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Staff Controls Engineer

Generac · Sussex, WI · Full time

Posted Oct 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a validation plan you designed that caught a real problem before release.

What they are checking: Whether their testing is thorough enough to protect customers and the company.

Tell me about a time you mentored a less experienced engineer.

What they are checking: Whether they raise the level of the team, which is part of a staff role.

Tell me about a product you helped bring to market. What would you do differently?

What they are checking: Whether they have shipped real products and can reflect honestly on lessons learned.

What would you do

A legacy system has a recurring field issue and no one knows the original design intent. How do you approach it?

What they are checking: Whether they can reverse engineer and improve old systems without breaking what works.

How do you handle electrical system integration issues between controls, power electronics and mechanical teams?

What they are checking: Whether they can lead across disciplines, which a staff-level engineer is expected to do.

About the work

Walk me through how you would tune a control loop on a new product, from model to field.

What they are checking: Whether they combine simulation, testing and judgment to get a stable, robust controller.

How do you use simulation in controls development, and when do you stop trusting the model?

What they are checking: Whether they know simulation's limits and validate against real hardware.

Tell me about PLC programming you have done. How do you structure code so others can maintain it?

What they are checking: Whether they write clean, maintainable logic, which matters for legacy systems and teams.

How do you write functional requirements for a new product's controls?

What they are checking: Whether they define clear, testable requirements before design, which the posting stresses.

How do you weigh cost, reliability and safety when choosing a control architecture?

What they are checking: Whether they can make tradeoffs and back them with cost-benefit and risk analysis.

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The full job description

As published by Generac.

We believe power is a promise - a shared commitment to be there for others when it matters most. For more than 65 years, we've turned big ideas into solutions that help protect homes, strengthen businesses and build a more resilient, efficient, sustainable energy future. Ready to Power a Smarter World with us? Primary Purpose The Engineer IV – Controls (Staff Engineer) is responsible for providing expertise regarding new product development as well as continuous improvement of legacy systems. Day to day responsibilities include control design and tuning, simulation development, PLC programming, and electrical system integration. Additionally, candidates will facilitate product development through design, validation, and release. Major Responsibilities • Designs, validates, and brings new products to market. • Specifies precise new product functional requirements; designs, tests and integrates a variety of increasingly complex components to produce final designs; and evaluates the design's overall effectiveness, cost (including cost/benefit analysis), reliability (risk analysis), and safety. • Designs, develops, executes and evaluates fitness-for-use testing, product specifications and process validation plans for a variety of increasingly complex products and/or components; creates and reviews material part specifications and bills of materials. • Collaborates with internal manufacturing partners, contract manufacturers, designers and product specialists to optimize increasingly complex designs for manufacturability. • Utilizes PLC programming proficiency to develop programming instructions for optimal machine operation. • Supporting product development plans (schedule, product cost, meeting design inputs). • Acts as a resource to mentor and teach less experienced engineers. • Other duties as assigned. Minimum Job Requirements • Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering or related discipline; • 7+ years of relevant work experience Preferred Job Requirements • Ability to perform detail-oriented work with a high degree of accuracy on multiple projects of increasing complexity • Proven expertise in developing control algorithms across diverse power control and power management applications; • Expertise in closed loop tuning control tuning, stability analysis, and performance optimization of advanced control algorithms; • Expertise in model-based design methodologies, including development of high-fidelity system simulations, automated design verification and production-ready auto code generation; • Experience in test & validation plan and procedure development and execution including multiple methods (HIL/SIL, bench component and/or system testing, fault injection methods, etc.); • Experience in new product design and development; • Active participant in technical communities tied to industry standards or regulations; • Strong written communication and presentation skills; • Ability to translate technical information to all audiences; • Applies engineering knowledge and experience to improve products, services and processes; • Able to solve complex engineering problems; • MS Excel, MS Word; • Experience with machine design; • Previous experience with SAP or equivalent ERP. “We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.”

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