Automation Controls Engineer

Job description

HADRIAN - MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost. Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built. Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen. If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for. THE ROLE Factory automation is key to Hadrian’s operations. Our team owns the responsibility of designing and delivering elegant equipment solutions that bridge the gap between our core manufacturing processes and the rest of factory operations. We're looking for someone who thrives at the intersection of mechanical systems, real-time control, and software architecture. You'll own the design and optimization of control systems that power our factory automation platform—working alongside mechanical engineers, software architects, and manufacturing teams to ship robust, scalable solutions. You won't just write PLC code. You'll architect the entire control strategy for equipment that moves parts between processes, orchestrates multi-step manufacturing workflows, validates product quality, and feeds data back to our operations teams. Your designs will span motion control, pneumatics, multi-axis robotics, integrated safety systems, industrial networking, and modern software architectures. You'll make tradeoffs between performance and reliability, simplicity and capability, local control and centralized coordination. And you'll do it in a fast-paced environment where requirements evolve just as fast as we do. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Design and implement modular, scalable PLC software architectures across multiple manufacturing use cases - Oversee equipment deployment from design through commissioning in production environments - Develop reusable control libraries and frameworks to standardize equipment design across the organization - Architect multi-axis motion control solutions involving coordinated servo motors, robots, conveyance, and pneumatic actuators - Design robust industrial networking architectures for real-time control and process monitoring - Integrate equipment with high-level systems (SCADA, MES, ERP) to enable data visibility and traceability - Troubleshoot and optimize electrical systems, motor circuits, and power delivery in operational equipment WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - Bachelor's degree in a STEM field (electro-mechanical preferred) or equivalent experience - 5+ years designing and deploying automated industrial equipment - Proficiency programming on different industrial control platforms (Beckhoff TwinCAT and/or Siemens S7 preferred) - Direct exposure to industrial communication protocols (EtherCAT, PROFINET, OPC-UA, ADS, etc.) - Working knowledge of automated equipment safety systems and protocols (TwinSAFE, SIMATIC Safety, FSoE, PROFIsafe, etc.) - Hands-on experience with industrial robot programming and control (Fanuc, ABB, or KUKA) - Demonstrated ability in industrial motion control (servo tuning, VFD configuration, axis coordination) - Ability to design and troubleshoot electrical systems for equipment (24VDC through 480VAC) - Strong collaborative skills working effectively with mechanical, software, manufacturing engineers, and build technicians WHAT WILL SET YOU APART - A forward-looking, object oriented approach to industrial software development - Modern software revision control & CI/CD practices (Git, Copia, Jenkins, etc.) - Experience with relational and time-series databases (Postgres, MySQL, etc.) - Ability to program in a variety of modern software languages (Python, JS, Rust, C#, etc.) - Exposure to machine vision systems for robotic guidance, metrology, or quality inspection - Deep understanding of various core manufacturing technologies (pneumatics, hydraulics, welding, machining, assembly, etc.) - A taste for fast-paced environments, aggressive goals, and bringing fresh ideas to attack unique manufacturing challenges COMPENSATION For this role, the target salary range is $154,000-$266,000 (actual range may vary based on experience). This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and i