Controls Engineer

Controls Engineer

Charleston, South Carolina

About Red Metals

Red Metals is rethinking the domestic copper supply chain at a pivotal moment in American industry.

Copper underpins electrification, data centers, and defense systems. U.S. demand already exceeds domestic supply, and the gap is widening as grid modernization, the energy transition, and buildout of AI infrastructure accelerate.

We are building a new model for this critical industrial layer in the United States.

The Role

We are looking for a Controls Engineer to design, build, and continuously improve the systems that run our first copper processing and refining line.

You will build the control stack from first principles, take it through commissioning, and own how the system learns and improves in production. The goal is a plant that gets smarter, faster, and more efficient over time.

What You'll Do

• Architect the control stack, from sensors and edge systems to plant-level control and data infrastructure
• Design and implement control logic for process equipment
• Build a unified data layer across the plant to capture process, equipment, and quality data
• Integrate sensors and advanced instrumentation to enable real-time decision making
• Develop closed-loop control strategies that adapt to variable feedstock and operating conditions
• Work closely with process and mechanical engineers to translate physical systems into controllable, optimizable processes
• Lead commissioning end-to-end, including hands-on debugging, tuning, and system bring-up
• Use data, modeling, and AI/ML techniques to improve yield, quality, uptime, and throughput
• Build internal tools and automation to reduce manual intervention and accelerate learning
• Interface directly with vendors and integrators

Red Metals Non-Negotiables

1. Bias for Action
   We move fast. Speed beats polish. We use every tool, especially AI, to accelerate decisions, execution, and learning.
2. Grit
   We do hard things because they matter. We keep pushing when others quit.
3. Ownership
   We own outcomes, not tasks. We see problems, fix them, and follow through across functions.
4. Signal
   We cut through noise. We communicate clearly and directly so decisions are fast and execution stays sharp.
5. Craft
   We take pride in our work. Quality, care, and precision are the standard.

What We're Looking For

• Degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Chemical Engineering or related field, or equivalent hands-on experience demonstrating controls engineering capability
• 3-8+ years of experience in controls or instrumentation engineering
• Strong fundamentals in control systems, instrumentation, and electrical systems
• Proven ability to build and run real-world control systems, from concept to production
• Hands-on experience with PLCs and industrial control environments
• Experience working with real process data, including data collection, analysis, and using it to improve system performance
• Comfortable writing code and building tooling beyond ladder logic (Python or similar)
• Comfortable working on the plant floor in an industrial environment
• Ability to operate with incomplete information and make sound decisions quickly

Strong Pluses:

• Background in metals, recycling, mining, or heavy industry
• Experience commissioning and scaling first-of-a-kind or non-standard systems
• Experience building data pipelines, monitoring, and internal tools for industrial environments
• Experience applying machine learning or AI tools to process optimization
• Startup or early-stage experience

Why Red Metals

• Build a company from zero, not optimize an existing system
• Direct ownership of critical process and operational decisions
• Work on a problem that matters: rebuilding U.S. industrial capacity
• Small team, high trust, no bureaucracy

Location

This role is based in Charleston, South Carolina and requires on-site work.