Senior Controls & Automation Engineer

The Senior Controls & Automation Engineer owns the protection, control and automation engineering that makes Forgent Power's equipment operate as designed — PLC and HMI programming, protective relay configuration, communications and SCADA integration, and the sequences of operation behind generator paralleling switch gear, automatic transfer schemes, load management and power monitoring.

• Create and modify PLC programs for generator paralleling switch gear, automatic and closed-transition transfer schemes, load management, load shed and source selection.
• Develop and adapt HMI applications, including project-specific modification of standard template programs.
• Author sequences of operation and control narratives, and translate them into verifiable logic and test plans.
• Produce and review I/O lists, control schematics, panel layouts, bills of material and point lists.
• Ensure control designs comply with NEC, NFPA, UL 1558 and UL 508A, and with customer specifications.

• Configure protective relays across major platforms (SEL, GE/Multilin, ABB/Hitachi, Siemens, Schneider) and implement approved settings files.
• Build and verify relay logic, including interlocking, breaker failure, transfer and restoration schemes.
• Implement arc-flash mitigation schemes such as maintenance mode, zone-selective interlocking and light-and-current sensing.
• Support implementation and field validation of coordination, short-circuit and arc-flash study outputs.

• Design and implement communication architectures using IEC 61850 (including GOOSE), Modbus TCP and RTU, DNP3, Ether Net/IP and CANbus.
• Integrate equipment with customer SCADA, EPMS, BMS and historian platforms; own data mapping, tag databases and point-to-point verification.
• Specify and configure gateways, protocol converters, managed switches and time synchronization.
• Apply operational-technology cybersecurity practice — network segmentation, device hardening, credential management and patching — consistent with customer requirements and recognized frameworks.

• Lead controls content of Factory Acceptance Testing, factory witness testing and Site Acceptance Testing, including simulation of logic before shipment.
• Support field commissioning of A&C scopes, remotely and on site, including pre-energization checks, point-to-point verification, functional testing and integrated systems testing.
• Serve as the technical escalation point for Field Service Engineers on control, protection and communication faults.
• Capture commissioning findings and feed them back into standard programs, templates and documentation.

• Engineer controls retrofits on installed and legacy switch gear, including relay replacement, obsolescence remediation and communication upgrades.
• Reverse-engineer undocumented legacy control schemes and produce accurate as-built documentation.
• Define retrofit scope, sequencing, risk and cutover strategy alongside project management and field leadership.
• Identify modernization opportunities during service and commissioning work and route them through the appropriate channel.

• Build and maintain standard program libraries, HMI templates, naming conventions and version control so that work is repeatable rather than bespoke.
• Own the settings and program repository, including software licensing, revision history and controlled release.
• Train Field Service Engineers and technicians on relay configuration software, PLC and HMI fundamentals, and communication troubleshooting.
• Serve as content authority for the Protection & Controls domain of the Field Service Skills Matrix…