Freelance Distributed Systems Engineer Jobs in Utah

Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced Controls Systems Engineer to provide onsite support for critical refinery control systems. This individual will play a key role in maintaining the safety, reliability, and performance of Distributed Control Systems (DCS), Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) supporting refinery operations, with a primary focus on Siemens S7 PLC platforms and hydrogen processing units.
Support day-to-day operations, troubleshooting, system lifecycle management, compliance activities, and minor capital project execution within a highly regulated industrial environment.
Key Responsibilities
• Support and maintain refinery DCS, SIS, and PLC systems to ensure reliable plant operations.
• Monitor and maintain system health, database integrity, historian applications, backups, and system performance.
• Perform server maintenance activities including patching, reboot management, and system administration tasks.
• Configure and maintain operator graphics, alarms, control points, and related system components.
• Troubleshoot PLC logic issues and implement approved updates and configuration changes.
• Support SIS lifecycle management activities and annual testing programs.
• Coordinate testing schedules and documentation efforts.
• Participate in Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) activities.
• Perform basic logic validation and troubleshooting of safety systems.
• Assist with spare parts and inventory management for critical SIS components.
• Support routine instrument troubleshooting and maintenance activities.
• Troubleshoot third-party control and monitoring devices, including systems such as Woodward and Trisen.
• Maintain and troubleshoot control system integrations and data transfer logic between systems.
• Maintain control network integrity and reliability.
• Administer IP address management within DCS, SIS, and PLC environments.
• Support servers, application nodes, thin clients, and wireless I/O infrastructure.
• Assist with hardware, connectivity, and control system infrastructure troubleshooting.
• Generate and maintain alarm management metrics and performance reports.
• Configure and support system alerting and monitoring tools.
• Execute work in compliance with Management of Change (MOC) procedures.
• Document system changes, troubleshooting activities, and configuration updates according to company standards.
• Support control system upgrades, migrations, obsolescence planning, and reliability improvement initiatives.
• Implement minor control system modifications, including new control strategies and equipment integrations.
• Perform functional testing, commissioning support, and validation activities.
• Collaborate with operations, maintenance, engineering, and reliability teams on continuous improvement projects.
• Participate in on-call support rotations to ensure rapid response to critical operational issues and system outages.
Required Qualifications
• 8+ years of experience supporting industrial control systems in refinery, petrochemical, oil & gas, or similar process manufacturing environments.
• Hands-on experience with Siemens S7 PLC systems.
• Experience supporting DCS, SIS, and PLC environments in an operational facility.
• Strong troubleshooting skills across control systems, instrumentation, and industrial networks.
• Experience with control system lifecycle management, testing, and system upgrades.
• Working knowledge of Management of Change (MOC) processes and process safety practices.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting abilities.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Commitment to safety, reliability, and operational excellence.
• Ability to effectively prioritize workload and respond to production-critical issues.
Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with Allen-Bradley PLCs.
• Experience supporting refinery operations or hydrogen processing units.
• Familiarity with alarm management programs and performance reporting.
• Exposure to Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), commissioning, and system validation activities.
• Knowledge of industrial networking, virtualization, and control system infrastructure.