What are the responsibilities and job description for the Controls Engineer position at Tesla Motors, Inc.?
What to Expect
What You'll Do
What You'll Bring
Tesla is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
The R&D and Facilities Infrastructure team is seeking a driven and highly motivated Controls Engineer to join a team accountable for the delivery and sustained operation of control systems across Tesla's infrastructure sites. This role demands proven experience across the complete I&C project lifecycle, from instrumentation design and control system architecture through PLC programming, Ignition SCADA development, commissioning, and long-term sustaining operations. You will collaborate closely with process design teams, construction and commissioning teams, facilities engineers, and 3rd party equipment vendors to deliver reliable, safe, and maintainable control solutions.
What You'll Do
- Develop PLC code with an emphasis on generating organized, structured, documented, maintainable, and reusable code for a diverse range of industrial systems including life safety, HVAC, and process systems
- Design and implement advanced PLC control strategies for complex infrastructure and facilities systems ensuring reliable, safe, and efficient operation across all process environments
- Develop and maintain Ignition SCADA projects including screen and HMI development, dashboards, and alarm management interfaces using Perspective and Vision modules
- Extend and maintain Ignition platform capabilities including alarm management, historian, reporting pipelines, and custom scripting to deliver actionable operational data across facility systems
- Integrate 3rd party packaged equipment and power monitoring systems via OPC-UA, Modbus TCP, BACnet, EtherNet/IP, and Profinet. Implement and optimize control strategies including PID tuning to improve process quality, productivity, and uptime
- Oversee I&C commissioning activities including development and execution of factory acceptance testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), and loop checks to validate system performance against design requirements prior to production handoff
- Own the implementation and validation of safety-rated control systems including emergency response and life safety devices across facility and process environments
- Provide sustaining operations support for running production systems including fault diagnosis, root cause analysis, corrective action implementation, and system modifications
- Develop and maintain comprehensive project documentation including process control narratives, P&IDs, I/O lists, loop diagrams, instrument datasheets, and tag naming conventions. Ensure documentation remains current through design, commissioning, and long-term operations
- Drive the design and specification of field instrumentation systems ensuring measurement accuracy, calibration traceability, and seamless integration with control system architecture
What You'll Bring
- 3 years of hands-on experience in instrumentation and controls engineering supporting industrial manufacturing or production facilities across the full project lifecycle from design through commissioning and sustaining operations
- Demonstrated experience with PLC programming across one or more platforms including Siemens TIA Portal, Allen-Bradley, or Beckhoff TwinCAT
- Experience working with modern industrial communication protocols: OPC-UA, Modbus TCP, BACnet, Profinet, EtherCAT, EtherNet/IP
- Proven experience with Ignition SCADA (versions 7.9 and newer), including Perspective, Vision, and Gateway configuration
- Experience selecting, specifying, calibrating, and maintaining field instrumentation including transmitters, analyzers, and control valves. Working knowledge of HART and 4-20mA instrumentation standards
- Demonstrated experience personally owning and executing controls and instrumentation projects from concept development through commissioning, ramp-up, and long-term sustaining operations in a 24/7 production or manufacturing facility
- Troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills with demonstrated ability to rapidly diagnose and resolve control system faults in a running production environment
Tesla is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, gender identity or any other factor protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.