Controls Engineering Fellow – Data Centers (remote)

Johnson Controls is hiring! The Controls Engineering Fellow - Data Centers is a senior individual contributor role within the Data Center engineering organization. This position serves as the enterprise-wide technical authority on controls architecture, building automation systems, and intelligent orchestration of data center infrastructure.

Responsibilities:

• Define the 3 to 5-year controls architecture roadmap for Johnson Controls' data center business, encompassing BMS/BAS platforms (Metasys), edge controllers, cloud-native supervisory systems, and AI/ML-driven autonomous operations
• Evaluate emerging paradigms—digital twins, model-predictive control, reinforcement learning for thermal optimization, autonomous fault diagnostics—and determine which should be incorporated into the JCI product and solutions portfolio
• Provide authoritative technical guidance on controls integration across the full data center thermal chain: chillers, cooling distribution units (CDUs), rear-door heat exchangers, direct-to-chip liquid cooling loops, and airside economizers
• Architect end-to-end control strategies that span from rack-level power and thermal sensing through facility-level SCADA/BMS to cloud-based fleet analytics
• Drive innovation related to controls algorithms, sensor fusion techniques, and intelligent sequencing strategies for mission-critical cooling infrastructure
• Lead proof-of-concept development for next-generation control approaches, including integration with GPU-aware workload orchestration and dynamic power/thermal co-optimization
• Identify and evaluate external technology partnerships, university research collaborations, and potential acquisition targets in the controls and automation space
• Act as the senior technical advisor to product management, systems engineering, and solution architecture teams on controls-related decisions for data center projects
• Collaborate with chiller, heat exchanger, and CDU product engineering teams to ensure controls strategies are tightly integrated with thermal equipment performance characteristics
• Interface directly with data center owner/operators, hyperscale engineering teams, and consulting engineers as a trusted technical advisor during solution design and commissioning
• Mentor and develop engineers across the controls engineering organization, fostering deep technical capability and a culture of innovation
• Lead internal technical forums, design reviews, and architecture councils that raise the standard of controls engineering practice across the data center business
• Help recruit and attract top controls engineering talent to Johnson Controls

Requirements:

• M.S. or Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related discipline
• 10+ years of progressive experience in controls and automation engineering
• Expert-level knowledge of BMS/BAS platforms, PLC/DDC controller architectures, and supervisory control systems
• Deep understanding of control theory as applied to multi-variable thermal systems—chiller plant optimization, cooling tower sequencing, liquid cooling loop regulation, and airside economization
• Experience with mission-critical facilities, data center infrastructure, or large-scale HVAC/thermal systems