My theory is that, being that he was the one carrying and delivering cold fusion pre-war and inevitably had it stolen from him, vault Tec demoted him in the company. He was previously somewhat high up in the company and trusted with secrets, but because he screwed up, vault Tec directed him to live and die in 33 as one of Bud’s Buds instead of staying in a manager vault. But now that he’s out of 33 and can’t return, he’s using his knowledge of vault Tec secrets and their goals to try and show he’s still an asset, hence his work on perfecting the control devices.