Senior Electrical Engineer, Controls

Company Description:

Critical Energy is an innovative, early-stage, venture-backed cleantech company on a mission to accelerate the global energy transition through abundant, low-cost clean energy. Founded by an ex-SpaceX engineer, Critical Energy designs and manufactures factory-built, modular power plants. These rapidly deployable systems convert heat into electricity using a closed-loop thermodynamic cycle and can be installed in just weeks.

Critical Energy’s technology delivers high-efficiency, 24/7 power for geothermal applications and waste heat recovery (including from data center gas turbines), making clean energy practical and cost-effective for demanding sectors like AI hyperscalers and data centers. Backed by top climate and technology investors, Critical Energy is scaling rapidly.

Our Mission:

To build an abundant, low-cost, 100% clean energy future through groundbreaking geothermal innovation.

We are a team of passionate engineers, designers, and visionaries building cutting-edge solutions to meet the world’s energy needs with 100% clean energy. We are in the initial stages of development and building our team. This is your chance to join on the ground floor of something big! If you are ready to work at a fun, fast-paced, groundbreaking organization that is positioned to revolutionize geothermal energy, apply today!

About the Role:

We are seeking Senior Electrical Engineer, Controls to own the design, development, and deployment of the instrumentation and controls of our heat-to-electricity ORC products. You will collaborate closely with the systems and turbomachinery teams to translate CONOPS, safety, and system performance requirements into instrumentation hardware procurement decisions and software control schemes. This role will also be part of the commissioning team, including factory acceptance testing and onsite deployments at customer sites. This is a full-time, on-site position located in our Hawthorne, CA facility.

Responsibilities:

Architect, develop, and commission PLC-based control systems for ORC power plant processes including working fluid pumps, air-cooled condensers, heat exchangers, and auxiliary systems

Design and implement HMI and SCADA applications providing operators with clear process visibility, alarm management, and control functionality

Develop control strategies for key process loops including pressure control, working fluid flow regulation, heat source management, and startup/shutdown sequencing

Specify, select, and integrate field instrumentation including pressure transmitters, flow meters, temperature transmitters, and level devices

Design and lay out industrial electrical control panels compliant with NEC, NFPA 79, and UL 508A, manage panel builds, field wiring, and loop checkout

Implement and maintain safety instrumented functions per IEC 61511 principles including SIL verification, cause and effect matrix development, and SIS logic implementation

Integrate plant devices across industrial communication protocols including EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, DNP3, and OPC-UA

Develop and maintain controls documentation including I/O lists, network architecture diagrams, functional descriptions, cause and effect matrices, and FAT/SAT procedures

Support factory acceptance testing and field commissioning of control systems for future plant deployments

Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineering teams to ensure controls architecture supports plant performance, safety, and reliability requirements

Contribute to development of controls standards, templates, and reusable code libraries to drive consistency across future plant designs

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field

5+ years of hands-on experience designing, programming, and commissioning industrial control systems

Demonstrated PLC programming experience: Beckhoff, Allen-Bradley or Siemens acceptable

Experience with Structured Text (ST) or similar IEC 61131-3 standard language

Experience developing HMI and SCADA applications from scratch with emphasis on operator usability and alarm rationalization

Proficiency reading and producing electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and P&IDs

Experience with industrial fieldbus and communication protocols (EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, OPC-UA, or equivalent)

Familiarity with NEC, NFPA 79, and UL 508A for industrial control panel design

Strong first-principles analytical and troubleshooting skills, able to debug complex system interactions across mechanical, electrical, and software domains

Highly self-motivated with demonstrated ability to drive tasks to completion with minimal supervision in a fast-paced startup environment

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience with ORC, geothermal, Rankine-cycle, or other power generation systems

Experience with VFD-driven motor systems including tuning, commissioning, and integration with PLC control loops

Familiarity with IEC 61511 safety instrumented systems and SIL classification

Experience with data historian platforms and process data infrastructure

Python experience for data acquisition, analysis, or PLC/SCADA integration

Experience with AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN for controls documentation

Exposure to API 670 machinery protection systems

Experience supporting hardware bring-up, FAT, SAT, and commissioning in field environments

NFPA 70E electrical safety certification

Compensation:

Base salary ranges from $140-200k per annum

Equity options

100% company-covered Platinum or HD/HSA (with company contribution) medical

100% company-covered dental and vision

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

401k retirement options

Daily catered lunch

Free EV charging

Several annual social and team building outings