Senior Automation and Controls Engineer
Job Description
Description
Bolder Industries
Lead Automation and Controls Engineer
Join Bolder Industries - Where Innovation Meets Impact
About Us
Bolder Industries is redefining the rules of sustainable manufacturing. We deliver traceable, mass-balanced circular solutions for the rubber, plastics, and petrochemical sectors - transforming end-of-life tires into high-value materials used by global brands across more than 3,000 applications.
With proven technology, a strong commercial track record, and rapid global growth, Bolder leads the industry in circularity at scale. Executives join for the mission and stay for the people. We have a bold, collaborative culture driven to make a difference. If you're ready to lead innovation and scale global impact, this is where bold ideas meet real results. Bolder Industries is ISO 9001 certified and holds a Bronze EcoVadis rating. Visit to learn more.
Position Summary
The Senior Automation and Controls (I&C) Engineer - Corporate Engineering (Chemical Manufacturing) provides enterprise-level technical leadership for instrumentation, process control, and automation systems across multiple chemical manufacturing sites. This role establishes and governs corporate standards, leads high-impact capital projects, and supports sites in ensuring safe, reliable, and compliant operation of control systems governing hazardous chemical processes. Operating within a multi-site environment, the position acts as a technical authority for DCS, SIS, and critical analytical instrumentation, balancing site-specific needs with standardization, scalability, and lifecycle optimization.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Engineering
- Lead the design, specification, and lifecycle management of instrumentation and control systems for chemical processing units, utilities, and offsites.
- Develop and maintain control philosophies, Functional Design Specifications (FDS), cause-and-effect matrices, interlock narratives, and alarm rationalization documentation.
- Design DCS, PLC, and SCADA architectures with appropriate redundancy, segregation, and high-availability strategies.
- Support control strategies in accordance with ISA-88, including recipe management and phase logic where applicable.
- Oversee factory acceptance testing (FAT), site acceptance testing (SAT), commissioning, startup, and post-startup optimization.
Safety, Compliance & Reliability
- Design, validate, and maintain Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) in accordance with IEC 61511/61508 and company process safety standards.
- Participate in and support HAZOP, LOPA, PHA revalidation, and SIL determination activities.
- Ensure compliance with applicable regulations and standards including OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, NFPA, API, IEC, ISA, and local authority requirements.
- Implement and maintain alarm management programs in accordance with ISA-18. 2 and EEMUA 191.
- Improve unit reliability and availability through diagnostics, preventive maintenance strategies, and control system lifecycle management.
Project Delivery
- Serve as the corporate A&C discipline lead for multi-site capital projects, including new units, expansions, and technology transfers.
- Develop corporate project execution standards and engineering work processes for automation and controls.
- Support front-end loading (FEL/FEED), technology evaluations, and business case development.
- Provide technical oversight for EPCs and system integrators across multiple sites, ensuring consistency and quality.
- Support global procurement strategies, preferred vendor selection, and lifecycle cost optimization.
Operations Support & Continuous Improvement
- Provide advanced troubleshooting for process upsets, instrumentation failures, and control system abnormalities in hazardous chemical operations.
- Lead root cause analyses (RCA) related to process control, instrumentation, and SIS events.
- Identify and implement control strategy improvements to enhance yield, quality, energy efficiency, and environmental performance.
- Support management of change (MOC) processes related to instrumentation and control modifications.
- Maintain accurate documentation, backups, version control, and cybersecurity hygiene for OT systems.
Mentorship & Collaboration
- Function as a corporate subject-matter expert and escalation point for site I&C engineers and technicians.
- Mentor site and regional engineers, sharing best practices and lessons learned across the enterprise.
- Collaborate with corporate process safety, IT/OT cybersecurity, reliability, and digital transformation teams.
- Facilitate cross-site communities of practice and technical governance forums.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree: in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, or a related discipline.
- Experience: 8-12+ years of progressive automation and controls engineering experience within chemical manufacturing or petrochemical facilities.
- Hands-on experience: with DCS platforms commonly used in the chemical industry (e. g. , Rockwell PlantPAx, Emerson DeltaV, Honeywell Experion, Yokogawa, Siemens PCS 7).
- Knowledge: of chemical unit operations, continuous and batch processing, and process control strategies.
- Experience supporting: OSHA PSM-covered processes and participating in PHAs.
- Ability: to lead projects and interface effectively with operations, maintenance, and process engineering teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Professional Engineer: (PE) license preferred but not required.
- TÜV Functional Safety Engineer: or equivalent certification preferred but not required.
- Experience: with advanced process control (APC), batch (ISA-88), and MES integration (ISA-95).
- Familiarity: with OT cybersecurity standards (IEC 62443).
Skills & Competencies
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