Network Administration, Specialist II

The Operations Network Engineer is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting secure, reliable, and high-performing network infrastructure that enables manufacturing and shop floor operations across the enterprise. This role is critical in ensuring uptime, resiliency, and low-latency connectivity for industrial systems, production lines, and plant operations.

The ideal candidate combines strong enterprise networking expertise with hands-on experience in operational technology (OT) environments and thrives in close collaboration with plant engineers, controls teams, and production stakeholders. This role requires a proactive, field-oriented mindset with a focus on safety, reliability, and continuous improvement in industrial environments.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and support network infrastructure including LAN, WAN, and WLAN
• Drive standardization of plant network architectures and contribute to global OT network strategies.
• Support plant network segmentation strategies to ensure security, performance, and compliance between IT and OT environments.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support infrastructure projects and ensure seamless integration with other IT systems.
• Travel to manufacturing sites to support deployments, troubleshooting, and project execution as needed.
• Collaborate on new plant builds, production line expansions, and equipment integration projects including vendor coordination and on-site implementation.
• Maintain accurate documentation of network configurations, policies, and procedures.
• Participate in on-call rotation and provide support during off-hours as necessary.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, or equivalent relevant experience is required.
• 5+ years of experience in enterprise network engineering and support, with an emphasis on OT/production environments
• Strong hands-on experience with Cisco networking technologies (routing, switching, wireless).
• Experience with Palo Alto firewalls and/or Prisma cloud services is a plus.
• Strong troubleshooting skills and ability to communicate with non-IT stakeholders.
• Self-motivated, customer-focused, and able to work independently.
• Understanding of IT/OT convergence and network segmentation strategies
• Ability to work in manufacturing and shop floor environments, including exposure to noise, temperature variations, dust, and industrial equipment.
• Strict adherence to shop floor safety and policies
• Relevant certifications (e.g., CCNP, PCNSE, etc) are a plus.
• Experience working in shop floor environments with PLCs, SCADA systems, HMIs, or industrial automation networks is a plus.