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SB Energy

Builds and runs power plants and AI data centers

Instrumentation and Controls Engineer - Data Center Power Generation

Controls & Automation EngineeringConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeOhio, USA

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation and Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related engineering discipline is required.
  • Experience in instrumentation and controls engineering for gas-fired power generation, with direct involvement in simple-cycle and/or combined-cycle projects, is required.
  • Seven to ten or more years of professional experience is required.
  • Strong understanding of power plant instrumentation, process controls, distributed control systems, programmable logic controller systems, turbine control interfaces, and balance-of-plant controls is required.
  • Experience coordinating instrumentation and controls design interfaces between major equipment original equipment manufacturers, engineering, procurement, and construction engineering teams, and control system suppliers is required.
  • Ability to independently review control narratives, logic diagrams, cause-and-effect matrices, piping and instrumentation diagrams, instrument specifications, input/output lists, loop drawings, and control system architecture is required.
  • Working knowledge of process measurement, instrument selection, control valves, loop control, industrial communications, and control system integration is required.
  • Experience reviewing or testing plant operating sequences, alarms, permissives, interlocks, and protective functions is required.
  • Experience working with utilities and independent system operators or regional transmission organizations on generator interconnection control, communications, or telemetry requirements, including commissioning and testing, is required.
  • Familiarity with applicable instrumentation, control system, and industrial cybersecurity standards and project requirements is required.
  • Ability to assess technical issues, develop practical recommendations, and recognize when additional specialist input is needed is required.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including explaining technical issues to project managers, contractors, and operations personnel, are required.
  • Strong organization and follow-through in managing design comments, requests for information, submittals, and technical action items are required.
  • Ability to work remotely and travel approximately 25% to project sites in Pike County, Ohio, is required.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the owner’s instrumentation and controls engineering subject-matter expert for simple-cycle and combined-cycle gas generation projects, providing technical guidance from initial design through commissioning and closeout.
  • Review instrumentation and controls design criteria, specifications, drawings, control narratives, logic diagrams, and equipment selections for alignment with contractual requirements, applicable standards, and plant operating needs.
  • Review distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, turbine control interfaces, plant supervisory controls, human-machine interfaces, historian systems, and associated industrial communications networks.
  • Review instrument specifications, instrument indexes, input/output lists, loop diagrams, instrument installation details, control valve requirements, and panel designs.
  • Evaluate control strategies, operating sequences, alarms, permissives, interlocks, and trips for consistency with process requirements, equipment protection, and operating philosophy.
  • Coordinate review of safety instrumented functions and emergency shutdown interfaces with original equipment manufacturers, process engineers, and qualified functional safety specialists, as applicable.
  • Identify technical gaps, conflicting requirements, and design risks; track resolution and escalate issues affecting safety, performance, cost, or schedule.
  • Coordinate instrumentation and controls interfaces among gas turbines, steam turbines, heat recovery steam generators, generators, and balance-of-plant packages, as applicable to each project configuration.
  • Establish and maintain interface requirements, scope boundaries, responsibilities, and required engineering deliverables among original equipment manufacturers, the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, and control system suppliers.
  • Coordinate package control narratives, signal lists, communication protocols, data maps, time synchronization, and command and status interfaces for incorporation into the plant control system.
  • Verify alignment among original equipment manufacturer package controls, the plant distributed control system, electrical protection and control systems, and plant supervisory systems.
  • Coordinate startup, shutdown, load control, and abnormal operating sequences across interconnected equipment packages.
  • Work with data center controls and electrical design teams to define generation-to-load coordination requirements, including load changes, operating modes, dispatch signals, and responses to loss of generation or load.
  • Lead technical interface meetings, document decisions and action items, and drive timely resolution of open issues.
  • Work with project management and project engineering personnel to align technical deliverables and decisions with procurement, construction, and commissioning milestones.
  • Lead or participate in instrumentation and controls design reviews at key project milestones, consolidate owner comments, and track their disposition through closure.
  • Develop and coordinate SB Energy’s technical responses to instrumentation and controls requests for information, equipment submittals, vendor drawings, technical deviations, and proposed substitutions.
  • Review control narratives, cause-and-effect matrices, logic diagrams, alarm philosophies, human-machine interface graphics, and control system architecture for completeness and consistency.
