SCADA OT Network Administrator

SCADA / OT Network Administrator

Starting hiring salary - $88,589.75 to $93,905.14 annually DEFINITION: The SCADA / OT Network Administrator is responsible for configuring, troubleshooting, optimizing, securing, and maintaining the City's Utilities Operational Technology network and SCADA system environment. This includes SCADA servers, virtual machines, HMI workstations, historian systems, alarm notification systems, PLC communication networks, industrial switches, firewalls, remote access systems, backups, software updates, and related OT infrastructure. The position provides technical expertise to support day-to-day SCADA and OT network operations, including efforts to design, maintain, monitor, document, and audit OT infrastructure that supports water treatment operations. The role serves as a technical bridge between Utilities operations, City IT, engineering consultants, system integrators, contractors, and vendors. This position must work well independently and with teams made up of employees from other divisions.

SUPERVISION EXERCISED AND RECEIVED: The position reports to the Water Treatment Plant Manager and works in close coordination with the IT Infrastructure Manager. This position does not supervise others.

EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES: Install, configure, maintain, and troubleshoot SCADA servers, virtual machines, HMI workstations, historian systems, reporting systems, alarm notification systems, and related OT applications. Administer and maintain the water treatment OT network, including industrial switches, routers, firewalls, VLANs, fiber and copper connections, remote access systems, and communication paths between PLCs, remote sites, servers, operator workstations, and City IT systems. Monitor SCADA system and OT network performance, resource utilization, communication status, alarms, and system health to ensure optimal uptime, reliability, and performance. Coordinate with City IT to ensure OT systems are appropriately segmented, backed up, secured, monitored, and supported while preserving the reliability and availability requirements of water treatment operations. Support SCADA software platforms, including HMI screens, tags, alarms, trends, historian connections, reporting functions, user access, licensing, updates, and vendor-supported modules. Perform routine maintenance tasks, such as patch coordination, software updates, firmware planning, server maintenance, workstation maintenance, endpoint protection coordination, and backup verification. Design, implement, document, and regularly test backup and disaster recovery procedures for SCADA servers, historians, PLC programs, HMI applications, network configurations, firewall configurations, and critical OT data. Manage user access, roles, permissions, authentication methods, and account reviews for SCADA and OT systems in coordination with City IT policies and operational security needs. Maintain OT cybersecurity practices, including asset inventory, network diagrams, access control, remote access review, vulnerability coordination, incident response support, logging, and corrective action tracking. Troubleshoot SCADA and OT communication issues involving PLCs, remote I/O, instrumentation networks, servers, workstations, switches, firewalls, fiber, radios, cellular routers, and vendor-managed equipment. Coordinate with system integrators, engineers, contractors, vendors, and City IT during capital projects, upgrades, migrations, startups, commissioning, and control-system modifications. Review proposed SCADA, network, PLC, instrumentation, and control-system changes for operational impacts, cybersecurity concerns, maintainability, backup requirements, documentation needs, and compatibility with existing standards. Maintain accurate documentation of OT network architecture, IP addressing, VLANs, firewall rules, remote access methods, server configurations, software versions, backup locations, licensing, system dependencies, and troubleshooting procedures. Conduct or support regular OT network audits to identify vulnerabilities, obsolete equipment, configuration issues, unsupported software, backup gaps, and compliance concerns. Participate in SCADA/OT incident response, outage troubleshooting, cybersecurity reviews, startup support, and after-action reviews. Provide technical support and training to water treatment staff regarding SCADA access, alarm response tools, trends, reports, dashboards, and basic troubleshooting. Research and recommend technology upgrades, security improvements, lifecycle replacements, redundancy improvements, monitoring tools, and standardization practices for OT and SCADA systems. Participate in IT and Water Treatment projects related to SCADA upgrades, OT network improvements, server migrations, cybersecurity improvements, plant expansions, and system deployments. Collaborate with City staff to assess project requirements, contribute to implementation plans, and coordinate deployment activities. Participate in the on-call rotation or provide after-hours support for SCADA/OT issues that may affect water treatment operations. Perform related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS: Knowledge of: SCADA systems, HMI software, historian systems, alarm notification systems, reporting tools, and industrial control system architecture. Operational Technology and Industrial Control System network concepts, including segmentation, VLANs, routing, NAT, firewall rules, VPNs, remote access, and secure vendor connectivity. Local and wide area networks, TCP/IP, IPv4, DHCP, DNS, NAT, routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, wireless communications, fiber, copper, and network troubleshooting. Windows Server, virtualization platforms, workstation operating systems, backup systems, endpoint protection, Active Directory concepts, Group Policy concepts, and server maintenance. PLC communication concepts and common industrial protocols such as Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, and other SCADA communication methods. Cybersecurity practices applicable to OT environments, including least privilege, account management, asset inventory, logging, backups, incident response, network segmentation, vulnerability coordination, and change control. Water treatment operations, regulatory recordkeeping, alarm response, process control, and the operational importance of SCADA system reliability. Vendor coordination, project coordination, system documentation, technology lifecycle planning, and change management. Database technologies such as SQL. Physical and virtual server environments. Backup and disaster recovery practices. City IT security standards, policies, and procedures. Essential Advanced knowledge of TCP/IP protocols, IPv4, DHCP, DNS, NAT, VPNs, and related network services. Working knowledge of Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching technologies, including VLANs, trunking, spanning tree, QoS, LLDP, and related network configuration concepts. Working knowledge of firewall configuration, access control rules, network segmentation, and secure remote access. Working knowledge of VMware or similar virtualization platforms. Working knowledge of Windows Server, modern workstation operating systems, Active Directory, Group Policy, and user account management. Working knowledge of industrial Ethernet networks and PLC-to-SCADA communications. Working knowledge of backup, restoration, and disaster recovery procedures. Working knowledge of cybersecurity principles for critical infrastructure and operational technology systems. Working knowledge of fiber and copper cabling technologies. Working knowledge of water treatment plant operations, pump stations, instrumentation, and process control systems is preferred.

