Operational Technology Engineer About the Role
The Operational Technology Engineer designs, implements, optimizes, and supports automation and digital manufacturing systems for umbilical manufacturing operations in Panama City, Florida. This role partners with Operations, Maintenance, Quality, Engineering, and IT to improve safety, quality, reliability, productivity, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Success looks like delivering scalable, secure, and cost-effective automation solutionswhile strengthening IT/OT convergence and enabling smart manufacturing capabilities. The engineer will drive continuous improvement through troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and adoption of advanced technologies such as IIoT, analytics, and emerging Industry 4.0 tools.
Duties & Responsibilities
- Evaluate, design, implement, and optimize automated manufacturing systems, equipment upgrades, and emerging technologies to improve safety, quality, reliability, productivity, and OEE.
- Troubleshoot and resolve equipment, production, quality, and process issues using root cause analysis and continuous improvement methods.
- Collaborate with Product Engineering, Operations, Quality, Maintenance, IT, suppliers, and system integrators to deliver solutions that meet business, regulatory, and customer requirements.
- Define equipment specifications, evaluate supplier proposals, and support design reviews, procurement support, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, and stabilization activities.
- Configure, integrate, and support PLC, HMI, SCADA, MES, motion control, industrial communication, and manufacturing data systems.
- Support industrial cybersecurity and IT/OT convergence initiatives, including secure network architecture, remote access, account management, backup and recovery, network segmentation, patch management, virtualization, historians, cloud connectivity, and enterprise integration.
- Champion digital transformation by evaluating and implementing IIoT, artificial intelligence, machine vision, and advanced analytics that deliver measurable operational value.
- Provide technical leadership and mentorship, supporting project execution while fostering innovation, accountability, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
- Develop and maintain cross-functional and cross-industry relationships to identify, evaluate, and implement emerging technologies that strengthen operational excellence.
Requirements
- Must be a US Citizen.
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, or a related discipline; and at least 5–7 years of industrial automation experience (equivalent relevant experience may be considered).
- Extensive hands-on experience programming, commissioning, troubleshooting, and optimizing Siemens-based automation systems, including SIMATIC S7 and fail-safe PLCs.
- Hands-on experience with HMIs and SCADA platforms such as WinCC, including TIA Portal and STEP 7.
- Experience with SINAMICS/MASTERDRIVES drives and motion control in complex manufacturing environments.
- Practical knowledge supporting PROFIBUS, PROFINET, distributed I/O, and other industrial communication networks.
- Understanding of industrial cybersecurity principles and their application within control systems and plant networks.
- Experience supporting IT/OT convergence, including secure networking, plant-floor connectivity, and manufacturing data integration.
- Strong organizational skills with emphasis on technical documentation, standardization, software lifecycle management, and disciplined change control.
- Demonstrated ability to lead technical initiatives, influence cross-functional teams, mentor others, and drive continuous improvement and technology adoption.
