Network Architect

Pattern Energy Group LP•Houston, TX

9d•$111,000 - $139,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Pattern Energy is a renewable energy company that develops, constructs, owns, and operates wind and solar generation, transmission, and energy storage facilities. Its mission is to transition the world to renewable energy through sustainable development and responsible operations that respect the environment, communities, and cultures where it operates. The company emphasizes trust, accountability, transparency, creative spirit, pride of ownership, follow-through, and a team-first attitude. Headquartered in the United States, Pattern has a global portfolio of more than 30 power facilities and transmission assets. The Network Architect designs, implements, and maintains secure, resilient, and scalable network infrastructure across corporate IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments. The position leads firewall architecture, SD-WAN, dynamic routing, network segmentation, and NAT design, while ensuring network security meets NERC CIP requirements. It helps protect generation, substation, and SCADA environments and enables reliable enterprise connectivity. The role must balance security with the operational reliability needs of critical OT and generation environments, where downtime can have significant business and safety impacts. Challenges include complex routing and firewall interactions across segmented IT/OT zones, NERC CIP audit readiness, and compatibility of new technologies with legacy SCADA systems. The position addresses these through structured change management, coordination with OT and compliance stakeholders, thorough documentation, and attention to evolving security and regulatory requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Network Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent work experience.
8–10 years of progressive experience designing and supporting enterprise network and security infrastructure.
Deep, hands-on expertise with Palo Alto and Fortigate firewall platforms, including Panorama and Fortimanager.
Experience with SD-WAN architecture, dynamic routing protocols (BGP, OSPF), NAT design, and network segmentation.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with NERC CIP compliance and OT/ICS/SCADA network environments.
Relevant certifications such as PCNSE, Fortinet NSE, or CCNP.

Responsibilities

Design, deploy, and maintain enterprise firewall architecture across Palo Alto and Fortigate platforms, including policy standardization and rule-base optimization.
Architect and manage SD-WAN across corporate and OT sites, including transport selection, path-steering policies, and failover design.
Design and maintain dynamic routing (BGP/OSPF) across WAN, data center, and OT environments to ensure resilient, redundant connectivity.
Own network segmentation strategy, including VLANs, zones, and micro-segmentation separating IT, OT, and DMZ environments in accordance with Purdue Model best practices.
Lead NERC CIP compliance efforts for network infrastructure, including Electronic Security Perimeter (ESP) design, access controls, and audit evidence support.
Design and support OT network infrastructure connecting SCADA, substations, and generation sites, ensuring reliability and security.
Serve as an escalation point for complex network, firewall, and routing incidents and lead root-cause analysis.
Maintain network architecture documentation, standards, and disaster recovery/failover runbooks.