Automation & Controls Engineer, Greenfield Chemical Plant

𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝗻𝗲𝘄, 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀.

Most controls engineers spend their careers babysitting someone else's legacy ladder logic. This is the opposite: a new plant, clean architecture, and you as the subject matter expert everyone who comes after you inherits.

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗬

Pave Talent is hiring on behalf of our client, a publicly traded specialty electronics materials company commercializing a first-to-market, copper-based interconnect technology for advanced semiconductor packaging and high-density datacenter chips. The work feeds the artificial intelligence (AI) hardware boom directly. This is the company's highest-priority program, visible to the top of the house, with serious capital behind a multi-site US scale-up.

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲

- Builders who want a brand-new, fast-scaling plant where the control system is theirs to define, not a mature site with every routine already locked

- Engineers who can read and own ladder logic and become the plant's programmable logic controller (PLC) expert

- People comfortable working hands-on around flammable solvents and corrosives, with process safety first

- Wear-many-hats operators who move with urgency, run the plant 90 percent self-sufficient, and only escalate the hardest problems

If you want a fully built-out plant where every loop is already tuned, or you would rather not work around industrial chemicals, this is not your role.

𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Three years from now you will be telling people you built the controls architecture for a first-to-market electronics materials platform from the ground up. The hiring manager calls this a resume-changing seat. You become the site expert on a nearly fully automated process, and as the company brings up more plants, the engineers who built the first one are the ones who scale the next.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬

The Fremont plant is an almost fully automated facility. A PLC controls the entire reaction area: reactors, mixing vessels, pumps, valves, and instrumentation. You will own the controls health of the plant, support a second plant coming online, and double as a controls resource on the capital-project side as new lines get built. You report to the site engineering lead and work shoulder to shoulder with process engineering, maintenance, and the capital projects team.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘄𝗻

- Read, troubleshoot, and own the ladder logic running the reaction-area process equipment, and become the site subject matter expert on the platform

- Translate process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) and process flow diagrams into input/output (I/O) lists, control narratives, and cause-and-effect matrices

- Troubleshoot process controls on heating and cooling systems, and the variable frequency drives (VFDs) running agitators and motors

- Build and configure control-panel I/O modules alongside the capital projects team

- Run factory and site acceptance testing (FAT/SAT), startup, and onsite commissioning, then drive continuous improvement

- Support layer of protection analysis (LOPA) and safety integrity level (SIL) verifications and safety-instrumented function design in flammable, corrosive, and cleanroom environments

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞

This is a now job at a plant that is still being built out. The hiring manager wants someone who keeps the plant running roughly 90 percent on their own and escalates only the hardest 10 percent. You will be hands-on around dangerous chemicals daily, the pace is fast because this is the company's top program, and the scope flexes between sustaining the running plant and supporting new builds. The right person reads that as the appeal, not the catch.

𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦

𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱:

- 8 years of hands-on PLC, distributed control system (DCS), and human-machine interface (HMI) design, configuration, and commissioning

- Strong ladder-logic skills on at least one major platform, with the ability to become the site expert. Opto 22 is the plant's platform; Allen-Bradley (Rockwell) and Siemens experience transfer well and are welcome

- Comfort owning process controls in a plant that handles flammable solvents and corrosives

- Fluent with P&IDs, process flow diagrams, instrumentation, and VFDs

- Bachelor's in Automation, Electrical, Chemical Engineering, or related field

𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀:

- Process industry background (chemical, biotech, pharmaceutical, or beverage), where precision process control is the norm

- Process safety exposure: LOPA, SIL, IEC 61511, NFPA 70/79, UL 508A

- TUV Functional Safety Engineer or platform certifications, Python or C/C scripting, vision systems, servo drives, safety PLCs

- Hazardous-area classification knowledge (Class I/Div 2, ATEX)

𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗧𝗦

𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆: $110,000 to $150,000, plus performance bonus

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀: Full medical, dental, and vision, 401(k) with company match, paid time off and holidays, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement, and professional development support

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲: Full-time, onsite in Fremont, CA

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗪𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗬𝗢𝗨

A recruiter who has read your background before the first call, real coaching prep before client interviews, no ghosting, first-call scheduling within 48 hours of a strong fit, and a 90-day replacement guarantee that protects both you and the client.

Apply via LinkedIn and we will reach out to schedule a conversation. Confidential search; your application is fully private.

𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 | 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