Automation and Controls Engineer

About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation, creating a new category of personal water making technology built to scale where infrastructure can’t.

What You'll Do

Design, develop, commission, and manage automation and controls projects for manufacturing, product testing, reliability testing, and end-of-line validation.

Help define Vital Lyfe’s controls strategy, including what PLC, HMI, SCADA, data acquisition, fieldbus, and factory software systems we should standardize on as we scale.

Architect, write, and debug PLC and controls code that is organized, documented, maintainable, reusable, and appropriate for high-volume manufacturing.

Design and commission automated equipment and test systems involving pumps, motors, valves, sensors, pressure, flow, thermal systems, and electrical instrumentation.

Keep our factory safe and reliable by implementing compliant safety systems for automated equipment, motion systems, pressure systems, and electro-mechanical assemblies.

Generate simple HMI screens, electrical designs, documentation, schedules, and budgets that help teams operate, troubleshoot, and scale factory systems.

What We're Looking For

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, computer science, or a related technical discipline.

5+ years of experience in industrial automation, factory automation, automated test systems, or controls system design and implementation.

Comfort working in ambiguity and making tradeoffs with incomplete information.

Bias toward action, ownership, and practical engineering solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

Ability to help select the right automation architecture, controls platform, and factory software tools for a fast-moving manufacturing environment.

Experience with electromechanical systems, automated test stands, manufacturing equipment, reliability rigs, or end-of-line test systems.

Electrical sizing of motors, cables, circuit protection, VFDs, motor starters, drives, and other motion systems.

Design of fail-safe electrical circuits using safety PLCs, safety-rated relays, interlocks, e-stops, and other machine safety devices.

Hands-on troubleshooting experience using tools such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, EMI probes, and industrial network diagnostic tools.

Proficiency understanding and creating electrical schematics, panel layouts, wiring diagrams, I/O lists, and single-line diagrams.

Experience with fieldbus networks, serial communication, Ethernet communication, and industrial protocols such as EtherCAT, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, Modbus, or CAN.

Hands-on experience designing and commissioning high-quality electrical panels and electro-mechanical systems.

Knowledge of NEC, NFPA, OSHA, UL508A, and related control system safety standards.

PLC programming experience; Beckhoff TwinCAT, Rockwell, Siemens, Codesys, Omron, or similar experience is valuable.

Experience with HMI, SCADA, MQTT, OPC-UA, Ignition, SQL databases, machine health monitoring, and factory data systems.

Experience applying industrial software to mechanical assemblies, electrical systems, sensors, pneumatics, hydraulics, pumps, valves, and instrumentation.

Ability to safely check out interdisciplinary systems prior to production implementation.

Startup, pilot-line, or high-rate manufacturing experience preferred.

Physical Job Requirements - Essential Functions

Hands on work on development hardware.

Long periods of standing, crouching, walking.

Lifting up to 50 lbs.

Why Join Vital Lyfe?

Work on high-impact problems with global relevance

Help scale breakthrough technology in water security and climate resilience

Early ownership in a high growth, engineering led startup

Join a tight knit, mission driven team in a fast-paced environment

Build long term career equity as we grow

Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)

Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.