Industrial Controls Infrastructure Engineering Manager

School of Government Services•Chapel Hill, NC

12h•$115,000 - $127,000

About The Position

The selected candidate will be employed by the School of Government Services (SOG Services), but their work location and reporting responsibilities will be at the Energy Services, Co-Generation plant. SOG Services assists faculty and staff at the UNC School of Government in carrying out its important mission: to improve the lives of North Carolinians by engaging in practical scholarship that helps public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government. As a nonprofit organization and an official affiliated entity of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, SOG Services also contributes to advancing UNC-Chapel Hill’s broader mission of academic excellence, research, and public service. The Energy Services Department consists of five groups: (1) Cogeneration Systems (CG), generates electricity and steam, and the distribution of steam throughout campus and UNC Hospitals; (2) Electric Distribution Systems (EDS), distribution of electrical power throughout campus; (3) Chilled Water Systems (CWS) producing and distributing chilled water throughout campus; (4) Water, Wastewater and Stormwater (WWS), for the use and conservation of water, as well as the proper management of stormwater and runoff; and (5) Administration (ES-Admin), provides GIS, SCADA, coordination of operational information technologies, strategic planning, and management functions. Together these five groups provide safe, reliable, environmentally responsible, and cost-effective steam, electricity, chilled water, sanitary sewer, reclaimed water, and potable water utility services to the University's campus in a manner that moves UNC closer to the goals of Three Zeros Environmental Initiative. This position serves as a senior engineering technical resource within the Industrial Controls Infrastructure Engineering (I&C) group responsible for the design, integration, reliability, and lifecycle management of Energy Services industrial control systems supporting mission critical 24/7 campus utility operations. The I&C Engineer will focus on operational technology (OT) environments including SCADA systems, distributed control systems (DCS), programmable logic controllers (PLCs), control-system servers, and plant automation networks embedded within Chilled Water (CW), Electric Distribution Systems (EDS), and Cogeneration (CG) infrastructure. This position functions as the technical liaison between Energy Services’ I&C Group, Energy Services leadership, Finance & Operations IT (FOIT), and other IT groups on campus, maintaining primary engineering responsibility for plant-level control system architecture, performance, resiliency, and security.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, or related engineering field and three to five years of progressively responsible experience supporting large-scale, mission-critical OT Infrastructure, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
Demonstrated experience supporting enterprise or industrial OT systems.
Strong knowledge of control-system servers, host environments, and process control concepts.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities within accelerated schedules.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to work independently and exercise sound technical judgment.
Possess mechanical and systems aptitude with the ability to interpret wiring, process diagrams, and control logic documentation.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Engineering, or related field and six to ten years of progressively responsible experience supporting large-scale, mission-critical OT infrastructure, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
Certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification ITIL Foundation Certification

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership Serve as subject matter expert in designing, configuration, and optimization of control-system infrastructure (SCADA, DCS, and PLC-based systems), supporting campus utility operations.
Identify recurring system reliability issues and implement long-term solutions.
Evaluate new technologies and recommend automation and modernization of infrastructure operational technologies.
Lead integration of control systems with reporting and other data platforms that support operational reporting, dashboards and performance analytics needed for decision making.
Control Systems Infrastructure Support & Administration Configure data connections, systems interfaces, and role-based access within operational platforms
Design, build and maintain application solutions to streamline business processes and improve operational efficiency.
Maintain documentation of control systems logic, configuration standards, and system changes.
Operational Technology (OT) Systems Support Provide advanced troubleshooting of industrial control systems and plant automation infrastructure.
Coordinate lifecycle management of control-system hardware and software platforms.
Support plant operations during emergencies or high-stress conditions affecting infrastructure control systems.
Administer and support SCADA hosts, control-systems servers, and operational technology adjacent systems.
Support system resiliency by validating occurrence of system backup, system redundancy, and recovery planning.
Project & Stakeholder Coordination Coordinate infrastructure plans with department leadership, Finance & Operations IT, and Campus ITS.
Provide technical consultation and project coordination for complex initiatives.
Participate in vendor and operational unit meetings to guide automation and controls decisions.
Lead change management activities related to infrastructure projects.
Assist with long-range planning, budgeting, and forecasting related to operational technology infrastructure.