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R&D Instrumentation and Controls Engineering Manager

Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Commonwealth Fusion Systems

Software Engineering, Other Engineering
Devens, MA, USA
Posted on Jan 6, 2024
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has the fastest, lowest cost path to commercial fusion energy.
CFS collaborates with MIT to leverage decades of research combined with groundbreaking new high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology. HTS magnets will enable compact fusion power plants that can be constructed faster and at lower cost. Our mission is to deploy these power plants to meet global decarbonization goals as fast as possible. To that end, CFS has assembled a team of leaders in tough tech, fusion science, and manufacturing with a track record of rapid execution. Supported by the world’s leading investors, CFS is uniquely positioned to deliver limitless, clean, fusion power to combat climate change. To implement this plan, we are looking to add dedicated people to the team who treat people well, improve our work by adding multifaceted perspectives and new ways of solving problems, have achieved outstanding results through a range of pursuits, and have skills and experience related to this role.
The role of the Manager of R&D Instrumentation and Controls Engineering is first and foremost to cultivate and develop the I&C Engineers and I&C discipline on the R&D team. They will organize and drive a cohesive instrumentation and control program for R&D and perform as a technical mentor for I&C engineers and test engineers on the team. The I&C manager will be responsible for fully embedding the I&C engineers on the project teams from initialization to completion of the project. They will engineer complete instrumentation packages that deliver accurate and reliable datasets for the tests and controls that ensure tests can safely commence. These systems will be used during integration, development, qualification, and acceptance testing of CFS magnets and other critical SPARC and future components. This person will be expected to carry an individual contributor workload in addition to standardizing and building the I&C tools that the R&D team uses. They must work collaboratively across R&D, manufacturing, procurement, and Program teams to achieve these goals.

This team member will:

  • Manage I&C Engineers and overall I&C workload to meet project deadlines
  • Serve as technical mentor for I&C engineers, a project lead as necessary to meet the unique project demands
  • Coordinate with system owners to identify instrumentation, DAQ systems, and capabilities to meet the needs of identified experiments
  • Monitor health of I&C deployments across test stands and maintain accurate documentation as stands change
  • Standardize I&C documentation and train other engineers on the R&D team in best practices and I&C tools
  • Review and challenge I&C deployments to ensure accurate and reliable data
  • Hire I&C engineers or contractors to meet CFS project needs
  • Expected to carry an individual contributor workload nearly 50% of the time
  • Troubleshoot hardware and software issues in NI and PLC environments

The ideal candidate will have most, if not all, of these requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree in an engineering or computer science related field
  • 3+ years of engineering management experience
  • 5+ years in an integration and test engineering role, working with physical lab equipment
  • 5+ years’ experience designing, testing, troubleshooting, and debugging electronics hardware and test software
  • 2+ years LabVIEW development
  • Experience with a variety of instrumentation such as thermocouples, load cells, vacuum gauges, strain gauges, current shunts, etc.
  • Experience with control systems for test applications including, PID, real time, etc.
  • Experience building HMIs/GUIs
  • Experience developing P&ID, electrical, and wiring schematics and diagrams, and then working with a team to translate these into a functioning system for the acquisition of decision quality data
  • Dedication to safety to mitigate industrial hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, and cryogenics
  • Experience documenting and handing-off software applications, and hardware setups to both internal and external customers
  • Experience assembling and troubleshooting basic electrical and mechanical hardware; and electrical instrumentation (oscilloscopes, signal generators, power supplies for example)
  • Experience with remote communication including industrial automation protocols (e.g. Modbus), TCP/IP, RS-232, GPIB, DAQmx, CompactDAQ, VISA
  • Experience successfully working closely with IT teams, software engineers and research/engineering personnel
  • Strong fundamentals with Python development.
  • Experience with user event structures and concurrency
  • Experience handling controls and indicators via VI Server
  • Experience maintaining or editing existing codebases
  • Experience with time series databases, such as influxDB and grafana

Additional preferred experience and/or qualifications:

  • Experience with Siemens and Beckhoff PLC hardware and software including TwinCAT
  • Signal acquisition and manipulation through DAQ systems
  • Time synchronization between various systems and processes
  • Ability to occasionally lift up to 50 lbs
  • Perform activities such as typing, stooping, standing, or sitting for extended periods of time
  • Willingness to travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call occasionally
  • #LI-Onsite
CFS team members thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and have demonstrated exceptional results through a range of different pursuits. We all tightly align with our company values of integrity, execution, impact and self-critique. As we grow, we are looking to add talented people who are mission driven and bring diverse perspectives and new ways of solving problems.
At CFS, we deeply value diversity and are an equal opportunity employer by choice. We consider all qualified applicants equally for employment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, protected veteran status, religion, physical or mental disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or any other basis protected by law, ordinance, or regulation.