IT Section Head - Operational Technology Apps

Moog•Buffalo, NY

9d•$145,000 - $175,000•Onsite

About The Position

Moog is a performance culture that empowers people to achieve great things. Our people enjoy solving interesting technical challenges in a culture where everyone trusts each other to do the right thing. For you, working with us can mean deeper job satisfaction, better rewards, and a great quality of life inside and outside of work. Job Title : IT Section Head - Operational Technology Apps Reporting To: Director, IT Digital Eng & Mfg Apps Work Schedule: Onsite – Buffalo, NY Moog’s Corporate Group Is looking for an IT Section Head - Operational Technology Applications, to join our Enterprise Solutions Team! In this role, you will lead and grow the Operational Technology (OT) Applications Support team responsible for the availability, performance, cybersecurity, and lifecycle management of Operational Technology (OT) applications, such as SCADA (e.g., Ignition), data collection/IIoT platforms, DNC, QMS, and Asset Monitoring solutions. You will balance hands‑on technical leadership with people management, service delivery excellence, and cross‑functional collaboration with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Facilities, and Cybersecurity. You will set strategy, establish standards, and ensure 24×7 support for mission‑critical production systems across multiple sites. You will work onsite at our facility in East Aurora, NY.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Electrical/Controls Engineering, or a related field.
Over five (5) years hands‑on with OT applications (SCADA, DNC, QMS)—preferably Ignition—including gateway administration, scripting, and integrations.
Over three (3) years in team leadership/people management (supervisor, manager, or section head) in a 24×7 production support context.
Demonstrated success delivering system upgrades/migrations, performance tuning, and DR for OT stacks.
Must live local to the Buffalo, NY area.
Must be open to travelling to various Moog sites, both domestic and international.
Strong knowledge of industrial protocols (OPC UA, MQTT/Sparkplug B, Modbus, EtherNet/IP) and data flow design.
Familiarity with networking in OT (layered zones/conduits, VLANs, firewalls, DMZs, VPNs) and identity/access (AD/LDAP, RBAC).
Experience with virtualization/containerization (VMware/Hyper‑V, Docker/Kubernetes where appropriate for OT), Windows Server/Linux, and patch/AV solutions that are OT‑safe.
Tooling: ITSM (ServiceNow), monitoring (Ignition alarming), version control (Git), and CI/CD adapted for OT.
Practical application of ITIL (Incident/Problem/Change), SRE concepts (SLIs/SLOs/MTTR), and Lean/Kaizen.
Excellent communication with shop‑floor operators and senior leadership; strong vendor negotiation and stakeholder management.
Structured documentation and governance mindset; ability to lead major incidents calmly and decisively.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Electrical/Controls Engineering, or a related field.
Certifications: Ignition Core/Gold, ISA/IEC 62443, CompTIA CySA+/Security+, ITIL v4, PMP or Lean Six Sigma.
Experience in Aerospace & Defense or similarly regulated industries; knowledge of export controls (ITAR/EAR).
Exposure to PLM/ERP integrations (e.g., Teamcenter, SAP/Oracle), LIMS/Quality systems, and advanced analytics/data lake pipelines.

Responsibilities

Leadership & Strategy: Own the OT applications support strategy, roadmap, and operating model; align with Digital/Manufacturing Engineering and Enterprise Architecture. Build, mentor, and retain a high‑performing OT support team (analysts, engineers, SREs); manage capacity, staffing, and skills development. Define and enforce standards for configuration, scripting, release management, backup/restore, and disaster recovery for OT apps.
Service Management & Operations: Establish and meet SLAs/SLOs for availability, incident response, change, and problem management (ITIL practices). Oversee 24×7 support procedures, on‑call rotations, escalation paths, and major incident handling for plant systems.
Cybersecurity & Compliance: Partner with IT Security to implement ISA/IEC 62443 and NIST SP 800‑82 aligned controls: network segmentation, least privilege, certificate management, secure remote access, patch governance, vulnerability management. Ensure compliance with A&D/regulated requirements (e.g., export controls/ITAR, SOX where applicable) and audit readiness. Drive backup/DR strategies, runbooks, and periodic recovery tests for OT servers, gateways, and databases.
Projects & Continuous Improvement: Sponsor and execute upgrades/migrations (e.g., Ignition LTS to latest), site rollouts, and modernization (virtualization, containerization). Maintain accurate CMDB/asset inventory for OT applications and dependencies; establish configuration baselines.
Stakeholder & Vendor Management: Act as primary point of contact for plant leadership and engineering teams; translate production needs into service priorities. Manage vendor relationships, license compliance, and managed services (where applicable); negotiate support agreements and escalate issues. Communicate performance, risks, and roadmaps via monthly service reviews and executive dashboards.

Benefits

Financial Rewards: great compensation package, annual profit sharing, matching 401k, and the ability to participate in Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts
Work/Life Balance: Flexible paid time off, holidays and parental leave program.
Health & Welfare: Comprehensive insurance coverage including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, Employee Assistance Plan (“EAP”) and other supplemental benefit coverages.
Professional Skills Development: Tuition Assistance, mentorship and coaching opportunities, leadership development and other personal growth programs
Diverse and Inclusive Workplace: Employee Resource Groups, cultural events, and celebrations.

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