Automation & Controls Engineer - Data Center Facilities

AUTOMATION & CONTROLS ENGINEER, DATA CENTER FACILITIES

As an Automation and Controls Engineer, you will design, program, commission, and own the controls for that plant. You will write robust control code, build operator interfaces people can trust, and take total ownership of live systems — tuning sequences, closing reliability gaps, and bringing new capacity online while the cluster is already in production.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Design, develop, and manage facility automation projects from sequence of operations and control narrative through panel build, point-to-point checkout, commissioning, failover testing, and handoff to operations.
• Architect, write, and debug PLC and controller code that is organized, structured, documented, maintainable, and reusable across chillers, pumps, cooling towers, coolant distribution units, air handlers, heat rejection, and related plant equipment.
• Implement lead/lag, staging, rotation, free-cooling, and liquid-cooling control strategies that hold capacity, efficiency, and redundancy (N+1 / 2N) as the cluster load changes.
• Keep the plant safe and reliable with fail-safe interlocks, emergency power off and transfer logic, and alarm philosophy that meets NEC, NFPA 70E, NFPA 75, and applicable life-safety requirements.
• Build clear HMI and control-room graphics so operators can see plant state, acknowledge alarms, trend equipment health, and troubleshoot without calling an engineer first.
• Integrate equipment controllers into the site BMS, EPMS, and historian so power, cooling, and environmental data are one operational picture.
• Design control panels and electrical interfaces compliant with NEC, NFPA, and UL 508A, including motor and VFD interfaces, safety circuits, and network architecture.
• Own the systems after go-live: alarm rationalization, loop tuning, sequence changes, outage support, and continuous improvement of uptime and energy performance.
• Build schedules and punch lists for controls scope and drive vendors, contractors, and internal teams to hit them during construction and live expansions.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, controls, mechatronics, or a related engineering discipline.
• 1+ years of experience in industrial controls, building or plant automation, data center facilities, or related programming (internship and extracurricular experience applies).

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Energized by fast, iterative design, construction, and commissioning on a live critical facility.
• Proven ability to turn a messy plant problem into a simple, reliable control solution.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including control narratives, sequences of operations, and recommendations across mechanical, electrical, and operations teams.
• Judgment to move quickly while protecting people and equipment around high voltage, stored energy, refrigerants, fuel systems, and high-pressure hydronics.
• Experience in data centers, power generation, district energy, industrial utilities, or other 24/7 process plants.
• Experience in at least one of the disciplines below, with a real interest in learning the others.
• Sizing and application of motors, VFDs, starters, valves, actuators, instrumentation, and circuit protection for pumps, fans, towers, and plant equipment.
• Design of fail-safe circuits using safety relays and safety controllers, including interlocks that must hold during a loss of power or a controls failure.
• Hands-on troubleshooting of industrial electrical systems with multimeters, oscilloscopes, and network diagnostics.
• Reading and producing schematics, panel layouts, riser diagrams, and one-line diagrams (EPLAN preferred).
• Fieldbus and Ethernet plant networks: BACnet/IP, Modbus TCP, EtherNet/IP, Profinet, and OPC UA.
• Designing, building, and commissioning control panels and electromechanical systems with arc-flash, lockout/tagout, and construction-power constraints in mind.
• Working knowledge of NEC, NFPA 70E, UL 508A, and data center facility standards, with the ability to apply them to control design.
• PLC programming in structured text and ladder, preferably Rockwell (Studio 5000), Siemens TIA Portal, or Beckhoff TwinCAT.
• HMI, BMS, and SCADA development — Ignition, Niagara, or an equivalent platform — focused on fast navigation, meaningful alarms, trends, and equipment health.
• Industrial protocols used in critical facilities: BACnet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, MQTT, SNMP, EtherNet/IP, and Profinet.
• Applying control software to mechanical and electrical assemblies: sensors, VFDs, valves, and pump or fan systems, including a disciplined checkout before a system is allowed to carry load.
• Experience with EPMS, power metering, generator or ATS status, and historian or alarming tools used to operate a data center.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability to work long hours, nights, and weekends when commissioning, failover testing, or a live plant event requires it.
• Willingness to work on site in the data center, including mechanical plants, electrical rooms, and the data halls, for checkout and troubleshooting.