Staff Controls Engineer
Posted Oct 2, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
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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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Generac.