Sr. Controls Engineer - OT SCADA Projects
- Compensation
- Not disclosed
- Location
- California, United States; Berkeley, California, United States
- Work setup
- Remote
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Not specified
- Experience
- 5+ years
- Category
- Industrial engineering
- Posted
Skills
Must have
- Education & Experience
- • Bachelor’s degree or higher in Engineering, Control Systems, Computer Science, or related field
- • 5+ years of IEC 61131-3/PLC programming experience, preferably in Codesys or AcSELerator environment
- • 3+ years of utility-scale renewable power plant controls experience (solar, BESS, or hybrid), including project-specific development work, Factory Acceptance Test (FAT), commissioning and Site Accep
- Technical Skills
- • Expert IEC 61131-3 programming; primary tooling is AcSELerator (SEL controllers) and Codesys, including Diagram Builder, traces, breakpoints, and watch lists
- • Extensive knowledge of industrial protocols: Modbus-TCP, DNP3, OPC-UA, C37.118, etc.
- • Expert knowledge of grid functionality: Primary Frequency Response (PFR), Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR), Active/Reactive power closed loop control, and capacitor bank functionality – including
- • Proficiency with Utility/ISO testing and interconnection requirements (ERCOT, PJM, BPA, IEEE 2800, NERC, etc.)
- • Experience with Power Plant Controller (PPC) design, configuration, and commissioning
- • Familiarity with PSCAD, PSSE, and/or TSAT modeling processes for utility-scale sites
- • Experience with hardware in the loop (HIL) hardware, such as RTDS, OPAL-RT, Speedgoat, Typhoon, etc.
Full description
What We Do
At Terabase Energy, we believe that digitalization and automation will drive the next wave of innovation and cost reduction in large scale solar. To fully unlock the potential of this opportunity, Terabase is developing an interconnected software and construction automation platform. We work alongside project developers, owners, and engineering & construction firms to support the design, optimization, and construction of huge solar projects around the world. Our team is a blend of solar-industry veterans and newbies, thought-leaders, dreamers, software, electrical and mechanical engineers, coders, product managers, project managers, and sales and marketing professionals. We are based in Northern California, with several other offices in the United States and around the world. If all of this piques your interest, we’d love to hear from you!
Position Overview
The Sr. Controls Engineer – OT SCADA Projects leads the design, configuration, commissioning, and support of plant control systems for utility-scale solar, storage, and hybrid renewable energy projects. This engineer works with minimal oversight, applies expert knowledge of grid functionality and Utility/ISO standards, mentors junior engineers, and contributes to product standards. Approximately 80% of this role is project execution, while up to 20% is continuous improvement and product development.
ResponsibilitiesProject Execution & Technical Delivery (~80%)
- Lead end-to-end controls design for utility-scale solar, BESS, and hybrid projects, including review of the project scope to identify project-specific requirements and deviations from the standard Terabase controls product offering.
- Program and commission SEL controllers using AcSELerator; develop control logic in Codesys using IEC 61131-3 structured text and continuous function charts
- Follow the controls development process for any project-specific development work, including documentation of requirements, logic development, testing in a simulated/lab environment and documentation of test results.
- Implement and validate closed-loop Active Power and Reactive Power, AVR and PFR Algorithms
- Maintain version control for all code artifacts according to established version control procedure (Bitbucket)
- Efficiently troubleshoot complex SCADA and controls issues using Wireshark, breakpoints, cross-reference, and watch list tools
- Produce project deliverables: System Architecture Diagrams, Control Narratives, Logic Diagrams, commissioning documents, and operator manuals
Product & Process Improvement (~20%)
- Contribute to new feature development and bug fixes in collaboration with the Product Engineering team
- Review documentation prepared by junior controls engineers (technical and non-technical)