Top Controls Engineer Jobs in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Leads instrumentation and controls engineering for mineral refining equipment and plant-wide systems from concept through commissioning and operations handover. Manages equipment providers, licensors, engineering firms, procurement, installation, calibration, inspections, QA/QC, startup, and troubleshooting. Drives scale-up of novel refining processes, supports machine learning and advanced control development, mentors junior engineers, and contributes to capital project execution and engineering team growth.

Lead controls and instrumentation engineering for novel mineral refining facilities from concept through commissioning, ramp, and handover. Manage equipment providers, licensors, engineering firms, and cross-functional technical teams. Oversee instrument, valve, analyzer, network, and control-system selection and installation; support industrial machine-learning optimization and workflow automation. Mentor junior engineers and contribute to medium-to-large capital project execution, plant-network security, and development of the internal engineering team.

Develop motion-planning and control algorithms for outdoor construction robots, deploy them on hardware, benchmark and tune them for robust real-world operation, and integrate them with perception and learning components. Interns own scoped projects, work with mentors, and demonstrate results. Projects may include safe-stop and human-avoidance behaviors or manipulation from moving platforms on rough terrain.

Design and implement control algorithms for robotics, develop real-time control loops, and debug complex hardware/software issues while collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Design, deploy, and standardize SCADA architecture for power, cooling, and mechanical systems across large data center sites. Integrate field device telemetry and protocols into a unified platform, build tag databases, HMI screens, and alarm logic, validate signals during commissioning, and produce clear configuration and point documentation for repeatable deployments.

Leads the architecture, programming, integration, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management of PLC, robotic, HMI, electrical, and data acquisition systems for manufacturing automation. Establishes controls standards, ensures UL safety compliance, integrates MES and OEE platforms, drives optimization, mentors technical staff, and develops the long-term automation roadmap. The role supports multiple sites and requires cross-functional collaboration across Engineering, Operations, and Quality.

Develop intelligent robotic control algorithms, integrate with sensors, validate models, ensure system performance, and work in a fast-paced startup environment.

The Power Systems Engineer will design and validate plant controller functions for battery energy storage systems, ensuring compliance with utility specifications and enhancing in-house modeling capabilities.

Design, program, integrate, test, and deploy PLC-based control systems for ML-enabled robotic workcells. Develop HMIs, safety logic, and documentation; integrate sensors, I/O, and motion components; debug and commission systems; collaborate with software, ML, operations, and integration partners. Travel 20-30% for installations and deployments.

The System Identification & Controls Engineer will characterize and validate robot dynamics, design tests, apply controls, and automate identification processes across robot fleets.

Develop and test autonomous flight-control algorithms, simulations, analysis tools, and onboard integrity tests. Analyze flight data for regressions and improvements, assess vehicle performance and safety, and present results to engineering teams. The internship involves embedded software, technical computing, hardware interaction, and real-world aircraft systems at Zipline’s South San Francisco or Dallas offices.

Supports the Flight Controls team by designing, implementing, testing, and releasing flight-control algorithms for autonomous aircraft. Develops simulation, controls analysis, integrity-testing, and regression-protection tools; analyzes flight data for performance improvements; evaluates safety and reliability; and presents engineering results.

The Motion Planning & Controls Engineer will develop software for robot motion, implementing algorithms for optimized control and ensuring performance and safety.

Lead development and validation of dynamic models, controls algorithms, and high-fidelity six-degree-of-freedom simulations. Analyze flight-test and fleet data to improve model fidelity, evaluate vehicle designs, recommend controls and system improvements, and build reusable analysis tools to inform engineering and operational decisions.

Design, implement, and document process control and instrumentation systems for production-scale materials equipment. Develop control strategies, P&IDs, cause-and-effect matrices, SIL/IPL verification, alarms, and HMIs. Participate in HAZOPs and safety reviews, source instrumentation and vendors, assist with hardware and code commissioning, and gather end-user feedback to refine controls and share best practices.

The role involves designing and tuning control systems for robotics, integrating hardware, developing control algorithms, and collaborating with engineers to enhance robot motion and responsiveness.

Design, program, and commission controls for automated storage, retrieval, and material handling systems. Develop Structured Text PLC code, integrate OPC-UA communication, tune servo drives/VFDs, support electrical builds and system safety, and lead supplier testing and on-site installations to improve reliability and performance.

Design and implement algorithms for orbit controls including orbit determination, station-keeping, maneuver execution, and analysis to ensure spacecraft efficiency and safety.

Lead instrumentation and controls (I&C) engineering for water and wastewater projects: design PLC/HMI/SCADA systems, develop P&IDs and network/control panel layouts, prepare specifications, support procurement, construction, commissioning, and multidisciplinary coordination. Serve as project I&C lead or senior team member and mentor junior staff.

Engineer a virtualized PLC platform: port and validate control applications to software runtimes while preserving determinism and safety; build test harnesses to prove virtual controls against hardware behavior; define reference architecture for networking, redundancy, and failover; document control narratives for engineers and operators.

Design, program, and configure BMS controls for mechanical and electrical plant. Build sequences, point lists, and graphics; integrate chillers, CDUs, power monitoring, and third-party equipment over BACnet/Modbus. Commission systems, diagnose failures, and version and document logic for maintainability.

Design and engineer robot controls for data-center robotics: motion, safety, and facility integration. Own control-stack integration (fleet management, dispatch, telemetry), design safety architecture, commission and debug systems on-site, and meet availability targets.

Build and support industrial control systems across levels: PLC programming, HMI/SCADA development, automation commissioning, troubleshooting, motion control and robotics integration, and cross-functional collaboration with manufacturing and systems teams.

The Controls Engineer is responsible for deploying Battery Energy Storage Systems, validating project designs, and ensuring smooth communication across teams.

The Controls Engineer confirms design and functionality of automated sortation systems by troubleshooting, programming PLC and HMI, and supporting project delivery with a focus on industrial controls.