Automation Engineer

Lace Lithography is seeking a talented and experienced Senior Automation Engineer to join our Instrumentation Control team in Bergen. In this role, you will lead the introduction and development of a robust industrial automation layer for our laboratory and production systems, strengthening system control, operational reliability, and fail-safe behavior.

As our lithography platform grows, we are strengthening the automation and control infrastructure required for reliable, safe, and scalable system operation. This role will contribute to the design and implementation of robust industrial control solutions, including equipment coordination, monitoring, interlocks, alarm handling, and fail-safe mechanisms.

This is not a narrowly defined PLC programming role. You will help determine where industrial automation adds the most value, define clean interfaces between PLCs and higher-level software, and contribute to an architecture that can evolve as our technology and roadmap mature. The ideal candidate brings hands-on PLC experience together with the ability to contribute in a general-purpose programming language such as Rust or Python.

This is a high-impact position suited to an engineer who is comfortable moving between architecture, implementation, commissioning, and hands-on troubleshooting of complex physical systems. You will work closely with physicists, electrical engineers, and hardware developers to build automation systems suitable for high-reliability laboratory and semiconductor environments.

Key Responsibilities

This list is not exhaustive; additional duties may be assigned as needed.

• Automation Architecture: Define and evolve the PLC-based automation layer for Lace’s instrumentation systems, establishing clear responsibilities and interfaces between industrial controllers, embedded devices, and higher-level software.

• PLC and Control Logic Development: Design, implement, test, and maintain PLC applications for equipment sequencing, subsystem coordination, interlocks, alarms, diagnostics, and controlled recovery from faults.

• Hardware-Software Integration: Build reliable interfaces between PLC systems and the wider control platform using appropriate industrial communication protocols, APIs, and data models while preserving modularity and technology flexibility.

• System Integration and Commissioning: Lead hands-on integration, commissioning, validation, and troubleshooting of automated subsystems involving sensors, actuators, motion systems, instrumentation, and supporting equipment in the Bergen lab.

• Testing and Reliability: Establish automated testing, simulation, hardware-in-the-loop testing, failure-injection approaches, and commissioning procedures that improve the reliability and maintainability of the control system.

• Technology Evaluation and Roadmap: Evaluate PLC platforms, industrial automation technologies, and architectural options. Help define a pragmatic long-term roadmap without prematurely locking the organization into a single technology or vendor.

• General Software Development: Bridge the gap between industrial controllers and higher-level systems by writing, reviewing, and maintaining code in general-purpose languages (such as Rust or Python), ensuring seamless data exchange and robust API design.

Qualifications

Required:

• Education & Experience: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Automation, Electrical Engineering, Control Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, plus 5+ years of professional experience delivering PLC-based automation systems through the full engineering lifecycle.

• Core Industrial Control: Deep practical knowledge of PLC programming, sequential control, state machines, interlocks, alarm management, fault handling, and safe-state behavior.

• Hardware Integration: Hands-on experience integrating sensors, actuators, motion systems, remote I/O, and industrial hardware, alongside a strong understanding of industrial communication networks and protocols.

• Software Engineering Skills: Proficiency in at least one general-purpose programming language (preferably Rust or Python). Familiarity with modern software practices, including version control (Git), code review, automated testing, and modular design.

• Systems-Level Troubleshooting: Strong ability to diagnose complex, cross-domain interactions spanning software, controllers, electronics, and physical hardware.

• Working Style: Excellent collaborative and communication skills. Comfortable working in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary environment.

Preferred:

• Advanced Ecosystems: Experience with Beckhoff automation technology, specifically TwinCAT and EtherCAT.

• Complex Instrumentation: Background in precision motion control, signal acquisition, vacuum systems, process equipment, or semiconductor/advanced manufacturing environments.

• Safety & Compliance: Experience with functional safety, machinery risk assessment, safety PLCs, and relevant standards (IEC 61508, IEC 62061, or ISO 13849). Ability to interpret electrical schematics and control-cabinet documentation.

• Advanced Testing: Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, digital twins, automated commissioning, or failure-injection testing.

Our team here at Lace:

…consists of amazing people who’ve joined us from all over the world, driven by intense curiosity, the urge for exploration, and a desire to push the limits of physics. We promise to offer you a place among highly motivated Lacers, present you with extremely difficult problems-and have a lot of fun solving them.

Workplace & culture:

Lace operates out of two beautiful, vibrant, and strong-willed cities. Although we are cities apart, we strive to make the team feel as one.

We don’t define values-but we have one universal expectation:

Be the best team player you can be.

Perks and Benefits:

Part of the team, part of the company

Competitive salary + equity through our incentive plan.

Feel-good perks

€50 monthly gym allowance, weekly team lunches, monthly social events, and annual off-site with the whole team.

Personal Development

Quarterly development goals with your manager and your own budget to learn and grow.

No journey without travelling

We support relocation and immigration to make joining Lace as smooth as possible.