Automation SME – OT Security / Industrial Automation

Cognizant Romania is home to 2400+ creative technologists and is one of Eastern Europe's largest Software Product Engineering delivery networks. We serve global clients in several industries, including Banking & Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Communication Media & Technology, and Retail & MLEU (manufacturing, logistics, energy & utilities).

Cognizant Romania was established in 2018 when Cognizant acquired Softvision, a company founded in the late 1990s in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We continue to build on our history as the preferred engineering partner for thriving Silicon Valley tech companies, now as a prominent Cognizant next generation studio.

We are looking for Automation SME – OT Security / Industrial Automation to work with our cross-functional team and join our world-class community of talented experts.

Key responsibilities

• Act as the Automation SME for OT security-related activities across manufacturing

sites.

• Support assessment, design, and implementation of secure automation and OT

infrastructure solutions.

• Review existing automation architectures, including PLCs, HMIs, SCADA,

historians, engineering workstations, industrial servers, and OT applications.

• Develop and review logical OT architecture views, including communication flows

between OT systems, applications, servers, and network zones.

• Identify OT system dependencies, data flows, ports, protocols, source/destination

relationships, and integration points.

• Translate OT communication requirements into firewall rule requests, firewall

matrices, port matrices, and Palo Alto firewall change requirements.

• Provide input into OT network segmentation, firewall policy design, VLAN design,

OT DMZ models, and secure remote access architecture.

• Support implementation and validation of firewall changes on Palo Alto platforms in

coordination with network/security teams.

• Review and validate OT asset inventories, application inventories, network diagrams,

architecture diagrams, firewall matrices, and data-flow diagrams.

• Support migration or modernization activities involving automation systems, virtual

servers, and OT applications.

• Support cybersecurity risk assessments for automation systems and OT infrastructure.

• Ensure alignment with relevant standards such as IEC 62443, NIST 800-82, ISA-95 /

Purdue Model, and internal security policies.

• Support change control, testing, validation, and implementation planning in regulated

manufacturing environments.

• Coordinate with vendors and OEMs to confirm technical feasibility, backup and

recovery options, system hardening, connectivity requirements, and security

requirements.

• Provide technical input for firewall rule requests, CAB submissions, OT security

governance forums, and implementation planning.

• Document technical findings, design decisions, risks, assumptions, data flows,

firewall requirements, and remediation actions.

• Support troubleshooting of automation-related connectivity or security issues during

implementation.

Key requirements

• Strong experience in industrial automation / OT environments.

• Hands-on knowledge of PLC, SCADA, HMI, DCS, historians, and industrial control

systems.

• Experience working with automation platforms such as Siemens, Rockwell,

Schneider, ABB, Emerson, Honeywell, AVEVA, GE iFIX, or similar.

• Mandatory experience with Palo Alto firewall architecture, firewall policy

design, and firewall rule implementation support.

• Mandatory experience translating OT logical architecture, data flows, ports, and

protocols into firewall change requirements for Palo Alto implementation.

• Good understanding of OT networks, industrial protocols, and automation

communication flows.

• Experience with OT cybersecurity, including network segmentation, firewall rules,

secure remote access, asset hardening, and vulnerability management.

• Strong understanding of the Purdue Model / ISA-95 architecture.

• Familiarity with IEC 62443 and NIST 800-82.

• Experience working in regulated manufacturing environments, preferably pharma, life

sciences, chemicals, or food manufacturing.

• Ability to translate automation requirements into security, network, firewall, and

infrastructure requirements.

• Experience supporting change control and validation processes in production

environments.

• Strong documentation and stakeholder management skills.

Cognizant Romania Employee Benefits

• Flexible Work Schedule - Outside of main work hours, you can create a schedule that suits your needs
• Annual Vacation Days - 26 days to relax, explore and spend time with loved ones
• Trainings, workshops, and certifications, unlimited Udemy subscription and more
• Private medical package
• Meal tickets
• Referral bonuses
• Life insurance
• Banking services
• Bookster
• EAP program - wellbeing benefits

Please note that only suitable candidates will be contacted and that by applying to this role you are being informed about your personal data being processed by Cogni

zant.You can find more details here: https://www.cognizant.com/us/en/privacy-notice