Controls SME, Principal
Hut 8
Salary undisclosed
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Description
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Controls SME is Managed Services' controls and automation expert, embedded in a data center build. The role supports design review, vendor oversight, and commissioning to make sure the control systems are operable, maintainable, and trustworthy at turnover. Controls are the facility's nervous system: when they fail or mislead, operators lose sight of everything else.
Some of the key responsibilities you should expect are the following:
Operability Design Review
Review controls designs, including BMS/BAS, EPMS, SCADA, PLC-based plant controls, CDU and cooling plant controls, and generator, UPS, and switchgear controller integration, through an operations lens. Sequences of operations, failure-mode and fail-safe behavior, loss-of-network and loss-of-controller response, manual and local override, point lists and instrumentation adequacy, alarm philosophy and prioritization, graphics clarity, and OT network architecture and access control. Push back where the design assumes an operator will understand or recover something the system never tells them.
Controls QA/QC and Vendor Oversight
Provide QA/QC oversight of controls scope for new construction and retrofits: review vendor proposals and programming, directly oversee system configuration and component upgrades, and witness factory tests. Hold controls vendors to Hut 8 standards and to the approved sequences, and make sure every modification to a system follows change control.
Construction-Phase Verification
Walk controls installations at key milestones. Flag operability and quality issues to the MEP superintendent early, while they are still cheap to fix.
Commissioning
Witness Level 3-5 commissioning of controls and automation: point-to-point verification, sequence- of-operations testing, controller, server, and network failover, alarm verification, trend validation, and integrated systems testing across mechanical, electrical, and controls, including loss-of- communication and loss-of-BMS scenarios. Review programming through the commissioning process, drive operational findings into the Cx log with clear acceptance criteria, and verify closure personally.
Turnover Readiness
Verify controls turnover packages: as-built sequences of operation, point lists, control and network drawings, programming backups and configuration files under version control, licenses and credentials transferred to Hut 8, alarm setpoint and priority matrices, trend baselines, spare controllers and critical modules, and PM program inputs such as backup routines, firmware updates, and panel power health. Confirm the backups actually restore.
Training
Provide technical controls training and support to Facility Operations staff, and validate that operator training equips the team to use the systems, not just look at them.
Program Feedback
Feed operational lessons into Hut 8 controls standards, point naming and alarm conventions, and the next project's basis of design, and work with other Hut 8 sites and teams to carry standards across the portfolio.
ABOUT YOU
What we're looking for:
- 7+ years of controls experience in programming, start-up, and commissioning of complex systems such as central plants, air handling units, and evaporative cooling and humidification systems. A bachelor's degree or trade certification in a related field plus 3+ years of controls industry experience will be considered in lieu.
- Experience in critical environments, with a working knowledge of critical facility operations and procedure-based work.
- Theoretical and practical understanding of control equipment and systems: design, maintenance, troubleshooting, testing, and construction.
- Working knowledge of the mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems found in critical facilities.
- Sequence-of-operations fluency: you can read one critically, catch the gaps and failure modes, and test whether it behaves as written.
- Experience interpreting blueprints, CAD drawings, and controls diagrams.
- Turnover documentation rigor, especially programming backups, configuration files, and version control.
- Comfortable embedded with a construction team while holding the operations line, and effective in a highly collaborative, cross-functional environment.
Preferred:
- Data center experience.
- PLC programming experience
- IT or networking certification
- Equipment field service engineering or manufacturer representative experience.
- Demonstrated use of AI tools to improve workflows with measurable results, such as efficiency gains or quality improvements.
ABOUT THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
- Full time on-site role.
About this role
Hut 8 is looking for a Controls SME to embed in a data center construction project in St. Francisville, Louisiana, where you'll act as the operations voice throughout design, build, and commissioning. Your core mission is straightforward: make sure the facility's control systems—BMS, SCADA, PLCs, cooling plants, and generator integration—actually work reliably when operators take over. This means reviewing designs for operability gaps, overseeing vendor work and factory tests, walking the site to catch issues early, witnessing commissioning from point verification through integrated systems testing, and validating that turnover packages are complete and restorable. You'll also train operations staff and feed lessons back into Hut 8's standards across the portfolio.
The role demands 7+ years of hands-on controls experience: programming, start-up, and commissioning of complex systems like central plants and cooling equipment. You need to read sequences of operations critically, spot failure modes, and test whether systems behave as designed. You should be comfortable with mechanical, electrical, and life safety systems in critical facilities, able to interpret blueprints and controls diagrams, and rigorous about documentation—especially version control and configuration backups. Data center experience is preferred but not required; what matters is your ability to hold the operations line while embedded in a construction team.
This is a full-time, in-office position. It suits someone who thrives in collaborative, cross-functional environments and wants to shape how a facility actually runs from day one, rather than troubleshoot problems after handover.
How this employer is doing
average
- Bankruptcy or Distress
- Recently Raised Funding
In the news
Hut 8 wins Poolin bankruptcy auction with $140 million bid, blockspace.media
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Pay for this role
The employer didn't post a pay range for this role. That usually means pay is set in negotiation, which favors whoever arrives with numbers. Check ranges on comparable Controls SME, Principal postings in St. Francisville, and analyze any offer before you accept it.
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