SCADA & Utilities Operational Technology Technician

Village of Tequesta; Tequesta (FL); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The Village of Tequesta is seeking a skilled SCADA/OT specialist for the Utilities Department. You will program, maintain, troubleshoot, and secure SCADA/PLC/HMI environments supporting the Water Treatment Plant and related facilities.

Work closely with IT, plant operations, and contractors to ensure reliable, secure, and compliant process-control operations, including lifecycle management, change documentation, and incident response.

Job description

Deadline: Open Until Filled

POSITION SUMMARY

Under the general direction of the Utilities Director or designee, this position serves as the Utilities Department's technical resource for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and process-control systems supporting the Water Treatment Plant and related water-production facilities. The position is responsible for programming, maintenance, troubleshooting, cybersecurity coordination, documentation, lifecycle support, and continuous improvement of SCADA, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), instrumentation, industrial communications, servers, workstations, and related control-system infrastructure. The position performs hands-on technical work, coordinates with specialized contractors and system integrators, supports capital improvement projects, and works closely with plant operations, maintenance, engineering, Information Technology, and the Village Electrician to maintain reliable, secure, and resilient treatment operations.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Position Reports to: Capital Improvement Project Manager

Positions Supervised: None; may provide technical direction to contractors, consultants, and project teams as assigned

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Administers, monitors, maintains, and supports the Water Treatment Plant SCADA and process-control environment, including VTScada applications, servers, workstations, historians, alarm notification systems, databases, communications equipment, and related interfaces.
• Develops, modifies, documents, tests, and deploys PLC programs, HMI screens, control logic, alarm logic, trends, reports, scripts, and other automation functions necessary to support safe and reliable treatment operations.
• Troubleshoots and resolves failures involving SCADA software, PLCs, remote I/O, instrumentation, communication networks, industrial switches, radios, modems, protocol converters, variable frequency drive communications, control panels, and related Operational Technology (OT) equipment.
• Monitors system performance and availability, performs preventive maintenance, identifies recurring or emerging issues, and implements improvements to increase reliability, functionality, and maintainability.
• Maintains OT network architecture and communications in coordination with the Information Technology Department, including network segmentation, addressing, switches, firewalls or security appliances, secure remote access, and connectivity between control-system components.
• Coordinates SCADA and OT cybersecurity practices with Information Technology and specialized vendors, including user access, password and account management, backups, restoration testing, software and firmware updates, vulnerability mitigation, logging, incident response, and business-continuity/disaster-recovery planning.
• Maintains complete and current backups of SCADA applications, PLC programs, configurations, server images, databases, and other critical OT assets and establishes procedures for restoring systems following equipment failure, cyber incident, or other emergency.
• Establishes and maintains change-management practices and technical documentation, including network diagrams, control narratives, I/O lists, PLC and HMI version records, software-license inventories, device configurations, equipment lists, maintenance records, and redline drawings.
• Provides technical review and support for capital improvement projects involving treatment equipment, automation, instrumentation, communications, electrical controls, or SCADA integration; reviews plans, specifications, submittals, control narratives, and programming requirements for compatibility with Village standards and existing systems.
• Participates in factory acceptance testing, field testing, startup, commissioning, and performance verification of new or modified process-control equipment and SCADA systems and coordinates correction of deficiencies with engineers, contractors, and system integrators.
• Provides technical support for SCADA and process-control projects from planning through implementation, including development of scopes of work and technical specifications, review of cost estimates and schedules, procurement support, vendor coordination, project documentation, testing, commissioning, and closeout.
• Serves as the Utilities Department liaison to SCADA integrators, instrumentation vendors, engineers, consultants, Information Technology staff, and other technical service providers; coordinates emergency and routine support and evaluates contractor performance.
• Maintains inventory of critical SCADA/OT spare parts, software licenses, support agreements, specialized tools, and replacement equipment and recommends budget needs for system maintenance, upgrades, and lifecycle replacement.
• Analyzes alarms, trends, historian data, and control-system performance to assist Operations staff with process optimization, troubleshooting, regulatory compliance, and reliable treatment performance.
• Protects the integrity and availability of operational data used for regulatory reporting, operational decision-making, and historical records and assists with data retrieval and technical reporting as required.
• Provides technical training and guidance to Water Treatment Plant operators and maintenance staff regarding SCADA functionality, alarm response, proper use of automated controls, basic troubleshooting, and changes to system operation.
• Coordinates closely with the Village Electrician and other qualified electrical personnel. Performs or supports low-voltage control and instrumentation work within the employee's training and authorization and refers high-voltage electrical work and major electrical installations to appropriately qualified personnel.
• Evaluates new SCADA, PLC, instrumentation, networking, and OT technologies and recommends standards and improvements that support reliability, cybersecurity,