Principal Controls Engineer

I'm working with an early-stage startup developing a new generation of high-performance energy hardware and are looking for a Lead/Principal Controls Engineer to take ownership of the controls architecture for a complex, large-scale physical system.

This is not a role where you’ll inherit a finished controls stack and make incremental improvements. You’ll be involved from the ground up, defining how the system operates, responds, protects itself, and transitions from development hardware into a functioning product.

You’ll work closely with a small multidisciplinary engineering team across controls, electrical, mechanical, fluids, and test.

• Architect and develop the controls platform for a complex electromechanical system
• Design closed-loop control strategies across startup, normal operation, transient conditions, and shutdown
• Write and debug real-time control software
• Build and validate controls through simulation, bench testing, and Hardware-in-the-Loop environments
• Define I/O architecture and integrate sensors, actuators, drives, and associated hardware
• Develop data acquisition and operational instrumentation systems

• BS or higher in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, Controls, Software Engineering, or a related discipline
• Strong experience developing real-time controls for physical hardware
• Experience with platforms such as PLC, cRIO, PXI, or comparable real-time systems
• Strong understanding of closed-loop controls, sequencing logic, fault response, and equipment protection
• Ability to write, test, and debug controls software using LabVIEW, Python, C/C++, or similar
• Experience with instrumentation, DAQ, sensors, signal conditioning, and data logging
• Comfortable working directly with complex hardware and understanding the physics behind the system

Experience with turbo machinery, aerospace/propulsion systems, power generation, industrial automation, HIL testing, or other complex electromechanical systems is highly relevant.

If you’ve built controls for complex physical systems and enjoy seeing your software actually drive real-world hardware, I’d be interested in speaking.