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Project Instrumentation Engineer Jobs in California

General Atomics

Engineer I&C

San Diego, CA · On-site

Manage plant instrumentation for Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Supervisory Control and ... Work independently and/or in a small teams, leading some projects or objectives while supporting ...

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Project Instrumentation Engineer information

What is a project instrumentation engineer?

Project Instrumentation Engineers are professionals responsible for designing, specifying, and overseeing the installation and maintenance of instrumentation systems used to monitor and control engineering processes within a project. They ensure that instruments such as sensors, control systems, and measurement devices are correctly integrated to meet the project’s technical and safety requirements. Their role often involves collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring compliance with industry standards throughout a project's lifecycle.

How does a project instrumentation engineer typically collaborate with other engineering disciplines during a project?

Project Instrumentation Engineers work closely with process, mechanical, and electrical engineers to ensure that instrumentation systems are properly integrated into overall plant or system designs. They often participate in multidisciplinary meetings to coordinate specifications, resolve interface issues, and align project timelines. Effective collaboration and communication are essential, as these engineers must translate process requirements into instrumentation solutions while ensuring compliance with industry standards and project objectives.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a project instrumentation engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Project Instrumentation Engineer, you need a solid background in instrumentation engineering principles, process control, and project management, typically supported by a relevant engineering degree. Familiarity with industry-standard tools such as PLC/DCS systems, AutoCAD, and software for instrumentation design, along with certifications like ISA CAP or PMP, is often required. Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication skills distinguish top performers in this role. These competencies are crucial for designing, implementing, and managing complex instrumentation projects that meet safety, quality, and timeline objectives.

What cities in California are hiring for Project Instrumentation Engineer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Project Instrumentation Engineer job openings:

Project Instrumentation Engineer jobs near you

Rainmaker Fellow, Atmospheric Instrumentation

El Segundo, CA • On-site

Rainmaker Technology Corporation
See more jobs at Rainmaker Technology Corporationexternal

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision

Re-posted 19 days ago

Job description

About Rainmaker

Rainmaker is pioneering a modern cloud-seeding system to increase precipitation, improve water availability, and address severe-weather challenges. We combine atmospheric science, weather-resistant UAS, radar and satellite observations, numerical weather prediction, novel sensing systems, and sustainable seeding technologies to design, operate, and evaluate precipitation-enhancement programs.

Rainmaker is building new atmospheric instruments because proprietary, intervention-relevant observations are central to improving our forecasts and operations.

About the Fellowship

The Rainmaker Atmospheric Instrumentation Fellowship is a paid, full-time research and engineering appointment for exceptional undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, recent graduates, and other early-career researchers.

You will join Rainmaker's instrumentation team and work alongside our engineers and scientists on a scoped project drawn from the team's current development priorities and defined in close collaboration with your research lead or mentor. Project matching will consider available hardware and data, mentor capacity, team needs, and your background. You will take responsibility for a concrete experimental or engineering workstream while contributing to the design, testing, and review work of the broader team.

Fellows are not expected to own delivery of an entire instrument program. You will be expected to produce a rigorous, reusable result that advances one important part of it.

Examples of the Work

Fellowship projects change with Rainmaker's instrument-development priorities. Examples of the work our instrumentation team may pursue include:

  • Developing calibration and validation methods for an airborne cloud-particle imaging instrument.
  • Creating controlled targets, fixtures, and acceptance tests for optical or particle-sensing systems.
  • Characterizing measurement uncertainty and environmental sensitivity across laboratory, ground, and flight tests.
  • Designing comparisons between Rainmaker instruments and trusted reference instrumentation.
  • Prototyping a new optical, mechanical, electrical, data-acquisition, or atmospheric-sensing subsystem.
What You'll Do
  • Translate a scientific measurement need into a scoped experimental or engineering plan with your mentor.
  • Build, integrate, calibrate, or test hardware and analysis methods required by the assigned project.
  • Create repeatable calibration procedures for the agreed instrument metrics.
  • Characterize measurement uncertainty and sensitivity to environmental, mechanical, optical, electrical, or algorithmic factors.
  • Build fixtures, test equipment, data-acquisition workflows, and analysis software needed for validation.
  • Help design laboratory, ground, and flight comparisons against reference instrumentation.
  • Connect physical instrument behavior to measurement and retrieval quality.
  • Produce clear documentation, calibration records, acceptance criteria, and reusable analysis code.
  • Deliver a final artifact such as a validated dataset, calibration system, instrument prototype, test method, uncertainty analysis, or technical report.
What We're Looking For
  • Current undergraduate, master's, or PhD students; postdoctoral researchers; recent graduates; and other early-career researchers are all eligible.
  • Background in optical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics, atmospheric science, experimental science, or a related field.
  • Strong hands-on experimental ability and willingness to build and troubleshoot hardware personally.
  • Quantitative programming and data-analysis ability.
  • Careful scientific judgment about calibration, uncertainty, repeatability, and validation.
  • Ability to take responsibility for a bounded workstream while collaborating closely with instrumentation engineers and scientists.
  • Availability for full-time, on-site work in El Segundo for the agreed appointment.
Particularly Relevant Experience
  • Digital holography, microscopy, particle imaging, lasers, high-speed cameras, lidar, aerosol instruments, cloud probes, or optical metrology.
  • Calibration fixtures, laboratory automation, uncertainty budgets, environmental testing, or acceptance testing.
  • Scientific Python, image processing, signal processing, or data acquisition.
  • Airborne, UAS-borne, field-deployed, or low-volume scientific instruments.
What Success Looks Like

By the end of the fellowship, you will have answered a clearly defined measurement or engineering question and delivered a documented result the instrumentation team can continue using. Depending on the project, that might be a calibrated prototype, validation dataset, test fixture, acceptance method, uncertainty analysis, or reusable analysis workflow.

Fellowship Details
  • Paid, full-time, and on-site in El Segundo.
  • Three-to-six-month appointment, with four months as the standard duration.
  • Rolling applications and project-specific start dates.
  • Attached directly to Rainmaker's instrumentation team with a named hands-on mentor.
  • Possible consideration for future full-time roles, without any promise or expectation of conversion.
  • Publication may be supported when it does not compromise Rainmaker intellectual property or operational know-how.
Compensation and Benefits

$8,000 per month

Benefits:

  • Full health coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance)
  • Lunch provided when working in-office and a fully stocked kitchenette
  • Free EV charging at the HQ
$8,000 - $8,000 a month
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