Automation Engineer

Posted Monday, August 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM

Kinetik is strategically located in the heart of the Delaware Basin in the Permian, one of the fastest growing areas for oil and gas development in the world. We provide the gathering, compression, processing, transportation and water management services required to bring natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil to market and are dedicated to providing the best service and netback for our customers.

We are driven to be best-in-class and committed to growing our existing assets in the Permian Basin through both greenfield and acquisition opportunities.

Kinetik employees have decades of experience in West Texas and provide all the important services our customers need to deliver gas and crude oil production to market, which include gathering, transportation, compression, processing and produced water management.

Schedule:
Monday – Friday, after hours as-needed to support business continuity

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Sr. Automation Engineer maintains the plant and field control systems assigned to them to provide a safe and compliant operation of the assets. The Sr. Automation Engineer oversees and directly supervises the work done by the I&E Technicians and contract personnel assigned to them.

• Supervises I&E Technicians and contract personnel regarding the troubleshooting and/or repair of the facility control systems to assure proper, safe, and compliant operation of the plant and pipeline facilities. Also, identifies and detects any malfunctions/failures of the equipment or software and takes corrective action to repair.
• Responsible for maintaining the program records/files and necessary licenses associated with the logic controllers (PLC’s), control system servers, and HMI equipment as well as the associated OT networking equipment, for the plant and field control systems in their assigned area.
• Perform control system programming and commissioning of new facilities and other projects as time allows.
• Perform duties as subject matter expert regarding the establishment of control system standards implementation and evaluation.
• Cooperates with the IT and Measurement departments regarding the maintenance and design of the field and plant communication networks.
• Cooperates with the Engineering department personnel on the design and functionality of field and plant control systems.
• Provides costs as needed for budgetary planning for any control system upgrades, projects, as well as software support and licensing.
• Responds as needed to emergency or urgent issues regarding the facility control and communication systems.
• Makes recommendations to the Automation Manager regarding potential improvements to the control systems.
• Assists with evaluating control system software and hardware support agreements.
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor
• Maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures
• All other duties as assigned.

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements:

• High school diploma or GED required
• Associates or higher-level degree preferred
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers
• Excellent computer proficiency (MS Office – Word, Excel and Outlook)
• Must have relevant experience and extensive knowledge in the programming of Allen-Bradley PLC’s, Controllers, Panelview and Redlion HMIs.
• Must have relevant experience and extensive knowledge in the programming of OT network equipment such as switches and gateways.
• Must have relevant experience and knowledge in the programming of SCADA systems such as Wonderware and Clear SCADA.
• Must have relevant experience and knowledge in commonly used industrial communication protocols and standards such as…