Senior Automation Technician

What You Will Be Doing

In this role, you'll support the reliability, uptime, and continuous improvement of manufacturing controls systems used to build high-voltage capacitors and integrated modules for Helion’s fusion reactor systems. We’re looking for a Senior Controls Technician to troubleshoot complex automated equipment, support controls-related maintenance and commissioning, and partner with Controls Engineering and Factory Development teams to improve system architecture, maintainability, and readiness for scale.

This is an onsite role in Everett, WA reporting to the Supervisor of Technical Maintenance, and may require schedule flexibility as operations grow toward multi-shift and eventual 24/7 coverage.

You Will

• Maintain, troubleshoot, and restore complex automated manufacturing equipment, including PLC/HMI-controlled systems, instrumentation, drives, sensors, safety circuits, robotics, and SCADA interfaces.

• Support production uptime through rapid diagnosis of electrical, controls, network, and automation faults while following lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and established escalation practices.

• Perform controlled minor updates to PLC/HMI logic, parameters, alarms, recipes, and operator interfaces to support equipment operation, maintenance, and reliability; escalate larger changes through engineering change control.

• Support controls checkout, commissioning, validation, and handoff for new or modified equipment in partnership with Controls Engineering, Factory Development, equipment vendors, and system integrators.

• Improve maintainability by documenting faults, root causes, corrective actions, procedures, and troubleshooting guides in the CMMS and relevant controls documentation.

• Identify recurring controls issues, weak architectures, obsolete components, and support gaps; help define practical improvements that reduce downtime, improve technician leverage, and prepare systems for production scale.

• Other duties as required.

Required Skills

• 5+ years of experience supporting industrial automation, controls, or production equipment in a manufacturing or industrial environment.

• High school diploma or equivalent required; technical degree, apprenticeship, military technical training, or formal controls training may be considered in place of some direct experience.

• Strong hands-on troubleshooting ability with PLC/HMI-controlled equipment, electrical controls, instrumentation, sensors, drives (VFD and Servo), industrial networks, electrically and pneumatically controlled valves and machine safety systems.

• Ability to read and understand electrical schematics and process diagrams

• Experience supporting robotics and SCADA/HMI platforms used in automated manufacturing environments; examples may include Fanuc, Ignition, FactoryTalk, Rockwell/Studio 5000, Siemens/TIA Portal, or similar systems.

• Ability to safely troubleshoot energized industrial systems when appropriate, while following lockout/tagout, electrical safety (NFPA 70E), arc-flash, machine guarding, and site safety procedures.

• Ability to document troubleshooting steps, root cause, corrective actions, procedures, and minor controls changes clearly to support handoff, repeatability, and future maintenance.

• Ability to work assigned schedules as operations evolve, including day, swing, night, rotating, overtime, weekend, or on-call coverage as needed.

• Ability to lift up to 49 pounds unassisted, stand and walk during shifts up to 12 hours, and regularly bend, lift, stretch, and reach below the waist and above the head.

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• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families

• 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break

• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match

• Annual wellness stipend