---
title: 'Controls & Automation Engineer at Limelight Steel, Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/controls-automation-engineer-limelight-steel-inc-headquarters-xh0n5x2pj2sh'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-30'
---

# Controls & Automation Engineer at Limelight Steel, Inc.

- **Company:** Limelight Steel, Inc.
- **Location:** Headquarters
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-01
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-30
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/limelight-steel/3c21344d-148c-4a16-ba2f-6e12e1ebf748

## Job description

## Role Summary

As an Automation & Controls Engineer at Limelight Steel, you will support the commissioning, maintenance, troubleshooting, and upgrades of the electrical and controls systems for our demo-scale laser furnace and related process equipment.

Roles & Responsibilities

- Support day-to-day troubleshooting, maintenance, and improvement of existing SCADA, and PLC systems.
- Assist with field wiring, panel changes, device configuration, checkout, and commissioning of furnace subsystems.
- Make and test HMI/SCADA updates in Ignition, including screen changes, tag updates, alarm updates, trends, and operator interface improvements.
- Support Codesys PLC troubleshooting, logic changes, I/O mapping, function block testing, and controls verification.
- Create and maintain controls-related engineering documentation, including P&IDs, control narratives, I/O lists, loop drawings, panel schematics, and device settings.
- Integrate and troubleshoot equipment such as lasers, vacuum pumps, chillers, sensors, valves, VFDs, heaters, and other industrial devices.
- Support safe operation of furnace subsystems, including laser systems, high-temperature equipment, vacuum equipment, cooling systems, and power distribution.
- Provide hands-on support during equipment startup, testing, maintenance, and operational troubleshooting.

## Qualifications

- 3–5 years of experience in electrical controls, automation, industrial maintenance, or related hands-on engineering work.
- Working knowledge of industrial control systems, PLCs, SCADA/HMI systems, electrical panels, field wiring, instrumentation, and troubleshooting.
- Ability to read and update electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, I/O lists, device documentation, and P&IDs.
- Strong hands-on troubleshooting skills and willingness to work in the field on wiring, installation, checkout, and commissioning tasks.

## Nice to Have

- Experience with Ignition or similar SCADA platform
- Experience with Codesys or similar PLC platform
- Experience with industrial fieldbuses including IO Link/Ethernet/IP/Modbus
- Experience supporting pilot plants, R&D equipment, or industrial process equipment.
- Experience with lasers, vacuum pumps, chillers, high-temperature equipment, heaters, gas systems, or metallurgical equipment.
- Experience updating control panels, terminating field wiring, configuring sensors, replacing devices, and validating control system changes.
- Mechatronics engineering experience.

## Benefits

- Competitive stock option package
- Comprehensive health benefits that include:
- Full premium coverage for PPO Gold for employees with 80% coverage for dependents
- Full premium coverage for Vision and Dental for employees
- Generous time-off schedule
- 20 days paid time off (accrued according to number of hours worked)
- 10 holidays (personalized to the holidays you observe)
- 401(k) with a 4% safe harbor company match
- 2x weekly catered team lunches
- A team of curious, passionate, kind, and courageous people committed to eliminating industrial emissions that contribute to climate change
- Unparalleled opportunities for growth, leadership, and project ownership in a dynamic and rapidly-growing startup company

## Compensation

Annual salary range for this role is $95,000-$120,000 USD plus meaningful equity, depending on experience and level.

## About Limelight Steel, Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Limelight Steel uses arrays of high-efficiency lasers to electrify primary steelmaking, delivering clean industrial heat that processes iron ore into iron metal with zero direct CO₂ emissions and significant energy savings.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-Seed stage)
- **Headquarters**: Oakland, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2021
- **Founders**: Andy Zhao (Co-founder & CTO), Michael Lwin DuMont (CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Industrial manufacturing / Steel production / Clean energy technology
- Target customers: B2B – steel producers and integrated steel manufacturers seeking to decarbonize their ironmaking processes
- Mission: Eliminate fossil fuels from steelmaking, which currently contributes over 7% of global CO₂ emissions, by providing clean industrial heat specifically tuned for iron ore.

