring, NEC/NFPA 70E, and NFPA 79.
• Experience producing electrical drawings for controls projects using electrical CAD programs.
• Strong background in safety-related controls systems engineering, including designing and validating safety controls to IEC 62061, IEC 61511, and/or ISO 13849-1.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally while balancing competing requirements and constraints.
• Strong ownership, accountability, and follow-through, with a track record of delivering high-quality work on schedule.

Nice To Haves

• Allen-Bradley and/or Beckhoff experience.
• Ignition experience, especially Perspective.
• AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical, and/or SkyCAD experience.
• Experience developing and deploying custom library code.
• Experience with high-temperature (>500°C) continuous process equipment.
• Experience with custom machine motion and vision applications.
• Experience creating data collection interfaces with higher-level software via SQL and/or MQTT.
• Comfort working in both fast-paced R&D and commissioning environments and detailed project and architectural design environments.
• Experience using Git-based version control for industrial controls code.

Responsibilities

• Own the design, deployment, and commissioning of automation projects ranging from lab-scale test equipment to large-scale commercial deployments.
• Drive and execute controls projects, including PLC and HMI/SCADA programming, vendor and contractor coordination, and electrical design.
• Serve as an automation subject matter expert, guiding decisions about discrete and continuous process automation systems at scale.
• Develop standards and specifications for controls equipment built in-house or purchased from vendors.
• Work with the mechanical team to develop controls and guide instrumentation and component selection for custom equipment and novel processes.
• Interface with the software team to develop and maintain project data collection and management layers.
• Collaborate with IT on industrial networking strategies and architecture design.
• Work with panel shop technicians, production managers, operators, and engineering leads to close gaps, provide training, and deliver improvements.
• Produce engineering deliverables such as detailed electrical schematics, code documentation, loop diagrams, and panel layouts.
• Use, maintain, and contribute to a PLC/HMI controls library.
• Mentor peers, drive best practices, and raise engineering quality as a technical leader.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance covered up to 100% by Heirloom for eligible employees.
• Flexible spending account option.
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave for all Heirloom employees.
• Stock options.
• Flexible paid time off for exempt salaried employees; 120 hours for full-time non-exempt hourly employees.
• 401(k).
• Monthly health and wellness reimbursement.
• Annual education and conference budget.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed