Job Description

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence, and Transparency.&nbsp;
As the Sr. Controls Engineer (FAT/CSV) you will lead automation acceptance and commissioning for a massive&nbsp;1 million square foot manufacturing facility&nbsp;expansion. You will own the automation acceptance thread across a&nbsp;large&nbsp;OEM equipment campaign&nbsp;-&nbsp;authoring standardized FAT/SAT protocols, running the program-wide punch register;&nbsp;writing,&nbsp;modifying, and troubleshooting PLC code from punch-item fixes through commissioning and a share of live controls support. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role requiring deep technical&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;in industrial automation. Domestic&nbsp;and international&nbsp;travel to OEM facilities up to ~50% during test&nbsp;campaigns.&nbsp;
Responsibilities&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>PLC Programming &amp; Commissioning:&nbsp;Lead hands-on programming, debugging, and commissioning of Siemens and&nbsp;AllenBradley/Rockwell PLCs and HMIs for new and existing automation equipment.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Controls Integration &amp; Architecture:&nbsp;Develop,&nbsp;modify, and&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;PLC code structures, HMI screens, safety circuits, device mapping, and networking configurations to ensure robust and standardized automation performance across all equipment.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Design Reviews:&nbsp;Execute the scaling-equipment design-review campaign, converting findings into hardened, detailed technical deliverables for OEM vendors.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Vendor Technical Support &amp; FATs:&nbsp;Review vendor electrical schematics, controls architectures, and PLC/HMI logic. Own the FAT/SAT campaign: author standardized acceptance protocols, covering PLC logic conformance, HMI/alarm acceptance, interlock validation, and network/security verification. Run the program-wide punch list and coordinate witness assignments.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Turnover &amp; Baselines:&nbsp;Build controls turnover packages: as-tested code, configuration baselines, punch closure evidence, and commissioning records.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Validation Interface:&nbsp;Integrate with Quality’s validation system - protocols live in Quality’s framework and carry Quality’s approval; you author the automation content and align with Manufacturing Engineering’s master schedule and process acceptance criteria.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Advanced Automation &amp; System Integration: Support the integration and commissioning of robotics, vision systems, AGVs, conveyors, and motion control systems—including servos and VFDs—to enable seamless material flow and&nbsp;high reliability&nbsp;production operations.&nbsp;</li>
<li>SCADA/MES Connectivity:&nbsp;Configure and&nbsp;maintain&nbsp;communications between PLCs/HMIs and&nbsp;higherlevel&nbsp;systems (MES/SCADA). Develop and troubleshoot&nbsp;SCADA tags, transactions, alarming, and data acquisition as&nbsp;required.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Troubleshooting &amp; Technical Escalation:&nbsp;Serve as a senior-level escalation point for diagnosing&nbsp;complex automation issues involving networks, motion systems, instrumentation, and industrial communication protocols.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Deliverables You Will Develop, Review, or Support&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Controls &amp; IT:&nbsp;PLC code architecture, HMI screens, vision inspection programs, tag databases, MES/SCADA transaction lists, network IP lists, password inventories, and system backups.&nbsp;As-tested PLC code baselines, configuration backups, and acceptance evidence packages.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Risk &amp; Safety:&nbsp;Controls risk assessments, interlock/guarding logic, and&nbsp;safetyrated&nbsp;PFMEA inputs.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Process Design:&nbsp;Controls layouts, network topology layouts, station cycle times, sequence diagrams, and automation simulations.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Engineering Diagrams:&nbsp;Electrical schematics, pneumatic drawings, controls panel layouts, and industrial network architecture.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Acceptance &amp; Commissioning:&nbsp;FAT/SAT protocols, the program&nbsp;punch&nbsp;list, I/O checkout records, and&nbsp;handover packages.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as&nbsp;determined by the needs of the business.
Qualifications&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>&nbsp;Bachelor’s or&nbsp;Masters&nbsp;degree in electrical engineering, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field with&nbsp;5+&nbsp;years of direct industrial automation and controls engineering experience.&nbsp;</li>
<li>&nbsp;Strong hands on experience programming and commissioning Siemens&nbsp;and&nbsp;AllenBradley/Rockwell&nbsp;PLCs and HMIs.&nbsp;</li>
<li>&nbsp;Demonstrated multi-vendor acceptance campaign management, disciplined change control with the ability to triage punch items to fix in situ or kick back to a vendor. Technical writing that vendors and auditors can both execute against.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Working experience with multiaxis robotic systems (Fanuc, Kuka, ABB) and machine vision platforms (Cognex, Keyence)&nbsp;</li>
<li>Deep understanding of servos, VFDs, highspeed conveyors, robotic cells, and automated material handling systems.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Proficiency with Ethernet/IP, Profinet, EtherCAT, OPCUA, Modbus, serial, and similar industrial communication standards.</li>
</ul>
Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities&nbsp;
Preferred Skills
<ul>
<li>Experience in heavy industrial, greenfield, chemical, or metallurgical manufacturing environments.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Background as a commissioning-focused controls engineer at a system integrator or machine OEM - someone who has both written machine code and accepted other&nbsp;people’s.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Experience developing SCADA applications in Ignition,&nbsp;FactoryTalk,&nbsp;Wonderware, or similar platforms.&nbsp;</li>
<li>AGV integration experience&nbsp;</li>
<li>Familiarity with Python, C++, or other&nbsp;high&nbsp;level&nbsp;languages for automation or data analytics.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Experience in regulated industries or&nbsp;&nbsp;such as Defense, Aerospace, or Automotive or GAMP 5/computer system validation exposure&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
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Audit details(provenance, verification trail, raw fields)

Core fields

Posting ID

vulcan-elements:5179378008

Title

Controls Engineer

Function

Engineering

Location

Research Triangle Park, NC

Workplace mode

unspecified

Posted at

2026-04-14 13:40:21Z

Compensation

undisclosed

Provenance

First seen (our tracker)

2026-07-20 21:46:13Z

Last seen

2026-07-24 09:04:59Z

Last updated

2026-07-25 08:27:25Z

Removed at

2026-07-25 08:27:25Z

Days open

Open for 101 days

ATS adapter

greenhouse

ATS slug

vulcanelements

Source URL

https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/vulcanelements/jobs/5179378008

Verification trail

confirmed_closed2026-07-25 08:27:26Z

via greenhouse

evidence

{
  "url": "https://boards-api.greenhouse.io/v1/boards/vulcanelements/jobs/5179378008",
  "status": 404
}

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Job Description

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