Controls Systems Design Engineer

Job Type: Full-time

Agile Space Industries - The Space Test Center is expanding Agile Space Industries’ propulsion test capabilities through the establishment of a new facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while building on the proven control and data acquisition systems developed in Durango, Colorado. This effort is not a departure from our heritage systems. It is an opportunity to thoughtfully adapt, advance, and scale an existing controls and DAQ architecture, while maintaining compatibility, collaboration, and shared technical direction across sites.

We are seeking a Controls Systems Design Engineer based in Tulsa, Oklahoma who can rapidly develop a deep understanding of our existing NI and LabVIEW based controls and data acquisition environment, make sound engineering decisions on how the system must evolve, and lead its continued development. This role will begin with hands on technical ownership and grow into building and leading a high performing team capable of executing with speed, rigor, and reliability.

• Own the end-to-end architecture for control systems and data acquisition across the Tulsa facility, with an eye toward long-term alignment with Agile’s Durango systems.
• Take technical ownership of the existing NI/LabVIEW-based control and DAQ framework, assess its suitability for new requirements, and extend it thoughtfully rather than reinventing it.
• Lead the design and evolution of data acquisition systems, including signal types, sampling rates, timing, synchronization, buffering, bandwidth, and data integrity.
• Ensure engineers and operators can answer both: “How do I get this data?” and “What do I do with it once I have it?”
• Apply sound engineering judgment to instrumentation interfaces — e.g., recognizing when a sensor output, excitation method, or signal level is incompatible with an acquisition circuit and directing appropriate solutions.
• Ensure test data is captured, timestamped, stored, and organized to support real-time operations, post-test analysis, traceability, and future reuse.
• Assess safety and control needs for the Tulsa facility, determine where PLC or SIS functionality is required, and guide implementation with external support as appropriate.
• Define control philosophies, operating modes, and system behavior for normal operations and off-nominal conditions.
• Establish and maintain standards for architecture, tagging, configuration management, documentation, and version control.
• Lead system integration, bring-up, testing, and commissioning.
• Identify risks and gaps early and resolve them pragmatically, balancing technical rigor with schedule.
• As the organization grows, build and lead the controls team, delegating execution while maintaining architectural ownership and technical accountability.
• Contribute to longer-term planning to feed improvements back into Durango, supporting convergence and shared evolution of Agile’s controls systems.

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Controls, Computer, or related engineering discipline.
• Roughly 6–12 years of experience in controls, automation, or test systems (depth and judgment matter more than years).
• Strong hands‑on experience with NI/LabVIEW-based control and data acquisition systems.
• Solid understanding of sensor fundamentals, including common sensor types, signal levels, excitation methods, and basic interface constraints.
• Demonstrated understanding of data acquisition fundamentals, including:
  • How signals are conditioned and digitized
  • How sampling rate, resolution, timing, and synchronization affect usable data
  • How data moves from sensor ? DAQ ? storage ? analysis
• Ability to recognize and prevent common integration mistakes (e.g., mismatched sensor outputs and input circuitry) and guide appropriate design choices.
• Proven ability to quickly understand existing systems, make sound technical decisions, and move them forward without unnecessary rework.
• Ability to work independently early, then scale execution through delegation as resources increase.
• Clear communicator who can translate system‑level intent into actionable technical direction.

• Experience integrating PLC‑based control systems…