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Senior Controls Engineer, Facilities Engineering

Tesla · Sparks, NV

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Level
Senior
Team
Controls
Degree
Required (or equivalent experience)
Experience asked
8+ years
Industry
Industrial
Posted
13 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

A senior controls role at Tesla (industrial) in Sparks, NV.

They ask for
8+ years · degree required (or equivalent experience)
Tools it names
Root cause, Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), PLC, Automation
Day to day
some off-shift / weekend coverage

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of October 19, 2026

Controls Engineer roles in the US: typical posted base $97k–$143k.

Median of the low and high ends of 252 live postings that list pay, out of 735 controls engineer openings in the US, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

Nevada plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 15 other live controls postings in Nevada.

Experience asked
More than usual (8+ vs 5+)

Similar roles usually ask 5+ years.

Skills these teams ask for most

  • ✓ Automation 81%
  • ✓ PLC 50%
  • Robotics 25%
  • ✓ Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 25%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

It asks for 8+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Off-shift / weekend coverage

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

  1. 1

    Pick 2–3 people on the Controls team at Tesla

    Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.

  2. 2

    Send a short, curious note

    One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.

  3. 3

    Turn a reply into a short call

    Questions worth asking about this team:

    • What does a normal week look like on your team?
    • How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
    • How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
  4. 4

    Apply with someone vouching for you

    If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.

  5. 5

    Bring proof to the interview

    One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Tesla in Sparks

1 other open role at this site.

Full description from TeslaAs posted on their careers site.Show

Responsibilities

  • ◆Own day-to-day sustaining support of deployed facilities control systems — respond to downtime events, diagnose root cause across PLC, I/O, instrumentation, and network layers, and drive permanent corrective actions
  • ◆Learn and maintain fluency in the standardized Facilities Controls Library (function blocks, AOIs and device templates) across Siemens and Rockwell platforms
  • ◆Read and interpret existing sequencer architecture, mode logic, and interlock schemes for utility systems such as chilled water, dry air systems, and chemical refineries; update logic to reflect changing process

requirements

  • ✓Perform PID loop tuning and control optimization on operating equipment to improve system stability, energy efficiency, and equipment life
  • ✓Execute controlled changes end to end: scope, offline simulation/validation, MOC approval, field implementation, verification, and as-built documentation and redlines
  • ✓Own and evolve the deployed facilities control network architecture — maintain ring topology and redundancy schemes, manage device profiles and address plans, execute switch and node replacements without process interruption. Support safety system validation and periodic proof testing on existing safety logic
  • ✓Partner with operations to keep tag data exchange, alarming, and screens aligned as process system changes and perform alarm rationalization and nuisance-alarm reduction on in-service facilities systems to improve operator response
  • ✓Support start-up and commissioning of retrofits and small capital additions, including point-to-point checkout, functional testing, and tuning through system handoff
  • ✓Provide expert on-call support for system outages and failover incidents
  • ✓Mentor junior controls engineers and technicians on troubleshooting methodology, library architecture, and network fundamentals; drive continuous improvement activities with key stakeholders and system engineering groups

Job

Requirements

  • ✓Degree in Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, Control Systems, Computer Science, Automation Engineering or equivalent experience
  • ✓5–8 years of hands-on Controls Engineer experience supporting, troubleshooting, and modifying PLC-based automation systems in a live production environment
  • ✓Demonstrated ability to read, trace, and reverse-engineer existing PLC code written by others following state machines, sequencers, and mode transitions. Proficiency in Siemens TIA Portal (SCL and Ladder) and/or Rockwell Studio 5000 (Ladder, AOI development); strong candidates will have depth in one platform and working fluency in the other
  • ✓Experience working within an established, standardized control code library (function blocks, AOIs, device templates), extending and instantiating standard objects rather than writing one-off logic
  • ✓Strong understanding of closed-loop control, including hands-on PID loop tuning and optimization on real process equipment
  • ✓Experience with facilities or process utility systems (chilled water, compressed air, dry air systems, chemical refineries strongly preferred)
  • ✓Comfortable performing online troubleshooting on running equipment: online edits, trend capture, forcing discipline, and change control on production controllers
  • ✓Strong industrial networking expertise: ring/redundant topologies (PROFINET MRP, EtherNet/IP DLR, RSTP), managed switch configuration and diagnosing comms faults, I/O dropouts, and ring-break events on live networks
  • ✓Hands-on with PROFINET (GSDML device profiles, IRT/RT, topology and neighbor detection), PROFIBUS DP/PA (segment design, couplers/links, termination, addressing), Modbus TCP (register mapping, gateways, third-party skid integration), and EtherNet/IP. Familiarity with SCADA/HMI platforms (Ignition preferred), including tag architecture and client/gateway troubleshooting
  • ✓Working knowledge of machine and process safety concepts (safety PLCs, safety-rated I/O, functional safety standards) preferred
Show full description ↓

Category Construction & Facilities Location Sparks, Nevada Requisition ID 278857 Type Full-time Job Description

Tesla is seeking a highly motivated Sr. Controls Engineer for Gigafactory NV in the Reno/Sparks area. The Gigafactory Facilities Controls team drives to optimize the factory by developing, standardizing, and deploying the control systems behind large-scale utility and facilities infrastructure including chilled water plants, dry air systems, chemical refineries and manufacturing tool cooling water systems — in support of highly innovating manufacturing processes.

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