Full Job Description
The Role:
This is a high-travel field engineering role - expect up to 75% travel to project sites and operating plants in the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America, often for consecutive weeks at a time. The role is fully remote when not traveling; however, candidates must reside in the Eastern or Central time zone and within reasonable proximity to a major airport to support site schedules and travel logistics.
The Controls & Startup Engineer is the hands-on automation lead in the field for the commissioning, startup, and ongoing support of Seven Seas Water's water treatment and desalination plants. This is not a troubleshoot-only position: the successful candidate writes, modifies, and commissions PLC and HMI code - authoring new routines, restructuring logic, and building operator screens - in addition to diagnosing and resolving electrical, controls, instrumentation, and network issues on live plants.
The ideal candidate is a jack-of-all-trades field engineer: comfortable going online with a running PLC one hour and pulling wire diagrams, landing terminations, or configuring a managed switch the next. Experience in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) or brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination is a plus, but not required.
Requirements
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
• PLC programming: Program, modify, commission, and troubleshoot Allen-Bradley Logix PLC systems using Studio 5000, including authoring new routines, Add-On Instructions, and device logic - not limited to online monitoring or forcing.
• HMI/SCADA: Develop, modify, and commission FactoryTalk View SE/ME applications, including displays, alarms, and tag structures; support Wonderware/AVEVA and other legacy HMI platforms encountered in the installed fleet.
• Startup and commissioning: Lead the electrical and controls portions of plant startups: point-to-point I/O checkout, loop checks, instrument calibration verification, motor bumps, VFD configuration and tuning (Allen-Bradley PowerFlex, Square D Altivar), interlock and permissive verification, and functional testing through wet commissioning and performance testing.
• Industrial networking: Configure and troubleshoot plant control networks - EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, managed switches, VLANs, firewalls, and remote-access/VPN connections supporting Seven Seas remote monitoring of plants.
• Panel modifications: Perform and supervise field modifications to industrial control panels: adding I/O, rewiring circuits, replacing components, and redlining schematics, maintaining compliance with UL 508A practices and NFPA 70 (NEC).
• Electrical maintenance: Safely maintain, troubleshoot, and repair plant electrical equipment (480 V and below) including MCCs, VFDs, motor circuits, distribution panels, and control power systems, in accordance with NFPA 70E electrically safe work practices, arc flash requirements, and lockout/tagout procedures.
• Troubleshooting: Diagnose electrical, controls, instrumentation, and communication failures on operating plants - on-site and remotely - and implement corrective actions that prevent recurrence.
• Documentation: Redline drawings in the field and return accurate as-built markups (schematics, loop diagrams, panel layouts, network diagrams) to the engineering office; document work performed in service reports.
• Remote support: Provide remote troubleshooting support to plant operations teams and participate in an informal on-call rotation for critical plant issues.
• Operator training: Train plant operators and technicians on control system operation, alarm response, and safe equipment usage.
• Contractor coordination: Work directly with electrical contractors, OEM service technicians, and customer personnel during installation and startup; coordinate and supervise contractor work scopes in the field.
• Continuous improvement: Feed field lessons learned back to the engineering team, including suggested design and standards improvements.
• Other related duties may be assigned as required.
Required Qualifications:
• Hands-on PLC programming: Demonstrated ability to write PLC programs from scratch - candidates should be prepared to walk through programs they have personally authored, including program structure, I/O handling, and sequence logic.
• 5+ years of industrial controls experience in field service, commissioning, startup, or plant support roles.
• Experience with Allen-Bradley Logix platforms (Studio 5000 / RSLogix 5000) and FactoryTalk View, or equivalent depth on Siemens/Schneider platforms with willingness to become the in-house Allen-Bradley expert.
• Working knowledge of industrial networking: EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, IP addressing, managed switches, and secure remote access.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, P&IDs, loop diagrams, and panel layouts - and to redline them accurately.
• Experience safely working on energized and de-energized industrial electrical equipment (480 V and below) under NFPA 70E and lockout/tagout programs.
• Strong instrumentation fundamentals: 4-20 mA loops, transmitters, control valves, and analytical instruments.
• Travel: Willing and able to travel up to 75%, including international travel to the Caribbean and Latin America for consecutive weeks; valid U.S. passport (or ability to obtain one) and ability to qualify for corporate travel.
• Location: Must reside in the U.S. Eastern or Central time zone, within reasonable proximity to a major airport.
• Self-directed and resourceful - able to represent the company alone on a remote site, make sound field decisions, and know when to phone home.
• Strong communication skills with operators, contractors, customers, and engineers at all levels.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Water or wastewater treatment experience; SWRO/BWRO desalination experience a strong plus.
• Startup or field service background with an OEM, systems integrator, or startup-stage company - comfort wearing multiple hats in lean, fast-moving project environments.
• VFD configuration and drive tuning experience (Allen-Bradley PowerFlex, Square D Altivar).
• UL 508A panel design or modification experience.
• Supervisory experience coordinating electricians or electrical contractors in the field.
• OSHA 30, NFPA 70E training, or equivalent electrical safety certifications.
• Spanish as a second language.
Education/Experience:
• Bachelor's or Associate's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls/Automation, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent technical training and directly related field experience will be considered.
• 5+ years of directly related industrial controls and field experience required. Water industry experience preferred.
How to Apply
