Manager Controls Engineering

Empower Your Future: At MetOx International, we’re pioneering the next era of energy security and abundance through breakthrough superconducting technology. As a Manager of Controls Engineering, you’ll join a dynamic team committed to strengthening the world’s energy systems to make them more resilient, efficient, and reliable.

Based at our global headquarters in Houston, TX, the Manager of Controls Engineering leads the team responsible for the architecture, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of industrial automation and control systems across MetOx's HTS wire manufacturing operations, including MOCVD deposition, buffer-layer coating, lamination, and related vacuum process equipment. This position owns controls engineering strategy for new capital equipment integration, including imported tools such as MGO buffer coating systems, while directing the team's day-to-day sustaining engineering, troubleshooting, and reliability improvement work. The Manager of Controls Engineering owns and enforces MetOx's Instrumentation, Electrical, and Control Systems engineering standard, represents Controls Engineering in capital planning and vendor negotiations, and builds team capability through coaching, hiring, and development planning, ensuring MetOx's automation infrastructure scales reliably alongside production ramp. This is a hands-on technical leadership role that combines active involvement in designing, programming, commissioning, and troubleshooting control systems with leading and developing the team.

Key Responsibilities

Controls Engineering & Automation Strategy

• Owns the controls engineering architecture strategy across MetOx's manufacturing equipment fleet, including PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, industrial networks, and associated automation technologies.

• Personally designs, programs, and reviews PLC and HMI/SCADA code for the most technically complex systems, setting the technical bar through hands-on contribution rather than oversight alone.

• Owns, maintains, and enforces MetOx's Instrumentation, Electrical, and Control Systems engineering standard (ITC-EQS-001), ensuring internal teams, OEM vendors, and system integrators design and commission equipment in compliance with MetOx's approved architecture, components, and documentation requirements.

• Enforces MetOx's standardized control system architecture, including Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix PLCs programmed in Studio 5000 Logix Designer, Inductive Automation Ignition for HMI/SCADA, and EtherNet/IP as the primary communication protocol across new equipment, while maintaining support for existing Siemens and Beckhoff platforms already deployed in the fleet.

• Ensures all equipment incorporates independent, hard-wired safety systems separate from the process control PLC, including properly designed Emergency Shutdown (ESD) circuits, in compliance with MetOx's safety architecture standards.

• Serves as the final escalation and decision-making authority for the most complex controls-related equipment issues, including faults, communication failures, and systemic performance limitations.

• Identifies and prioritizes automation investments that enhance equipment monitoring, process control, data collection, and manufacturing efficiency.

Equipment Integration & Capital Project Leadership

• Leads controls engineering strategy and resourcing for new capital equipment acquisition, including specification review, vendor controls audits, and commissioning of imported and domestically built tools (e.g., MGO buffer coating systems, deposition tools).

• Owns technical requirements and specifications for capital equipment controls in partnership with internal stakeholders and external equipment suppliers.

• Directs the team's most technically complex controls engineering projects end-to-end — scope, schedule, resourcing, and budget — while personally participating in programming, wiring checkout, and commissioning activities.

• Oversees controls-related design reviews, factory acceptance testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), and operational readiness assessments for new equipment.

• Ensures OEM equipment suppliers deliver complete controls documentation packages — including state diagrams, alarm lists, control narratives, I/O lists, instrument indexes, and network architecture diagrams — prior to equipment acceptance.

• Reviews and approves equipment supplier controls designs and deliverables to ensure alignment with MetOx engineering standards and manufacturing requirements.

• Partners with Finance and Procurement on capital equipment controls budgeting, timelines, and risk assessment.

Manufacturing Support & Continuous Improvement

• Directly troubleshoots and resolves complex or recurring controls-related equipment failures on the manufacturing floor and in code, and leads root cause investigations to ensure sustainable corrective and preventive actions.

• Oversees recipe and run-configuration management architecture across manufacturing equipment, ensuring systems enforce validation controls and integrate cleanly with plant-level data and recipe databases.

• Leads initiatives to improve equipment uptime, process repeatability, operational efficiency, and manufacturing reliability through controls and automation upgrades.

• Owns standards for software version control, system backups, configuration management, and disaster recovery of critical automation systems.

• Partners with Maintenance and Operations leadership to advance predictive and preventive maintenance strategies for industrial control systems.

• Evaluates and recommends new automation technologies, control platforms, and industrial communication protocols (e.g., OPC-UA, MQTT) to support scaling production.

• Partners with EHS and operational leadership to maintain safe equipment operation and ensure compliance with applicable standards.

Leadership & Team Development

• Manages the daily activities and performance of the Controls Engineering team, ensuring timely and effective execution of assigned responsibilities and projects.

• Establishes team and individual objectives aligned with departmental and company priorities; monitors progress and holds the team accountable to outcomes.

• Plans and prioritizes work across the team, balancing manufacturing support, capital equipment projects, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Coaches and develops Controls Engineers, providing regular feedback, technical mentorship, and career development support.

• Assesses team strengths, skill gaps, and development needs, implementing individual development plans to build technical depth and bench strength.

• Leads hiring, onboarding, and succession planning for the Controls Engineering function.

• Evaluates team capacity and recommends staffing, training, and resourcing needs to departmental leadership.

• Resolves operational and technical challenges within the team's scope, escalating broader cross-functional issues to the CIO as appropriate.

• Represents Controls Engineering in cross-functional leadership forums, driving alignment with Manufacturing, Process Engineering, Equipment Engineering, and IT/Data teams.

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

• 7 years of progressive experience in industrial controls, automation, or electrical engineering within a manufacturing or industrial environment.

• Prior experience managing controls/automation engineers.

• Demonstrated experience owning controls architecture strategy and leading the most technically complex capital equipment integration projects.

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