Senior Instrumentation and Controls Engineer

Karman Industries

Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Gardena, California, Karman Industries is at the forefront of revolutionizing industrial thermal energy. Our mission is to electrify global thermal systems across data centers, manufacturing, and energy industries. Karman is developing the revolutionary Heat Processing Unit (HPU) to reinvent thermal handling for giga-scale data centers & AI factories. The HPU is built around a supercritical CO2 chiller system utilizing a high-speed electrically driven turbomachinery core. Our system aims to reduce energy consumption in data center thermal management by greater than 25% and increase energy density by 10x.

At Karman Industries, we are committed to fostering a dynamic and inclusive work environment where innovation thrives. Our team is composed of passionate professionals dedicated to making a tangible impact on the future of industrial manufacturing. Join us in our mission to transform the industry and contribute to a more sustainable world.

Senior Instrumentation and Controls Engineer

Karman Industries is seeking a highly motivated Senior Instrumentation and Controls Engineer (higher-level roles also open based on candidate experience) to help develop automation and control systems for the next generation of electric turbomachinery for thermal energy systems. The successful candidate will own the design, implementation, and validation of control systems for the Karman HPU and future product lines.

This role requires broad technical ownership spanning software, hardware, process design, instrumentation, and test. This role will be responsible for all aspects of control system design from conception, through to successful product integration and operation in the field. We are a team that values first-principles thinking, hands-on problem solving, and close cross-functional collaboration to deliver cohesive, high-performance systems.

Responsibilities:

• Ownership of critical hardware, software, components, and responsibility for every aspect of the design. Demonstrate ownership including manufacturing and assembly of early prototypes.

• Collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to understand the intended operation of Karman machinery.

• Develop state machines, cause & effect diagrams, control narratives, and instrument lists.

• Generate control panel wiring and panel layout schematics.

• Size and select instruments for use in high pressure and high temperature turbomachinery systems.

• Program, test, and troubleshoot PLC/IPC software.

• Develop HMI dashboards for internal and customer use.

• Lead Factory Acceptance Testing.

• Design the network architecture required to integrate Karman machinery with customer sites.

• Analyze and implement compliance and certification requirements for industrial deployment.

• Closely partner with internal manufacturing team and external partners to rapidly iterate and ensure efficient build of systems and components.

• Ensure designs meet performance targets, cost objectives, and program schedules.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, computer science, chemical engineering, physics or related discipline.

• 3+ years of experience in the development of complex industrial, manufacturing, or embedded control systems.

• Demonstrated capacity to drive all aspects of control system development covering both software and hardware implementation.

• Experienced with a range of sensors and transmitters including, pressure, temperature, and flow.

• Expertise in one or more control system platforms, including, but not limited to: Allen Bradley, Beckhoff, Siemens, ABB, Mitsubishi, etc.

• Highly self-motivated, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple priorities with excellent communication skills.

Desired Skills and Experience:

• Master's or higher degree in a related field.

• Experience with high-speed motor applications, including instrumentation and control systems.

• Demonstrated ability to take products or projects from conception through to manufacturing and final operation.

• Competency with Ignition or other similar SCADA systems.

• Knowledge of multiple different field buses: ModBus, Ethernet/IP, ProfiNet, EtherCAT, CANBus, etc.

• Familiarity with turbomachinery design, analysis, and testing.

• Experienced with structured text PLC programming language.

• Deep understanding of manufacturing environments, including hands-on assembly, process development, and design for manufacturability.Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay are determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision & dental coverage as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Karman Industries is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Karman Industries 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