Senior Network Engineer

Schneider Electric; Chennai; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 1,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Schneider Electric seeks an experienced networking engineer to design, test, validate, and troubleshoot IT/OT lab networks. You will own the testing and verification lab network and support global teams across local and remote labs.

The role requires 5+ years in industrial network design, hands-on Layer 2/3 expertise, OT cybersecurity, and experience with platforms such as Cisco IE, Hirschmann, or Moxa. Excellent English communication is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field with 5+ years in network design, testing and troubleshooting.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the networking expert for global and cross‑functional teams and labs.
• Manage operation, maintenance, and upgrades of local and remote lab networks.
• Design, configure, and troubleshoot Layer 2/Layer 3 networks (VLANs, routing, switching).
• Evaluate and validate new networking technologies for SDA/OPA‑based automation; develop reference architectures.
• Troubleshoot complex network issues using packet capture and protocol analysis.
• Implement network security and resilience controls (firewalls, ACLs, VLAN/VRF segmentation).
• Design and maintain lab networks spanning switches, hypervisors, and container hosts.

Skills

TCP/IP networking

Industrial network design

Lab network management

English communication

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer/IT/EE or related field

Tools

Wireshark

SNMP

Syslog

Open vSwitch

Job description

The Team

We're a global R&D / Innovation team across the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, building the next generation of software-defined automation (SDA). We close the gap between today's automation systems and tomorrow's open, software-defined plants, turning emerging standards and technologies into solutions that matter. IT/OT convergence is at the heart of everything we build.

The Role

You'll join a team of automation and software engineering experts, designing, testing, validating, and troubleshooting network architectures that address critical customer needs. You'll also own the testing and verification lab network, ensuring it performs reliably and remains optimized. Working across both IT and OT systems, you'll turn bold ideas into high-impact, real-world innovations through hands‑on engineering.

What You'll Do

• Serve as the networking expert for global and cross‑functional teams, supporting Engineered Solutions and verification and validation activities in local and remote labs.
• Manage the operation, maintenance, and upgrades of multiple local and remote lab networks.
• Design, configure, and troubleshoot Layer 2/Layer 3 networks, including VLANs, routing, switching, redundancy, link aggregation, and network segmentation.
• Evaluate and validate new networking technologies for software‑defined and OPA‑based automation, and turn results into reference architectures.
• Troubleshoot complex network issues using packet capture and protocol analysis, addressing latency, packet loss, routing, MTU, interface errors, and performance issues.
• Implement network security and resilience controls, including firewalls, ACLs, VLAN/VRF segmentation, secure management access, redundancy, and device hardening.
• Design and maintain lab networks that span physical switches, hypervisors, and container hosts, including VLAN trunking into VMs and container networking.

Must‑Have

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, or a related field, with 5+ years of experience in network design, testing, troubleshooting, and industrial process‑control network infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of Layer 2/Layer 3 networking, including TCP/IP, IP addressing, subnetting, routing, VLANs, trunking, multicast, IGMP snooping, QoS, network segmentation, and RSTP across diverse network topologies.
• Hands‑on experience with at least one industrial network redundancy protocol (such as MRP, PRP/HSR, DLR, or ERPS), including testing failover, recovery and convergence times, latency, and packet loss.
• Proficiency with network equipment, monitoring, and troubleshooting tools, including Wireshark, SNMP, Syslog, and port mirroring/SPAN.
• Hands‑on experience with industrial networking platforms such as Cisco Industrial Ethernet, Hirschmann, or Moxa.
• Experience developing technical network documentation, including test plans, test reports, topology diagrams, and configuration documentation.
• Experience with OT cybersecurity architecture, including firewalls, DMZs, network zoning/segmentation, secure remote access, and defense‑in‑depth principles aligned with ISA/IEC 62443.
• Working knowledge of industrial communication protocols such as PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, and IEC 61850.
• Professional certification in networking or OT cybersecurity (such as CCNP Enterprise, Juniper JNCIP‑ENT, or an ISA/IEC 62443 certificate).
• Strong written and spoken English, with the ability to explain technical ideas clearly to a global team.

Nice‑to‑Have

• Experience with virtual and container networking on Linux hosts and hypervisors, including Linux bridges, Open vSwitch, VLAN trunking to VMs, and Docker networking (bridge, macvlan).
• Experience with time synchronization and deterministic networking, including PTP (IEEE 1588) and TSN.
• Familiarity with FAT/SAT, commissioning, migration, and cutover activities, including troubleshooting live industrial networks while minimizing operational disruption.
• Experience with network automation and monitoring using Python or Ansible, and tools such as Zabbix.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Telecommunications, or a related field, with 5+ years of experience in network design, testing, troubleshooting, and industrial process‑control network infrastructure.
• Strong communication, presentation, and problem‑solving skills.

Rewards designed for you

Our Total Rewards is our way of saying: We see you and we value you. It’s more than just pay and benefits—it’s a meaningful investment in you. It is designed to help you perform, grow, feel safe, and elevate your potential. The package helps you care for yourself and your family, plan your future, grow your skills and career, collaborate in an inclusive workplace, and contribute to your community. At Schneider Electric, we’re here for what matters most to you. Discover more at our Career Page.

* Country‑specific programs and initiatives may be available.

Looking to make an IMPACT with your career?

When you are thinking about joining a new team, culture matters. At Schneider Electric, our values and behaviors are the foundation for creating a great culture to support business success. We believe that our IMPACT values – Inclusion, Mastery, Purpose, Action, Curiosity, Teamwork – starts with us.

IMPACT is also your invitation to join Schneider Electric where you can contribute to turning sustainability ambition into actions, no matter what role you play. It is a call to connect your career with the ambition of achieving a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable world.

We are looking for IMPACT Makers; exceptional people who turn sustainability ambitions into actions at the intersection of automation, electrification, and digitization. We celebrate IMPACT Makers and believe everyone has the potential to be one.

€40 billion global revenue
+9% organic growth
150 000+ employees in 100+ countries

Schneider Electric aspires to be the most inclusive and caring company in the world, by providing equitable opportunities to everyone, everywhere, and ensuring all employees feel uniquely valued and safe to contribute their best. We mirror the diversity of the communities in which we operate, and ‘inclusion’ is one of our core values. We believe our differences make us stronger as a company and as individuals and we are committed to championing inclusivity in everything we do.

At Schneider Electric, we uphold the highest standards of ethics and compliance, and we believe that trust is a foundational value. Our Trust Charter is our Code of Conduct and demonstrates our commitment to ethics, safety, sustainability, quality and cybersecurity, underpinning every aspect of our business and our willingness to behave and respond respectfully and in good faith to all our stakeholders. You can find out more about our Trust Charter here

Schneider Electric is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is our policy to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities in the areas of recruiting, hiring, training, transferring, and promoting all qualified individuals regardless of race, religion, color, gender, disability, national origin, ancestry, age, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other legally protected characteristic or conduct.