Senior Software Engineer - Equipment Controls

Senior Software Engineer – Equipment Controls

Location: Wilmington, MA
Type of Role: Contract to Hire (6-month contract, then conversion)

Overview

Looking for a talented and self-motivated Senior Software Engineer to develop, maintain, troubleshoot, and extend machine-control software for novel electro‑mechanical additive manufacturing systems. The ideal candidate has strong C++ and C# experience, is comfortable working close to hardware, and can debug complex real‑time equipment behavior from software, controls, electrical, process, and operator‑facing symptoms.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, maintain, and troubleshoot real‑time C++ machine‑control software for complex control systems, including gas flow control, motion systems, timing and communication systems.
• Develop and maintain C#/.NET HMI, backend, configuration, setup‑wizard, and diagnostics software for complex equipment operation.
• Integrate and debug industrial automation hardware including EtherCAT I/O, safety interfaces, PMAC/Delta Tau motion systems, PLC interactions, sensors, actuators, lasers, and related machine peripherals.
• Support machine bring‑up, commissioning, production troubleshooting, and root‑cause analysis using logs, database telemetry, diagnostics, simulator behavior, and direct machine testing.
• Work with controls, electrical, mechanical, process, optics, manufacturing, and field teams to turn machine behavior requirements into robust software and controls implementations.
• Improve fault handling, fail‑safe behavior, operator messaging, configuration persistence, diagnostics, and recovery workflows for production equipment.
• Maintain and extend shared software libraries and deployment support for multiple machine projects.
• Document designs, handoff notes, test plans, commissioning procedures, and troubleshooting guidance for systems that must be maintained by a broader engineering team.
• Participate in code reviews, enforce practical testing discipline, and mentor less experienced engineers.

Required Experience & Skills

• BS degree in Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 7+ years of relevant professional experience developing software for industrial automation, equipment controls, embedded systems, real‑time systems, robotics, motion systems, or similar hardware‑integrated products.
• Object‑oriented design and analysis (OOA/OOD) with demonstrated ability to translate ambiguous machine requirements into maintainable software designs.
• Strong professional experience with modern C++ in equipment, embedded, real‑time, or other hardware‑adjacent software environments.
• Strong professional experience with C#/.NET for HMI, tooling, configuration, diagnostics, or backend equipment software.
• Ability to independently debug complex software and machine behavior across C++, C#, real‑time systems, industrial I/O, hardware interfaces, logs, and operator workflows.
• Working understanding of industrial automation concepts such as communication buses, sensors, actuators, motion, PLC/safety interaction, interlocks, fault handling, real‑time constraints, and fail‑safe behavior.
• Experience designing or maintaining GUI/HMI systems for complex control systems or production equipment.
• Comfort working directly with machines in a lab or factory environment, including bring‑up, commissioning, issue reproduction, and validation testing.
• Experience with source control, issue tracking, code reviews, and practical test planning for software that interacts with hardware.
• Experience using AI tooling to effectively and safely assist in software development, such as Codex / Claude / Copilot.
• Strong analytical, written, and verbal communication skills; must be able to work effectively across software, controls, electrical, mechanical, process, and manufacturing teams.

Nice to Have

• MS degree preferred; 10+ years of relevant experience preferred for candidates near the top of the salary range.
• Experience with RTOS or real‑time Windows extensions such as IntervalZero RTX, or comparable real‑time control environments.
• Experience with EtherCAT, Beckhoff/TwinCAT, Siemens PLCs, Delta Tau/PMAC, Galil, ACS, or comparable motion/control platforms.
• Experience with gas/vacuum/chamber systems, inerting, O2 safety, purifier/filter systems, pressure control, valves, blowers, or similar process‑control subsystems.
• Experience with laser systems, CNC equipment, additive manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, robotics, test equipment, or other complex electro‑mechanical production tools.
• Experience with SQL‑type database systems and query/debug workflows, including PostgreSQL.
• Experience using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, or similar tools to debug hardware/software interfaces.
• Background in mechatronics, electrical systems, controls engineering, or manufacturing equipment support.
• Python or other scripting experience for automation, diagnostics, test tooling, or data analysis.