Ability to: Provide exceptional problem identification and resolution skills. Ability to escalate to appropriate resources (IT Division, vendors, etc.) when needed. Configure, maintain, troubleshoot, and optimize SCADA servers, HMI workstations, historian systems, alarm systems, and related OT applications. Configure, maintain, troubleshoot, and document OT network infrastructure, including switches, firewalls, VLANs, remote access systems, and communication paths. Troubleshoot complex SCADA, server, workstation, network, communication, and vendor-system issues. Analyze OT network and SCADA system needs and recommend appropriate improvements. Evaluate and coordinate software patches, firmware updates, security updates, and system upgrades while minimizing risk to water treatment operations. Maintain system security while preserving SCADA reliability, visibility, and operational availability. Develop, document, and test backup and disaster recovery procedures. Maintain accurate technical documentation, network diagrams, asset inventories, change records, backup records, and troubleshooting procedures. Communicate effectively with operators, mechanics, engineers, IT staff, consultants, contractors, and vendors. Translate operational needs into technical requirements and technical risks into user-friendly language. Provide relevant data reporting to ensure appropriate decisions are made. Present technical ideas in clear, practical, and understandable terms. Organize workload, set priorities, manage multiple projects, and work within deadlines. Be self-motivated and innovative with attention to detail. Demonstrate effective interpersonal and relationship-building skills. Demonstrate a strong customer-service orientation. Work successfully in a team-oriented atmosphere that provides accurate information, excellent customer service, and human relations skills. Support documented system change management without disrupting water treatment operations. Respond to urgent SCADA/OT issues during nights, weekends, holidays, and emergency events when needed. Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Required: A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering Technology, Industrial Automation, Cybersecurity, or a closely related field from an accredited college or university. Alternatively, an equivalent combination of education, technical training, certifications, and directly related experience will be considered. At least four years of progressively responsible experience supporting one or more of the following: SCADA systems Industrial control systems Operational Technology networks Server administration Network infrastructure Virtualized server environments Cybersecurity Municipal utility technology systems Should possess knowledge and experience with network technology and protocols such as TCP/IP, routing, firewalls, VPNs, VLANs, and IPv4 networks. Should possess knowledge and experience with modern workstation and server operating systems. Preferred: Experience supporting water or wastewater treatment facilities. Experience with Ignition SCADA. Experience supporting PLC-based control systems. Experience with industrial Ethernet networks. Experience with Windows Server, Active Directory, SQL, backup systems, endpoint protection, and virtualization platforms. Experience with firewalls, VPNs, VLANs, network segmentation, and secure remote access. Experience working with system integrators, engineering consultants, contractors, and vendors. Experience supporting SCADA historian, reporting, alarming, and HMI systems. Experience with cybersecurity frameworks or best practices for OT/