Operations Technology Engineer

Manufacturing Automation & Operations Technology Engineer to be based in a Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Manufacturing Plant in Dallas, TX !

The Automation & Operations Technology Engineer position will be responsible for plants in the Dallas plant (primary) and Fort Worth. The engineer will be the single point of contact for deploying Operational Technology strategy, managing automation needs and projects, and working as a liaison between plant operations and the corporate automation team for the three facilities. The primary responsibility of the Automation Engineer will be to maximize the availability of industrial automation systems (Hardware, Network, Scada Software, Database, Integration of new components and solutions) and use cybersecurity tools (Claroty, Factory Talk Security, Factory Talk Asset Center) for threat mitigation and prevention of unauthorized access to industrial control systems.

The Automation Engineer is also required to be a leader within the plant technical team and will collaborate with operations and project teams on corporate and plant initiatives. The Automation Engineer will also be responsible for managing automation improvement projects and participating in recovery efforts during equipment and plant outages or planned shutdowns.

Job Responsibilities:

• Enforce cybersecurity policies and standards.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex and ambiguous plant control system issues and escalate when necessary. This includes everything from the operation and control (level 3) down to process and devices (level 0).
• Report high priority incidents related to cybersecurity to plant director, automation director and regional security manager.
• Project management related to industrial networking, application upgrades and project automation at the facilities.
• Industrial Automation Asset Management using Claroty and SolarWinds.
• Management of vendor access for PLC and SCADA applications
• Participate in Cybersecurity audits and maintain audit reports.
• Continuous improvement of Cybersecurity KPI (Vulnerability mitigation, threat detection, access management).
• Periodical reporting of Cybersecurity KPI’s to plant directors, automation director and regional security officer.
• Continuous improvement of industrial automation systems
• Maintain and update industrial automation architecture drawings.
• Industrial automation hardware and software life cycle management (obsolescence)
• Organize windows patch install in industrial automation servers and workstations with the server infrastructure team.
• Master plan development for industrial networking and industrial applications roadmap
• Share knowledge and learnings through Danone North America networking
• Enforce automation standards and specifications as part of plant initiatives and projects.
• Facilitate meetings regarding continuous improvement of system performance, reliability, and obsolescence.
• Support Dallas & Fort Worth, TX facilities on premise, role is not hybrid or remote.
• Travel is required occasionally for training or plant projects.

Job Qualifications

• Experience and working knowledge in:
• Plant wide automation network design
• Allen Bradley/ Rockwell PLC programming
• Industrial networking and communication protocols (OPC-UA, Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, IO Link, AS-i)
• Basic electrical knowledge and comfort working with 24VDC, 120VAC and 480VAC control systems and their associated components.
• Auto Cad and Microsoft Visio
• Familiarity with the following SCADA or HMI systems is a plus:
• Ignition
• Wonderware
• Factory Talk View SE/ME
• Familiarity with programming languages and SQL programming is a plus.
• Microsoft Office suite and Microsoft server environments
• Must be self-directed and able to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Must be organized and self-disciplined to accommodate the management of concurrent projects.
• Excellent conflict resolution and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in IT and OT network segregation using Purdue model
• Fast learner, open to learn new things (attending training & certification related to the role as needed) and adapts to change
• ISA/IES 62443 Cybersecurity Certification is a plus

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with a minimum of 5 years of experience in manufacturing related to automation and operations technologies

• 5+ years of job experience in automation and operations technology