Control Systems Manager

About Thea Energy: Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering to create a faster and simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy. The company is reinventing the stellarator using computer-controlled arrays of planar coils thereby replacing the intricate, complex modular magnets required in all other stellarator architectures. Thea Energy is on a mission to create a limitless source of zero emission energy for a sustainable future.

Position Overview: The Control Systems Manager leads the day-to-day development, realization, integration, commissioning, and maintenance of control systems for Thea Energy's technology development programs. The scope includes prototype equipment, experimental test stands, and superconducting-magnet test facilities. The manager converts approved program and test requirements into safe, reliable, maintainable control and data systems.

The manager directly supervises a multidisciplinary team that includes instrumentation engineers, embedded systems engineers, LabVIEW developers, software engineers, data management engineers, industrial controls engineers, technicians, and other specialists. The role combines people leadership, detailed delivery planning, systems engineering, and hands-on work in laboratory and field environments.

Key Responsibility Areas:

• Direct team leadership. Manage and mentor a team of controls engineers, including work allocation, technical coaching, performance management, and hiring as the team grows.

• Program execution. Own detailed controls plans and delivery for assigned technology development programs and test facilities. Maintain schedules, milestones, risks, dependencies, and status; provide resource estimates and escalate conflicts that require changes to portfolio priorities or staffing allocations.

• System design within approved architecture. Develop customized designs for supervisory control, industrial automation, real-time control, data acquisition, timing, embedded systems, data management, and operator interfaces. Apply department standards and submit new architectural patterns, platform changes, and exceptions to the Director for approval.

• Requirements and interface. Translate experimental, equipment, and facility needs into control system requirements, interface definitions, acceptance criteria, and verification plans. Coordinate interfaces with magnet, power, cryogenic, vacuum, mechanical, electrical, safety, and test teams.

• Instrumentation engineering. Guide sensor selection, signal conditioning, isolation, grounding, shielding, channel protection, calibration, and signal segregation for noisy, high-power test environments. Ensure that instrumentation supports safe operation and traceable test results.

• Controls software and data. Oversee LabVIEW, PLC, embedded, middleware, and data system development using approved source control, configuration management, testing, release, and documentation practices.

• Integration and commissioning. Lead design reviews for assigned systems, bench testing, factory and site acceptance testing, installation support, commissioning, troubleshooting, and operational readiness. Coordinate hands-on debug with engineers, technicians, test operators, and equipment owners.

• Reliability and maintenance. Establish calibration, preventive maintenance, backup and recovery, spare parts, obsolescence, and change control for assigned systems. Resolve recurring failures and improve availability and maintainability.

• Vendors and collaborators. Manage day-to-day technical execution of work packages for assigned systems, including submittal review, interface coordination, test witnessing, and acceptance evidence.

• Engineering evidence. Maintain requirements, architecture descriptions, interface control documents, I/O lists, electrical drawings, cable schedules, test and operating procedures, source and configuration baselines, and acceptance records for assigned systems.

• Field leadership. Plan and coordinate controls work in laboratories and industrial spaces. Model safe work practices around energized equipment, strong magnetic fields, cryogenic systems, pressure systems, and other facility hazards.

Ideal Experience and Skillsets:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in electrical engineering, controls engineering, computer science, physics, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Six or more years of relevant engineering experience in integrated control systems, industrial automation, instrumentation, fast data acquisition, real-time systems, embedded systems, or test facility engineering.

• Three or more years of experience directly supervising engineers or serving as an engineering team lead with responsibility for work assignment, coaching, performance feedback, and team delivery.

• Demonstrated delivery of complex controls or test systems from requirements and design through implementation, validation, commissioning, and operational support.

• Strong systems engineering practice, including requirements management, interface definition, verification planning, design reviews, configuration control, and technical documentation.

• Strong foundation in machine protection and high-reliability design, including interlocks, alarms, permissives, fail-safe behavior, fault recovery, and disciplined testing.

• Working knowledge of instrumentation and electrical controls, including sensors, signal conditioning, grounding, shielding, isolation, calibration, and noise mitigation.

• Experience managing schedules, risks, resources, approved supplier work, and competing priorities across several development efforts.

• Ability to communicate technical decisions clearly across physics, mechanical, electrical, software, safety, operations, and program teams.

• Willingness and ability to work directly with equipment in laboratory and field environments during integration, commissioning, and troubleshooting.

Preferred Technical Experience:

• Control frameworks: LabVIEW, SCADA, distributed control systems, and operator interface development.

• Industrial controls: Beckhoff TwinCAT, Allen Bradley, CODESYS, IEC 61131-3 practices, safety PLCs, and industrial I/O.

• Integration protocols: OPC UA, DDS, Modbus, EtherCAT, TCP/IP, message brokers, and documented application interfaces.

• Data acquisition: PXI/PXIe systems, high-speed digitizers, FPGA-based acquisition, event frameworks, timestamping, and low-latency streaming.

• Timing and synchronization IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol, White Rabbit, hardware triggering, clock distribution, and deterministic networks.

• Embedded and software: LabView, C, C++, Python, real-time Linux or other real-time operating systems, hardware interfaces, test automation, and deployment tooling.

• Data systems: Time-series and scientific data stores, historians, metadata, data pipelines, visualization, retention, and access controls.

• Relevant facilities: Fusion devices, superconducting magnet test facilities, accelerators, advanced energy systems, aerospace test systems, or other complex scientific facilities.

Company Benefits:

• Comprehensive health benefits (e.g. medical/dental/vision)
• Employee equity stock options
• 20 days PTO

It’s not necessary to meet all of the skillsets outlined above. Please feel free to send us a note and tell us why you would still be a great fit for this role or Thea Energy.

Diversity and Inclusion: Thea Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a company of diverse backgrounds. By creating a diverse environment, we will bring new ideas and approaches to solving some of the world’s hardest (and most important) problems. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, family or marital status, age, disability, veteran’s status, or other characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations.

150000 - 185000 USD a year