Job Posting: Process Control Network Engineer

Location: Petrochemical Refinery Site
PositionType: Full-Time Subcontractor

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Process Control Network Engineer contractor to support, maintain, and improve the refinery’s Industrial Control System (ICS) and Operational Technology (OT) infrastructure. This role supports the reliability, security, and performance of process control networks used in refinery operations and requires strong experience in industrial networking, Cisco switching, Palo Alto firewalls, OT cybersecurity practices, and process control environments in petrochemical, refining, oil and gas, chemical processing, power generation, or similar industries.

Key Responsibilities

Process Control Network Administration

• Design, implement, maintain, troubleshoot, and monitor refinery process control and industrial networks supporting DCS, PLC, SIS, historian, and OT infrastructure systems.

• Develop, configure, and maintain Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks, architecture documentation, topology diagrams, and standards. 

• Performance monitoring and capacity planning.

Cisco Network Management

• Configure, deploy, and maintain Cisco Catalyst and Industrial Ethernet / IE switches.

• Manage routing, segmentation, and availability, including VLANs, trunking, OSPF, static routing, STP, RSTP, QoS, HSRP, and VRRP.

• Troubleshoot control system and plant communications issues, including OSPF paths, HSRP failover, and QoS latency.

• Support switch hardening and lifecycle management, including port security, SSH, and firmware updates.

Palo Alto Firewall Administration

• Configure and maintain Palo Alto firewalls for refinery OT and process control networks. E.g., security zones, policies, NAT rules, VPNs, traffic inspection, threat prevention, and monitoring.

• Monitor and investigate security events and network anomalies, and support cybersecurity risk assessments and remediation activities.

OT Cybersecurity

• Support ISA/IEC 62443, OT cybersecurity principles, NIST Cybersecurity Framework practices, and defense-in-depth network segmentation.

• Conduct vulnerability assessments, coordinate patch management, support incident response and cybersecurity audits, and help meet corporate and regulatory cybersecurity requirements.

Project Support

• Lead network-related capital or improvement projects, support refinery turnarounds/major maintenance activities, and coordinate with stakeholders teams.

• Evaluate new technologies and recommend practical infrastructure improvements.

What You’ll Bring

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant industry experience.

Experience

• 5+ years of experience supporting industrial control networks in petrochemical, refining, oil and gas, chemical processing, power generation, or similar environments.

• Extensive experience configuring and troubleshooting Cisco Catalyst switches, Industrial Ethernet / IE switches, and routing technologies; 

  • VLANs, STP, RSTP, HSRP, VRRP, OSPF, and static routing.

• Hands-on experience with Palo Alto firewalls, security policies, zone-based architectures, VPN technologies, threat prevention, and traffic monitoring.

• Competence with OT cybersecurity principles, ISA/IEC 62443, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, Microsoft Windows Server environments, and virtualized infrastructure such as VMware.

• Experience with industrial wireless networks and knowledge of Foundation Fieldbus, HART, Modbus TCP/IP, EtherNet/IP, and OPC protocols

Preferred Qualifications

• CCNA or CCNP

• PCNSE

• ISA/IEC 62443

• CISSP, GICSP, or equivalent.