Controls and Automation Engineer

Who You Are

You are a self-starter, experienced, capable Controls and Automation Engineer with an interest in learning new things and taking complex projects across the finish line! In your work at Sila, you will be responsible for architecting, designing, and deploying industrial machine control software and electronics that are robust, expandable, deterministic, and exceptionally well-documented. You excel at translating loosely-defined scientific requests into rigorous, deterministic machines that help unlock technical truth. You bring pragmatism and a daily sense of urgency to your work. When things don’t go as planned, you excel at reducing problems to their underlying physical phenomena and finding solutions everyone can trust. You’re a skilled listener and communicator, which helps you collaborate with a wide range of people, from chemists to pipe fitters. You’re relentless in eliminating sources of drift and uncertainty!

Responsibilities and Duties

• Design and build new R&D hardware and the software and instrumentation that runs it. Starting from a blank sheet of paper, deliver new-to-the-world reactors comprising wet chemistry, thermal processes, instrumentation, and tightly-integrated process automation.
• Work collaboratively with other teams to design robust, modular, well documented machine control code and electrical subsystems for synthesis tools.
• Improve and debug hardware and equipment-driving software throughout the company.
• Work with contractors and external vendors to get things built. This will include fabricators, tradespeople, system integrators, and in-house engineers & technicians.
• Close loops. In daily collaboration with the end-users of the machines you build, iterate and refine your designs in fast learning cycles.
• Diagnose problems when they arise and fix them responsively.
• Organize, document, communicate. Create enduring records of your work. Ensure successful handoff to end-users of your work with clearly-documented commissioning procedures and tests.
• Bring the right level of operational discipline to an open-ended R&D setting. Plan projects accurately and execute according to plan. Design hardware for manufacturability and operability.

Knowledge and Skill Requirements

• Experience deploying code on systems that interact with the physical world and designing HMIs and writing the underlying code.
• Experience with revision control software (Git preferred) and high-level, object-oriented programming (C# or Python preferred).
• Ability to write Structured Text and familiarity with other IEC 61131-3 languages.
• Development, testing, and implementation experience of safety programs (TwinSAFE preferred).
• Familiarity with industrial electrical design, including: wiring diagrams, industrial network architecture, control panel design, power distribution, and protocols for process automation. Experience with unique and challenging industrial electrical safety requirements.
• Great communication skills, including the ability to surface problems constructively.
• Experience in R&D settings with time pressure, open-ended technical problems, and substantial individual autonomy
• BS in engineering and at least 5 years of work experience (or fewer for candidates with an advanced degree).

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

• Pass a respirator fit test and be able to wear respiratory protection on a periodic basis
• Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and steel toe safety shoes
• Move items up to 50 lbs with the assistance of lift equipment and carts
• Move long distances (such as from building to building)
• Can travel both domestically and internationally up to 25% of the time

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The starting base pay for this role is between $123,500 and $156,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay within these ranges depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future