1. Vital Lyfe
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  3. Automation and Controls Engineer
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Role description

Automation and Controls Engineer

Vital Lyfe logoVital Lyfe
TypeFull-time
WorkplaceOn-site
SenioritySenior
Salary$140,000–$170,000

Company info

Vital Lyfe logo

Vital Lyfe

At Vital Lyfe, we’re tackling the global water crisis by developing innovative, desalination devices designed for efficiency and accessibility. Founded by a team of experienced engineers, we’re committed to delivering cutting-edge technology that provides clean water solutions for underserved communities, disaster relief, and sustainable living. Our mission is to make a measurable impact on global water scarcity while inspiring change through innovation and purpose-driven design.

Seed
HQHawthorne, US
Size40 employees
IndustryClimate Technology Product Manufacturing
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Posted5/5/2026
Engineering

About Vital Lyfe

Vital Lyfe is a tech company redefining water autonomy through innovation, creating a new category of personal water making technology built to scale where infrastructure can’t.

What You'll Do

  • Design, develop, commission, and manage automation and controls projects for manufacturing, product testing, reliability testing, and end-of-line validation.

  • Help define Vital Lyfe’s controls strategy, including what PLC, HMI, SCADA, data acquisition, fieldbus, and factory software systems we should standardize on as we scale.

  • Architect, write, and debug PLC and controls code that is organized, documented, maintainable, reusable, and appropriate for high-volume manufacturing.

  • Design and commission automated equipment and test systems involving pumps, motors, valves, sensors, pressure, flow, thermal systems, and electrical instrumentation.

  • Keep our factory safe and reliable by implementing compliant safety systems for automated equipment, motion systems, pressure systems, and electro-mechanical assemblies.

  • Generate simple HMI screens, electrical designs, documentation, schedules, and budgets that help teams operate, troubleshoot, and scale factory systems.

What We're Looking For

  • Bachelor’s degree in engineering, physics, computer science, or a related technical discipline.

  • 5+ years of experience in industrial automation, factory automation, automated test systems, or controls system design and implementation.

  • Comfort working in ambiguity and making tradeoffs with incomplete information.

  • Bias toward action, ownership, and practical engineering solutions.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Ability to help select the right automation architecture, controls platform, and factory software tools for a fast-moving manufacturing environment.

  • Experience with electromechanical systems, automated test stands, manufacturing equipment, reliability rigs, or end-of-line test systems.

  • Electrical sizing of motors, cables, circuit protection, VFDs, motor starters, drives, and other motion systems.

  • Design of fail-safe electrical circuits using safety PLCs, safety-rated relays, interlocks, e-stops, and other machine safety devices.

  • Hands-on troubleshooting experience using tools such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, EMI probes, and industrial network diagnostic tools.

  • Proficiency understanding and creating electrical schematics, panel layouts, wiring diagrams, I/O lists, and single-line diagrams.

  • Experience with fieldbus networks, serial communication, Ethernet communication, and industrial protocols such as EtherCAT, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, Modbus, or CAN.

  • Hands-on experience designing and commissioning high-quality electrical panels and electro-mechanical systems.

  • Knowledge of NEC, NFPA, OSHA, UL508A, and related control system safety standards.

  • PLC programming experience; Beckhoff TwinCAT, Rockwell, Siemens, Codesys, Omron, or similar experience is valuable.

  • Experience with HMI, SCADA, MQTT, OPC-UA, Ignition, SQL databases, machine health monitoring, and factory data systems.

  • Experience applying industrial software to mechanical assemblies, electrical systems, sensors, pneumatics, hydraulics, pumps, valves, and instrumentation.

  • Ability to safely check out interdisciplinary systems prior to production implementation.

  • Startup, pilot-line, or high-rate manufacturing experience preferred.

Physical Job Requirements - Essential Functions

  • Hands on work on development hardware.

  • Long periods of standing, crouching, walking.

  • Lifting up to 50 lbs.

Why Join Vital Lyfe?

  • Work on high-impact problems with global relevance

  • Help scale breakthrough technology in water security and climate resilience

  • Early ownership in a high growth, engineering led startup

  • Join a tight knit, mission driven team in a fast-paced environment

  • Build long term career equity as we grow

Location Requirement: Ability to work 100% onsite in Torrance, CA (remote or hybrid work will not be considered)

Vital Lyfe is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Vital Lyfe is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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Latest funding
Seed · Dec 16, 2025
Investors
InterlagosGeneral Catalyst
Tech stackc10, aws-iot, jazzhr, matlab, broadly, react-native, microsoft-powerpoint, cplusplus, nodejs, thrive, attribution, hubspot, effector, microsoft-typescript, react, python, solidworks, sap, flutter, canva

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