Controls Engineer (Electrical) - Offshore Oil & Gas

About the role

The Controls Engineer (Electrical) leads the electrical, instrumentation and controls scope of engineered packages for topsides and subsea applications in the offshore oil and gas industry. The role combines electrical design, PLC programming, system integration, testing and troubleshooting with project coordination and client management, working on site in Houston with occasional travel for FAT and site activities.

Key responsibilities

• Design electrical enclosures, PLC control panels, motor starters, power distribution systems and junction boxes, including schematics, wiring diagrams, panel layouts, cable schedules and bills of materials.
• Ensure designs comply with hazardous-area requirements (NEC Articles 500 and 505, IEC 60079, Class I, Division and Zone classifications).
• Develop, modify, review and troubleshoot PLC logic for pumps, interlocks, alarms, permissives and shutdowns, and associated HMI applications.
• Integrate instrumentation (pressure, level, flow, temperature) and configure Modbus RTU/TCP, EtherNet/IP and PROFINET.
• Lead FATs, troubleshoot control system issues and support SAT and commissioning.
• Manage projects from kickoff to shipment, coordinating schedules, budgets, procurement, change orders and progress reporting.
• Act as technical point of contact for clients and prepare technical documentation such as test procedures, functional descriptions and as-built records.
• Work with mechanical, fabrication, procurement and technical teams, and contribute to standardised designs, reusable PLC code templates and engineering tools.

Required profile

• At least 5 years of hands-on electrical and controls engineering experience in industrial automation, preferably oil and gas, petrochemical or packaged equipment.
• Experience designing, building, testing and commissioning control systems, ideally as a systems integrator.
• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering or a related discipline; about 15 years of strong relevant experience may substitute for a degree.
• Willingness to work on site in Houston, Texas, with occasional travel.

Required skills

• Rockwell PLC (Studio 5000, ControlLogix, CompactLogix) and/or Siemens (TIA Portal, S7-1200, S7-1500) with hands-on troubleshooting.
• NFPA 70 (NEC), UL 508A and hazardous-area standards.
• AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN.
• Nice to have: API RP 14C, API RP 500/505, safety instrumented systems (IEC 61511 / ISA 84), VFD/HMI configuration (FactoryTalk View, WinCC), and PE/EIT or PMP/CAPM.