Senior Controls Engineer, Automation About the role Spring is a nonprofit venture platform building and backing companies that improve animal welfare at scale. Spring Works, Spring's in-house technology group, designs, prototypes, and welfare-validates the devices the ecosystem needs but no vendor supplies. These technologies are then handed off to our incubated companies for deployment. The equipment you build is the foundation of better welfare for billions of animals. These machines will be placed on farms, at fisheries, at aquaculture sites, in land-based processing plants, and on boats at sea. Equipment you might work on includes stunning systems for fish and crustaceans, aquaculture water quality and actuation systems, and farm robots, with new categories added as the ecosystem presents a need. Spring Works products have to run reliably in wet, corrosive, moving environments, often thousands of miles from our shop. Some will run standalone and others in conjunction with equipment already on site. They have to be safe for the people operating them, who may have had minimal training. We design in remote diagnostics and instrumentation from the start. What we hand over to an incubated company is a field-deployable prototype, built to survive real production conditions and to return evidence of how it performed. We're hiring a Senior Controls Engineer to lead the controls system architecture and oversee the delegation of all related tasks within our team. This will start with defining the operations of the machine from a controls perspective very early on, scaffolding the machine logic, and providing the mechanical engineering side of the team with the specifications and components they need to incorporate during the concept phase of machine design. You will specify and source controls and electrical related components, design the schematics, program the machine including PCs/microcontrollers, PLCs, motion controllers, and HMI, and be hands-on during machine build with leading the wiring and panel builds. You will be responsible for running the machine during testing and debug, and solving whatever controls issues arise. This is a full-scope controls role at a machine builder: architecture, code, electrical design package, panel, safety, and commissioning. It is not a maintenance or sustaining role, and it is not PLC programming inside someone else's electrical design. You should be able to operate without oversight from management, and to judge when to seek input and when to decide on your own, as well as to delegate effectively to junior engineers. You must have a collaborative mindset and demonstrate sound decision-making and judgment. What you'll do Scaffold the controls architecture Develop the sequence of operations and control architecture during machine concepting, well before the mechanical design is frozen. Develop the I/O list, network architecture, and control philosophy, and drive them through design reviews with mechanical and mechatronics.

Identify control-side risk early:

cycle-time feasibility, sensing ambiguity, safe-state definition, and recovery from fault. Own the electrical design package Produce the complete electrical design package: schematics, panel layouts, wiring and interconnect diagrams, I/O layouts, and electrical BOMs. Select and specify control components, including PLCs and I/O, drives, safety relays and safety controllers, sensors, contactors, breakers and circuit protection, power supplies, and networking hardware. Work with the mechanical design team to give them clear deliverables on which controls components they need to accommodate in the CAD design. Lead the machine wiring, including panel build, I/O and sensor wiring, and crimping and connectorizing, either hands-on or by directing a panel shop and wiring technicians. You should be able to build a panel yourself and be credible telling someone else how. Source electrical components and manage the vendors who supply them. Safety and compliance Design the machine's safety system: E-stop circuits, safety relays or safety PLC, light curtains, interlocks, guard monitoring, and safe-state behavior. Perform and document risk assessments, and specify to the required performance level.

Design to the applicable codes:

NFPA 79, NEC/NFPA 70, UL 508A

for panels, ISO 13849 or

IEC 62061

for functional safety, and

ANSI/RIA 15.06

where robots are in the cell. Program the machines Program the PCs and microcontrollers, PLCs, and motion controllers for multi-station, multi-axis machinery. Write code that is structured, documented, maintainable, and reusable. Build and maintain libraries and standard blocks rather than re-deriving each machine from scratch. Configure and tune servo drives and VFDs, and implement coordinated multi-axis motion and robot integration where required. Develop HMI interfaces for operation, diagnostics, and maintenance that are robust, easy to operate, and documented in an operations manual. Implement machine data collection and any required MES, database, or SCADA integration. Work with embedded systems engineers or consultants to connect machine data to ancillary telemetry systems. Commission and ship Lead power-on, bring-up, controls debug, and tuning. Own the machine's first run alongside the mechanical team lead. Run FAT and support SAT, installation, startup, and production release at customer sites. Produce the documentation the customer actually needs: as-built schematics, sequence of operations, alarm lists, operator and maintenance procedures, and code backups. Support machines in the field after they ship. Raise the bar around you Set and maintain controls standards, including code structure, tag naming, library management, panel conventions, and revision control. Set the controls standards now, mentor junior controls engineers as the team grows. Be a credible technical voice with customers during design reviews and run-offs. What we're looking for Required BS in Electrical, Mechatronics, Mechanical, or Controls Engineering, or equivalent demonstrated experience. 7+ years in industrial automation controls, with real machine-build experience. Not exclusively plant maintenance or building automation. Strong PLC and machine programming background, with fluency beyond ladder logic. This includes a general-purpose language such as Python, and experience with controls software such as Studio 5000, Beckhoff TwinCAT, or Siemens TIA Portal. HMI development experience with tools such as FactoryTalk View, Ignition, WinCC, or TwinCAT HMI. Motion control experience, including servo drive configuration and tuning, VFD setup, and multi-axis coordination. Schematic creation in AutoCAD Electrical, EPLAN, or SolidWorks Electrical. Hands-on experience building electrical assemblies and wiring complex machines, with precise routing and clean workmanship. Machine safety design, including E-stop and safety circuit design, safety relays or safety PLCs, light curtains and interlocks, and risk assessment. Working knowledge of

NFPA 79, UL

508A, and

ISO 13849.

Industrial networking experience, including EtherNet/IP, EtherCAT, Profinet, and Modbus TCP/RTU as applicable. Commissioning and debug experience on real machines, including at customer sites. Willing to be on-site and on the floor. This is not a remote role. Comfortable in a working shop, able to lift 50 lbs and stand for extended periods of time. Nice to have Equipment designed for wet, washdown, or corrosive environments. Aquaculture, agricultural, animal processing, or food processing equipment exposure. Prior experience at a custom automation integrator, custom machine builder, or hardware startup. Robot integration and programming (FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, UR). Vision system integration (Cognex, Keyence). Remote diagnostics, telemetry, or connected-fleet experience on equipment deployed far from the shop. Data logging and data server management, such as OPC UA and MES or ERP integration, and programming in SQL. Safety protocol stacks (Twin

SAFE, SIMATIC

Safety, FSoE, PROFIsafe). Validation experience (IQ/OQ/PQ).

Role details Reports to:

Director of Engineering Employment type: Full time

Compensation :

$150,000 - $175,000 base Work location :

San Francisco Bay Area Travel :

Some domestic and international travel may be required for field deployments. Spring is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, pregnancy, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, military or veteran status, reproductive health decision-making, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

Pay:

$150,000.00 - $175,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) Dental insurance Health insurance Paid time off Vision insurance Application Question(s): Do you have a strong PLC and machine programming background? Do you have hands-on experience building electrical assemblies and wiring complex machines? Do you have commissioning and debug experience on real machines, including at customer sites?

Education:

Bachelor's (Preferred)

Experience:

industrial automation controls: 7 years (Preferred)

Work Location:

In person