Pietermaritzburg: OT Systems Engineer

Qualifications and Experience Education Degree/Diploma in Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation, Industrial IT, or a related field. Experience 37 years experience in OT systems engineering or industrial automation. Proven experience in industrial network design, configuration, and maintenance. Exposure to OT cybersecurity, firewall management, and system hardening. Technical Skills Knowledge of industrial communication protocols: EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP, OPC, MQTT. Experience with Cisco, Fortinet, or Palo Alto industrial firewalls. Working knowledge of SCADA, PLC, and DCS systems. Experience with Windows Server, AD, VMware/Hyper-V an advantage. Key Competencies Strong analytical and troubleshooting capability. Deep understanding of both IT and OT environments. Ability to work independently and under pressure in production settings. Excellent communication, documentation, and teamwork skills. High commitment to safety, reliability, and cybersecurity best practices. Key Responsibilities OT Network Management Design, configure, and maintain industrial OT networks and infrastructure. Manage network devices including switches, routers, firewalls, and segmented OT networks. OT Cybersecurity Implement and maintain OT cybersecurity standards aligned with corporate IT policies. Manage and monitor OT firewalls, ACLs, security zones, and intrusion controls. Conduct vulnerability assessments and ensure system hardening. System Integration Integrate OT systems with SCADA, PLC, and DCS environments for seamless data flow. Support communication protocols such as Modbus, OPC, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, and MQTT. Collaborate with automation and control teams to optimize data exchange between plant floor and enterprise systems. Standards and Documentation Develop, maintain, and enforce OT standards and architecture guidelines. Maintain accurate documentation for OT assets, network configurations, and change control. Hardware and Network Support Specify, configure, and support industrial hardware: switches, gateways, servers, firewalls. Troubleshoot complex network and hardware issues in production environments. Automation Support Assist with communication setup and monitoring for PLC, SCADA, and DCS systems. Support automation projects involving OT networking and data integration. Plant Support Provide standby support for OT systems during plant operations. Participate in RCA processes and drive continuous improvement for plant reliability.