  • Engage mechanical, process, electrical, operations, and cybersecurity resources when technical decisions affect systems beyond the instrumentation and controls scope.
  • Review proposed design and configuration changes for impacts on plant safety, equipment protection, reliability, operability, cost, and schedule; provide recommendations to project leadership.
  • Maintain clear records of technical decisions, review comments, accepted deviations, and outstanding engineering issues.
  • Coordinate reviews with the Owner’s Engineer and support responses to Independent Engineer questions and document requests.
  • Develop or review instrumentation and control system specifications, technical requisitions, and procurement package requirements.
  • Perform technical bid evaluations, identify exceptions, and support clarification of supplier proposals.
  • Review vendor documentation for instruments, control valves, analyzers, control panels, control system hardware, and software for compliance with project requirements.
  • Review factory acceptance test plans and participate in testing of distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, and packaged control systems, including simulation of interfaces, operating sequences, alarms, and interlocks.
  • Coordinate resolution of testing deficiencies and verify that required changes are documented and incorporated before shipment or site deployment.
  • Coordinate with operations and cybersecurity personnel on control system access, remote connectivity, network segmentation, backups, and recovery requirements.
  • Work with procurement and project teams to address technical issues affecting equipment delivery and control system integration.
  • Coordinate with utilities, independent system operators, regional transmission organizations, original equipment manufacturers, and the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor on control, communications, and telemetry requirements associated with generator interconnection.
  • Support integration of required dispatch, automatic generation control, plant output control, operating status, and remote monitoring interfaces, as applicable.
  • Coordinate signal definitions, communications interfaces, point-to-point testing, and verification of required data exchange with utility and grid operator systems.
  • Support interconnection-related energization and commissioning, including technical documentation, witness testing, and demonstration of required control and telemetry functionality.
  • Provide owner-side technical support for instrumentation installation, control panel installation, field wiring, communication networks, and control system integration.
  • Work with site engineering, construction, and quality assurance/quality control teams on first articles, installation benchmarks, inspections, and resolution of instrumentation and controls deficiencies.
  • Review instrument calibration, loop check, site acceptance, functional testing, and commissioning procedures.
  • Support verification of control logic, operating sequences, alarms, permissives, interlocks, trips, and equipment interfaces before startup.
  • Support troubleshooting during commissioning, initial operation, performance testing, and transition to commercial operation.
  • Coordinate review and documentation of control logic changes, temporary overrides, bypasses, and their removal or final disposition with the responsible technical and operating personnel.
  • Review test results and support verification that instrumentation and controls systems meet project acceptance and turnover requirements.
  • Review as-built drawings, final control narratives, software and configuration backups, instrument records, test reports, licenses, and other instrumentation and controls closeout documentation for completeness and consistency with installed systems.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience with both simple-cycle and combined-cycle gas generation projects is preferred.
  • Experience serving as an owner’s engineer or technical representative for a developer, asset owner, or utility is preferred.
  • Experience with gas generation facilities co-located with large data center campuses, including coordination of generation controls with campus load requirements, load changes, operating modes, and reliability objectives, is preferred.
  • Experience coordinating plant-level load control, turbine controls, and data center power management systems is preferred.
  • Experience with major power generation distributed control system and turbine control platforms is preferred.
  • Experience with heat recovery steam generator controls, steam cycle controls, water treatment systems, emissions monitoring, and other balance-of-plant systems is preferred.
  • Familiarity with substation supervisory control and data acquisition, remote terminal units, and interfaces between plant controls and high-voltage electrical systems is preferred.
  • Experience with control system factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, startup, and operating plant troubleshooting is preferred.
  • Familiarity with safety instrumented systems, functional safety practices, and operational technology cybersecurity is preferred.
  • A Professional Engineer license and/or relevant instrumentation, controls, or automation certification is preferred.

About the Company

SB Energy

Builds and runs power plants and AI data centers

SB Energy develops, builds, owns and operates large data center campuses and the power plants that supply them, mainly for AI companies across the United States. Its approach puts power first, developing on-site generation and grid connections alongside its campuses so computing capacity can come online faster. The company also owns solar and battery storage projects, including a Texas solar complex whose anchor customer is Google. It earns revenue by leasing data center capacity to tenants under long-term agreements and by selling electricity from its power portfolio. SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Company size
201-500
Company stage
Growth Equity (Non-Venture Capital)
Total funding
$3.9B
Headquarters
Redwood City, CA
Founded
2019

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