At Aircapture we’re creating and scaling a circular carbon economy to solve what we believe to be our lifetime's most pressing challenge: the climate crisis. We supply commercial and industrial customers with clean CO2 captured from our atmosphere to radically improve the environment, our economy, and our lives. We value building a team of people who represent diverse backgrounds--be it thought, education, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation--to reach our goals. Thank you for considering us.
We are seeking a super skilled and detail-oriented Automation Controls Engineer to design, implement, and maintain control systems used in novel direct air capture “DAC” systems. You have experience in ladder programming for PLCs, HMI development, controls circuit design, and data logging programming. You will be responsible for ensuring our systems operate safely, efficiently, and meet performance targets. This role is onsite at our development and production facility in Berkeley, California. If you are excited to have a major impact at a groundbreaking climate technology startup, this is the role for you!
This role includes approximately 10%-20% travel per year.
Salary: $125,000-$160,000 per year
What You’ll Do Here
- Develop, modify, and troubleshoot ladder logic programs for various PLC platforms (e.g., Allen Bradley, Siemens, Schneider). Create custom control logic for automation systems
- Design and configure Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) to monitor and control manufacturing equipment. Customize the display screens for operational efficiency and ease of use
- Design, review, and implement electrical control circuits, including selecting components (relays, sensors, switches, VFDs, etc.) and developing schematics using CAD tools
- Ensure seamless integration between PLCs, HMIs, and other field devices such as sensors, actuators, and communication protocols (e.g., Modbus, Ethernet/IP, Profibus)
- Design and implement data logging systems to record operational data from industrial processes. Work on data collection, visualization, and analysis to improve system performance and troubleshooting
- Perform Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) and Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) for control systems. Commission systems at customer sites and ensure smooth startup--onsite commissioning will require 10%-20% global travel per year
- Diagnose and resolve issues related to automation and control systems. Provide support to operations teams for corrective and preventive maintenance
- Create and maintain comprehensive documentation, including control system designs, ladder logic, wiring diagrams, and operation manuals
- Work closely with mechanical and electrical teams, project managers, and customers to ensure systems meet technical specifications and project timelines
Your Skills and Abilities Include
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems, Automation Engineering (or a related field), or equivalent experience
- 5+ years of experience in PLC programming and automation systems, designing and building HMI interfaces for industrial applications
- Hands-on experience with controls circuit design and electrical schematics and knowledge of data logging software and data management systems
- Proficiency in ladder logic programming for PLCs such as Allen Bradley, Siemens, etc.
- Familiarity with HMI/SCADA software (Wonderware, Ignition, Rockwell FactoryTalk)
- Strong knowledge of control circuit design, including electrical standards and safety
- Familiarity with communication protocols (Ethernet/IP, Modbus, Profibus)
- Proficiency in CAD tools for electrical schematics and control panel layouts
This position requires physical activities including climbing stairs or ladders, stooping, crouching to work on equipment, operating machinery and lifting and carrying loads of 50 lbs or more.
Aircapture strives to create a safe, inclusive, equitable and diverse workplace. Every teammate adds to who we are, diversifying our ideas, experiences and viewpoints and makes us stronger. We hope you feel welcome here.
Attention recruiters and staffing agencies: We are currently managing our recruitment process independently and are not seeking assistance from external agencies for this position. Please refrain from contacting our organization regarding this job posting. We will not respond to unsolicited inquiries. Thank you for your cooperation.
Top Skills
What We Do
Aircapture’s modular, on-site technology captures climate-changing CO2 from the air, and puts it directly into our customers' production processes. The result is a greener, cleaner and cheaper product that can help their businesses go carbon neutral, or even negative.
Previously, commercially available CO2 was produced and distributed only in ways that generate large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, result in product impurities and include the often-substantial friction costs from transportation.
For every tonne of delivered CO2, we estimate two or more tonnes of CO2 are emitted into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and creating significant supply chain emissions, the cost of which are likely to materially increase.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions alone is not enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Atmospheric carbon dioxide removal addresses legacy emissions and drives the development of critical, sustainable carbon-negative infrastructure.
By utilizing atmospheric CO2, we can actually turn back the hands of time – reversing much of the damage that has already been done – while enabling our customers to economically build new carbon-to-value industries and alleviate energy poverty on a global scale.
Our mission is to use Direct Air Capture (DAC) to help achieve these goals. DAC can be sited practically anywhere. There are no natural or technical limits to its scale, the quantity of carbon dioxide it removes is verifiable and it is cost-effective today
