Sr Controls Engineer

About the Role & Team

As a Sustaining Controls Engineer, you will have the opportunity to work on the Ride Control aspect of Registered Attractions for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. You will be hands-on, designing, developing, and troubleshooting PLC hardware/modules as well as some smaller scale software coding as needed. This is a highly dynamic work environment with rapidly changing priorities where you will be providing technical direction; delivering troubleshooting resolution; analyzing control system/software hazards; and leading technical projects. In this senior engineer capacity, you will have minimal oversight from leadership, manage tasks independently, and mentor early career Cast. The ideal candidate is passionate about technology, service provider work environments, machine learning, and safety.

Accountable for field engineering support to the Disneyland Resort and supporting departments, including control systems engineering services for ride, show, and other ride-related control systems. These services include: planning, organizing, and leading teams in troubleshooting; problem resolution; system operational enhancements; system reliability improvement; and documentation. Must have sufficient technical knowledge and awareness of details to be able to recognize when technical problems are developing in various disciplines, and to initiate appropriate corrective actions. Respond to mechanical and control emergencies resulting from Attraction downtimes at the Resort.

This position reports to the Sr Manager, Sustaining Engineering.

This is a Full-Time role.

What You Will Do: 

• Respond to attraction downtime, supporting Engineering Services and Operations' urgent needs
• Develop scope for attraction reliability improvement efforts – design, install, testing, documentation, and closeout
• Select systems and equipment that will satisfy design requirements and applicable codes and standards
• Monitor downtime trends looking for targeted areas of improvement for reliability efforts
• Monitor control system performance to ensure systems operate within established performance criteria
• Ability to investigate, troubleshoot, and communicate at the system level and be able to dive into the details when needed
• Responsible for planning, scheduling, conducting and coordinating the technical and management aspects of Sustaining Engineering tasks
• Proficient in troubleshooting PLC software and hardware on complex ride systems
• Understand ride system interfaces and how they relate to the overall operation of the Attraction
• Partner with other Engineering teams on design efforts
• Interact with maintenance teams and operations partners – gathering intel during downtime response and working cohesively on reliability improvement efforts.
• Perform ride system hazard analyses, including fault tree analysis and FMEA
• Ensure compliance with standards and codes: IEEE, NFPA, ASTM, DOSH, NEC/CEC, etc...
• Adhere to Department change process documents and procedures
• Stay apprised of the latest developments in ride control system technology, equipment and materials so that designs specify cost-effective, energy-efficient and reliable systems.
• Ability to work during off-hours/3rd shift hours as needed to support projects/attractions
• Other responsibilities as assigned

Required Qualifications & Skills: 

• Controls Systems experience with 5+ years in the amusement park industry or industrial/manufacturing environment
• Ride element performance analysis: dynamic, kinematic, hydraulic and pneumatic analysis and calculations
• Electronic control systems and signal processing, including familiarity with relays and programmable logic controllers
• Electrical motor controls, including variable frequency drives and soft starts
• Variety of industrial automation PLC's including Rockwell, Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Mitsubishi, etc...
• National and California Electrical Code
• Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory certifications such as UL, TUV, ETL, etc...
• AutoCAD & Ladder Logic
• Object-oriented programming, i.e., C/C++
• Wiring and interconnect diagrams
• ANSI, ASTM, and IEEE standards
• Oral and written communication skills leveraging a variety of technologies including email, text, web applications (Slack, SharePoint, Teams) to update stakeholders on task status and schedule

Preferred Qualifications: 

• California Professional Registration
• Controls circuit design and/or troubleshooting
• PDL - program design language
• ICL - imagineer's control language
• Safety PLCs and safety industrial controls
• Audio/Visual systems
• Systems reliability
• Scripting in C, VB, JS, etc....

Education: 

• Bachelor of Science from an ABET-accredited engineering program in Electrical Engineering or equivalent with a competitive GPA.

Preferred Education: 

• Master of Science in a technical discipline.

Additional Information 

Disney offers a rewards package to help you live your best life. This includes health and savings benefits, educational opportunities and special extras that only Disney can provide. Learn more about our benefits and perks at

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PAY TRANSPARENCY

The hiring range for this position in Anaheim, CA is $130,800.00-$159,800.00 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

This position is with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., which is part of a business we call Disney Experiences.

To learn more about Disney's guidelines on the use of AI for candidates, click here.

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Disney champions a business environment where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a constantly evolving world.

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION FOR EMPLOYMENT APPLICATIONS

The Walt Disney Company and its Affiliated Companies are Equal Employment Opportunity employers and welcome all job seekers including individuals with disabilities and veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation in order to search for a job opening or apply for a position, visit the Disney candidate disability accommodations FAQs. We will only respond to those requests that are related to the accessibility of the online application system due to a disability.

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