Controls Automation Technician at Paladin Consulting

Job Title: Controls Service Specialist

Work Location: Houston, TX

Duration: Full time

Education/Experience Required: Associate's Degree in Approved Mechanical or Electrical Program, or proper background as determined by interview

Job Description & Responsibilities

Service Specialists are primarily responsible for various service and support functions around the clock across multiple client accounts. This role typically involves implementation, maintenance, and enhancement of control systems to ensure 24/7 facilities operations. A secondary responsibility is to support project teams designing and implementing customer building automation projects.

Responsibilities

Service and Support

• Perform regular inspections, maintenance, and software updates of control systems
• Identify and address system malfunctions or inefficiencies promptly
• Implement system upgrades and enhancements to improve efficiency and performance
• Continuously monitor service and support channels, including phone lines, email, chat, and ticketing systems
• Track service metrics, performance indicators, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify issues and trends
• Respond to incidents, outages, and service disruptions promptly
• Manage shift schedules and workload distribution to meet service demands and effectively ensure 24/7 coverage
• Act as a point of contact for escalated issues and complex customer inquiries
• Collaborate with technical teams to resolve critical incidents quickly and efficiently
• Develop incident response protocols and ensure they are followed

Instrumentation & Electrical Design

• Create instrument lists by examining P&ID drawings
• Compile submittal and procurement documentation for controls and instrument hardware
• Provide technical support for panel fabrication technicians
• Inspect completed control enclosures

System Design and Configuration

• Participate in customer design review meetings
• Assemble development system using project hardware and computers
• Configure user interface and HMI screens
• Configure DDC, PLC and/or DCS control algorithms
• Draft system documentation from templates
• Assist is customer demonstrations and acceptance testing
• Configure networks to interface with equipment.

Onsite System Startup

• Works in a supervised role and/or with a team at a customer site
• Install project software and configuration onto site systems
• Participate in point-to-point loop checks
• Perform instrumentation and software calibration and tuning
• Participate in functional tests of all systems
• Troubleshoot installation discrepancies
• Program field modifications as required
• Assist with developing commissioning test plans and documentation updates/redlines
• Assist with developing training documentation/presentation on operations and maintenance of system

Working Conditions

• Requires on-call rotation to address critical system issues outside regular working hours.
• During on-call rotation assignment, will need to be available 24/7. Out of on-call rotation required to work from Monday to Thursday regular working hours the week after an on-call rotation week. The remaining weeks of the month will work from Monday to Friday regular working hours.
• The role requires travel to different facilities for installation, maintenance, or troubleshooting.
• May include working in shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays.

Skills & Qualifications

• Proven track record as a Service Specialist and experience in service and support operations in a 24/7 environment.
• Associate's Degree in approved mechanical or electrical program, or proper background as determined by interview

Technical Experience (One Or More Of The Following Technologies)

• Controls Experience: Tridium: Niagara N4
• Distech: Experience with BACnet and LON Distech controllers, Eclypse Controllers
• Johnson Controls: Facility Explorer or Metasys controllers
• Siemens: Experienced with Apogee (PXC), Talon Controllers, DXR controllers, Desigo CC or Insight
• Rockwell: FactoryTalk Suite, RS Logix/Studio 5000, familiarity with PlantPAx DCS
• Other useful technologies include: Scripting languages (VBA, Python, etc.)
• Knowledge of Kepware OPC server, ThinManager, VMware is preferred.

HVAC Experience Preferred:

• Basic understanding of HVAC systems in large building automation systems.
• Understanding of sequence of operations and P&IDs for HVAC and plant utilities.
• Experience with functional testing, including the ability to create, maintain, and execute test plans.
• Experience with specifying instrumentation and control valves for HVAC systems