Controls & Automation Engineer

Sila Nanotechnologies

Sila Nanotechnologies

Software Engineering
Alameda, CA, USA
Posted on Sep 5, 2023

About Us

We are Sila, a next-generation battery materials company. Our mission is to power the world’s transition to clean energy. To create this future, our team is building a better lithium-ion battery from the inside out today. We engineer and manufacture ground-breaking battery materials that significantly increase the energy density of batteries, while reducing their size and weight. The result? Smaller more powerful batteries that can unlock innovation in consumer devices and accelerate the mass adoption of electric cars to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. We're tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time every day, and together we're redefining what's possible. Are you ready to be a part of a team committed to changing the world?

WHO YOU ARE

As a Controls & Automation Engineer supporting Manufacturing, your technical expertise and leadership will be critical to the success of our existing production line and future factories. Using a combination of equipment, controls, automation, reliability, and operations knowledge, you will efficiently solve production issues at their core as well as suggest and implement improvements to the equipment design. You will play a significant role in our long-term success by leading process throughput, performance, reliability, and safety improvements; ensuring that the manufacturing team can consistently deliver more of our product to a growing list of customers! As we grow and scale our operations, you will have an opportunity to support the design of equipment and systems needed to run our next-generation battery technology factories. You will become an integral part of the manufacturing organization so that together we can make materials to power our future!

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

  • Troubleshoot and provide day-to-day technical support for manufacturing equipment & controls. Get passionate about firefighting, analyzing, and addressing operational challenges.
  • Analyze production performance, investigate upset conditions, lead RCAs, and implement corrective actions to maintain high overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
  • Support and lead cross-functional teams to execute projects that improve equipment performance, reliability, and safety
  • Provide feedback to equipment design teams to affect future equipment and factory design
  • Effectively collaborate with multiple teams to lead the implementation and management of scalable manufacturing systems that drive efficiency, quality, reliability and safety.
  • Act as a servant leader to other manufacturing and engineering team members through focused listening, consistent information sharing, mentoring and development/delivery of training.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS

  • Minimum of 5-7 years of related production or manufacturing equipment experience in the automotive, semiconductor, PV, chemical, refining, pharmaceutical, battery industry or similar
  • Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, controls & automation, or similar field
  • Demonstrated technical understanding of complex production equipment and controls. Has the ability to troubleshoot, problem solve, and analyze data
  • Experience leading project teams and/or managing medium to large scale projects
  • Experience using key manufacturing systems/tools such as Management of Change, Process Hazard Analysis (PHA), Root Cause Analysis (RCA), etc
  • Can effectively manage multiple responsibilities, is self-motivated and can work autonomously with minimal guidance; comfortable with ambiguity and eager to create structure.
  • Excellent listening and verbal/written communication skills

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS

  • Pass a respirator fit test and be able to wear respiratory protection
  • Wear personal protective equipment including, but not limited to, a lab coat, gloves, safety glasses, and hard toe safety shoes.
  • This role may require routine production support during nights and weekends
  • Move long distances (such as from building to building) and be stationary for extended periods of time

The starting base pay for this role is between $137,500 and $174,000 at the time of posting. The actual base pay depends on many factors, such as education, experience, and skills. Base pay is only one part of Sila’s competitive Total Rewards package that can include benefits, perks, equity, and bonuses. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

Working at Sila

We believe that building a diverse team at Sila helps us amplify our individual talents. We are an equal opportunity employer and committed to creating an inclusive environment where good ideas are free to come from anyone. We are proud to celebrate diversity and all qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, national origin, or any other status protected by law.