Senior Operational Technology (OT) Engineer

We are seeking a highly experienced Operational Technology (OT) Engineer to join our OT team. This role is critical to establishing and maintaining the foundational standards upon which our plant floor information systems are designed, implemented, and operated. The successful candidate will bring deep technical expertise across industrial control systems and OT architectures, combined with the ability to define, govern, and scale enterprise-wide OT standards.

The OT Engineer will play a key role in ensuring reliability, security, and interoperability across manufacturing and industrial environments while enabling advanced analytics, visualization, and digital transformation initiatives.

* Define, document, and govern OT standards, architectures, and best practices across sites and business units.
* Design and support scalable, secure OT system architectures integrating control systems, historians, networks, and higher-level IT platforms.
* Serve as a technical authority for OT infrastructure, including HMIs, historians, and industrial networks.
* Collaborate with IT, cybersecurity, engineering, and operations teams to ensure alignment between OT and enterprise technology strategies.
* Lead or support OT system implementations, upgrades, and modernization initiatives.
* Ensure OT systems meet requirements for reliability, availability, performance, and cybersecurity.
* Provide technical guidance, mentoring, and oversight to less experienced OT engineers and integrators.
* Develop and enforce standards for vendor selection, system integration, and lifecycle management.
* Support incident response, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement for OT systems.
* Maintain awareness of emerging OT technologies, industry standards, and regulatory requirements.

* Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Automation, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent experience).
* 8-12+ years of progressive experience in Operational Technology or industrial automation roles.
* Extensive hands-on experience with industrial control systems (Ignition, Rockwell, and OSI) and plant-floor networks.
* Strong understanding of OT architectures, including historians, data integration, and OT/IT convergence.
* Proven experience developing and enforcing technical standards in complex industrial environments.
* Solid knowledge of industrial networking protocols (e.g., Ethernet/IP, MQTT, Modbus, OPC UA).
* Familiarity with OT cybersecurity principles, standards (e.g., IEC 62443), and secure system design.
* Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications
* Experience in multi-platform manufacturing environments.
* Exposure to cloud-connected OT systems, advanced analytics, or digital manufacturing platforms.
* Professional certifications in automation, networking, or cybersecurity.
* Experience working with system integrators and managing vendor relationships.
* Demonstrated leadership in technical governance or architecture roles.

Competencies
* Systems thinking and architectural mindset
* Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
* High attention to detail and documentation quality
* Ability to balance standardization with site-specific operational needs
* Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills

This role offers the opportunity to shape the foundational OT standards that support mission-critical industrial operations and future digital initiatives. You will have significant influence over how OT systems are designed, secured, and scaled across the organization.