Control Systems Engineer

Samsara Eco Pty Limited is seeking a Control Systems Engineer for a full-time, onsite role in Melbourne VIC.

Samsara Eco's mission is to repair the planet through infinite plastic recycling. This mission motivates the team to dedicate their time and energy daily. The company is a biotech innovator focused on recycling 10 billion tonnes of plastics and textiles from landfill infinitely, creating a circular loop for various products and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

This role is a hands-on position focused on designing, building, and maintaining measurement, control, and automation systems for R&D reactors and process equipment. You will collaborate with scientists, chemical engineers, and the wider engineering team to ensure accurate instrumentation, reliable control, and data integrity for scale-up decisions. You will review, refine, and extend existing instrumentation and automation to enhance reliability, standardisation, and scalability. The role requires comfort with ambiguity, pragmatic engineering decisions, and rapid iteration as technology evolves.

Responsibilities:

• Control Systems & Automation
• Design, configure, and commission PLC/DCS-based control systems for bench-scale and pilot-scale process equipment.
• Develop control strategies, including PID loops, sequences, interlocks, and alarms, suitable for the process stage and safety requirements.
• Build SCADA/HMI interfaces for clear real-time process visibility for scientists and engineers.
• Automate repetitive experimental procedures to improve reproducibility and reduce operator burden.
• Data Acquisition & Integration
• Design and implement data acquisition systems (DAQ) to capture high-quality, time-stamped process data.
• Integrate control and instrumentation systems with broader data infrastructure, such as data historians, LIMS, and lab notebooks.
• Collaborate with data science or research teams to ensure data formats, sampling rates, and metadata meet analytical requirements.
• Instrumentation Design & Commissioning
• Specify, procure, install, and commission instrumentation for R&D reactors and process rigs, including sensors for temperature, pressure, flow, pH, dissolved gases, and other bioprocess parameters.
• Develop P&IDs and instrumentation schedules in collaboration with process and chemical engineers.
• Ensure all instrumentation meets the measurement accuracy and response time requirements of experimental protocols.
• Establish and maintain calibration, validation, and maintenance regimes for all field instruments.
• Process Safety & Functional Safety
• Apply functional safety principles, aligned to IEC 61511 / IEC 61508 where appropriate, in the design of safety instrumented functions.
• Conduct hazard and operability studies (HAZOP) and contribute to risk assessments for new process equipment.
• Ensure all C&I systems comply with relevant safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Scale-Up Support
• Partner with the process engineering team to define instrumentation and control requirements for pilot and demonstration-scale facilities.
• Contribute to engineering design packages (conceptual through to detailed) for scale-up projects.
• Evaluate and recommend automation architectures suitable for pilot and future commercial scale.
• Support technology transfer activities, including producing C&I documentation for third-party engineering firms and contractors.
• Documentation & Standards
• Produce and maintain high-quality C&I deliverables: P&IDs, loop diagrams, instrument data sheets, cause and effect matrices, and control narratives.
• Establish C&I standards, templates, and best practices for the organisation from the ground up.
• Maintain a central instrument register and asset management records.

Skills and Competencies:

• Degree in Instrumentation & Control Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Chemical Engineering.

Reporting Line: The position reports to the Engineering Manager. Ideal Start Date: As soon as possible. Location: Melbourne VIC Work Type: Full-time, onsite. Application Instructions: Please submit your CV and a cover letter.