## Products & Services
- **Laser Furnace (Electric Ironmaking Technology)**: A patented photonic furnace that uses laser diode arrays to heat iron ore to >1,600 °C, enabling thermal decomposition into molten iron and oxygen. The system uses commercially available laser components (similar to those used in projectors) to reduce cost and accelerate scale-up.
- **Laser Diode Arrays**: Arrays of small, postage-stamp-sized laser diodes that uniformly illuminate large areas of ore, enabling high throughput.
- **Thermal Decomposition Process**: Replaces the chemical reduction agents (coke/coal) used in blast furnaces with laser-driven heat, avoiding the need for green hydrogen or specific ore grades.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Pre-Seed funding round closed on Dec 6, 2021 (amount undisclosed); subsequently awarded at least one U.S. Department of Energy / ARPA-E grant (reports indicate up to $28 M in federal funding for advanced iron and steel clean-tech).
- **Notable Investors**: Khosla Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Cantos, Incite Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and others. (Website notes “backed by industry-leading frontier tech investors.”)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Named one of *Popular Science*’s “50 Greatest Innovations of 2024”
  - Listed on *Forbes* “30 Under 30 – Energy” (2024)
  - Included in the *Cleantech Group* “50 to Watch” (2024)
  - Featured at the 2025 ARPA‑E Energy Innovation Summit
  - Small, growing team (≈10–20 employees based on published roles and team page).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Patented laser furnace** that processes all commercial iron ore grades (not limited to high‑grade ore or specific feedstocks).
- **Up to 20–40% energy savings** over traditional blast furnaces and competing electric methods.
- **Zero direct CO₂ emissions** – no need for carbon‑based reducing agents, avoiding the massive emissions footprint of conventional steelmaking.
- **Leverages falling laser costs** from the telecom and consumer electronics industries, enabling a path to cost‑parity with fossil‑fuel‑based steel.
- Avoids the scale‑up challenges of green‑hydrogen‑based ironmaking and the ore‑grade restrictions of electrolysis approaches.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale‑up**: Currently operating a laboratory demonstration system with 1.5 kW laser power processing 10–20 g of ore. Next step is a 150 kW pilot capable of producing up to 100 tons of steel per year.
- **Commercialization**: Validate technology at pilot scale, secure additional funding/partnerships with steel producers, and build a first commercial facility.
- Ongoing R&D into laser efficiency, furnace durability, and process integration with downstream steelmaking equipment.

## Why Work Here
- **Impact‑driven mission**: Directly tackle one of the hardest‑to‑abate industrial sectors; every tonne of steel produced with Limelight’s technology avoids roughly 2 tonnes of CO₂.
- **Culture**: The company states it is “building a diverse, courageous, and kind team that is ecstatic about frontier industrial technology.”
- **Team & environment**: Small, cross‑disciplinary team (engineers, scientists, operations) working out of an Oakland lab with hands‑on prototyping and testing. Offers exposure to cutting‑edge photonics, process engineering, and industrial scale‑up.
- **Notable perks**: Not specified; likely a fast‑paced startup environment with equity, autonomy, and direct influence on technology direction.

## Sources
1. [Limelight Steel – Homepage](https://www.limelightsteel.com/)
2. [Limelight Steel – Careers Page](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/limelight-steel)
3. [Limelight Steel – About Us / Team](https://www.limelightsteel.com/about-us)
4. [CB Insights – Limelight Steel Company Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/limelight-steel)
5. [Crunchbase – Limelight Steel](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/limelight-steel)
6. [MIT Technology Review (via CB Insights) – “4 technologies that could be used to produce these chemicals” (features Limelight Steel at ARPA‑E summit)](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/limelight-steel#news)

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