Data Center Controls Engineer

Department: Facility Operations 

FLSA Status: Exempt  

Location:  Austin, TX (on-site) 

Reports to: Director of Facility Operations

OVERVIEW 

Element Critical is seeking to add a Data Center Controls Engineer to the Facility Operations team, who aligns with our company values of accountability, integrity, grit, and problem-solving. 

This position participates in a 24/7 operational support model. DC Controls Engineer share responsibility for after-hours support through a weekly rotating on-call schedule that is distributed to all participating on-site team members and managed on a monthly rotation basis. 

This role will be responsible for all things related to controls, including but not limited to design standards, implementation, and project management, and maintaining the company building electrical power management systems (EPMS), automation systems (BAS), and building management systems (BMS) for all Data Centers. You will develop new processes and standards while innovating in the control space. Overall desire is to create reliable and efficient controls (BAS, BMS, EPMS) that serve Operations and Customers. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibilities will include but not be limited to the following: 

• General 
  • Collaborate with design and operations teams to develop and enforce automation logic, ensuring systems meet operational standards. 
  • Manage cross-functional partnerships with internal operations and engineering teams to troubleshoot complex control loop issues.  Utilize 3rd party vendors and contractors to resolve issues. 
  • Assist in procurement related activities including request for quotation/proposals, responding to request for information, assist in review of vendors proposals and submittal processing.  
  • Attend project related meetings, coordinate with project leaders, and regularly report status to management. 
  • Frequent visits to data centers to troubleshoot issues and supervise 3rd party vendor’s work to ensure compliance with the scope, design, and applicable local codes. 
• Create and maintain SOOs and documentation of existing controls infrastructure. 
  • Assemble library of I&C design documents, submittals, as-builts, and O&Ms 
  • Controls equipment inventory: sensors, valves, controllers, etc 
  • Vendors, contacts, contracts, warranties, licenses, entitlements, passwords, 3rd party network access 
• Initial and periodic audit of existing implementations 
  • Security risks 
  • Operations risks (reliability, SLA risks) 
  • Excessive energy or maintenance costs 
• Annual controls opex and capex budgeting 
  • Critical remediation capex 
  • Maintenance contracts 
  • Maintenance capex: end-of-life equipment replacement 
  • Upgrades in support of corporate goals, e.g. energy efficiency, operating efficiency, safety and reliability, reporting 
• Corporate design & operations standards 
  • Develop, document, publish design guidelines 
    • Architecture 
    • Hardware, vendors 
    • Operator interfaces – style guide (ISA 101) 
    • Naming schemes (ISA 5.1) 
    • SOOs 
    • Monitoring 
    • Alerting/Notifications 
• SME and leader for 3rd party implementations (new construction, upgrades/additions, special projects) 
  • Lead scope definition, contractor vetting, pricing review, selection, on-boarding, progress meetings 
  • Lead owner’s submittal and RFI review 
  • Vet change orders 
  • Lead QA/QC during implementation 
  • Lead the commissioning life-cycle for data center BAS, BMS and electromechanical systems, ensuring validation of Building Automation, Building Management, and EPM System to control and monitor HVAC and electrical infrastructure effectively. 
    • Ensure commissioning effectiveness by reviewing scripts, monitoring execution, and reviewing reports & issues 
  • Lead owner’s punch and follow-up 
  • Vet closeout and transition to operations 
• SME and leader for internal support and customer integrations (similar to IT).  Collaborate with and support Facility Ops teams to enable local control within the I&C sandbox for reliability, reporting for efficiency and operations initiatives, as well as managing all training, documentation 
  • Implement and support customer integrations as directed by Customer Ops. 
  • Review results and action items from the quarterly maintenances for BMS and electrical systems and take actions to get them resolved. 
• Operate and maintain all controls hardware & software 
  • Oversee the testing and tuning of mechanical plant controls (chillers, cooling towers, AHUs), ensuring data visibility and system redundancy are maintained through robust SCADA implementations. 
  • Break-fix, preventive maintenance, ongoing tuning and adjustments. 
  • Participate in on-call schedule as secondary escalation to provide immediate BMS and electrical system technical support to in-service data centers. 
  • Troubleshoot and perform Root Cause Analysis or Corrective Action for BAS, BMS and  EPMS system related issues in Element Critical’s data centers. 
  • Per-site and global plant performance reporting 
  • Develop and maintain maintenance program for all controls equipment 
    • Hardware PM (calibrating sensors, stroking valves, etc) 
    • Platform PM (patches as appropriate, backups, etc.) 
  • Specify IT and network resources required by controls applications 
  • Configure and manage EPMS, BAS, and BMS system alarm frameworks, optimize alarm logic, prioritization, and thresholds to reduce false alarms, improve signal-to-noise ratio, and ensure rapid, accurate response to critical infrastructure events to actionable events by the Facility Operations team. 
• Special projects assigned by Manager. 

REQUIREMENTS & QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will possess the following: 

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering,  Systems Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. 
• 5 years of experience in data center or critical facility environment, focused on the commissioning of mechanical systems and industrial controls. 
• 5 years of experience with Building Management Systems, PLC programming, SCADA Architecture (e.g., Modbus, BACnet, industrial networking). 
• Experience managing projects in a Design/Build delivery environment for mission-critical facilities, with a focus on cooling and mechanical automation. 
• Experience with contractors and site safety teams to ensure commissioning activities align with construction schedules and safety protocols.
• Ability to work in an environment that operates 24/7 and participate in on-call rotation
• Excellent communication skills. 
• Travel expected up to ~40%.