Pietermaritzburg: OT Systems Engineer posted by Gijima Holdings

Qualifications and Experience

Education

• Degree/Diploma in Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation, Industrial IT, or a related field.

Experience

• 3–7 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.