OT Technical Lead - Connected Factory / Digital Manufacturing- Life Science(Remote)

OT Technical Lead – Connected Factory / Digital Manufacturing

Role Overview

The OT Technical Lead is a delivery-focused engineering leader embedded within a Delivery POD on the Connected Factory Digital Innovation program. This program operates as a structured PoC incubation model. The Technical Lead is responsible for the end-to-end technical execution of individual Proof of Concept (PoC) engagements, working within an agile sprint cadence under the governance of a senior Core Team.

The role requires hands‑on engineering depth across OT/IIoT platforms, combined with the ability to communicate clearly with both manufacturing stakeholders and IT architecture peers. This is not a purely supervisory role—the Technical Lead is expected to work directly on technical tasks, particularly during ambiguous or first‑of‑a‑kind problem‑solving phases.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the technical execution of assigned PoC Delivery PODs from Initiate through Execute stages, including backlog ownership, sprint planning, and release readiness.
• Perform hands‑on configuration, integration, and validation across OT platforms, including Ignition, OSI PI, OPC UA, and shopfloor integration tooling (HighByte or similar UNS/SIL platforms).
• Drive daily technical unblocking for POD members; elevate architectural decisions to the Core Team with well‑formed solution options, not just problem statements.
• Participate in architecture scoping and T‑shirt sizing exercises during the Evaluate stage, providing technical feasibility and risk input.
• Produce and maintain technical documentation, including implementation plans, integration diagrams, test evidence, and PoC handover materials.
• Support PoC post‑mortem documentation (Stage 5 – Analyze), including success criteria scoring and structured knowledge transfer.
• Operate within a GxP‑adjacent lab environment; understand documentation and traceability expectations, even where formal validation is not required.

Required Skills & Experience

• 3–6 years of hands‑on OT/IIoT engineering experience in a manufacturing or life sciences environment.
• Demonstrated experience with Ignition SCADA, including configuration, module deployment, and OPC UA connectivity.
• Working knowledge of OSI PI Historian and Asset Framework (AF) structure design.
• Familiarity with OPC UA communication protocols, certificate trust management, and server/client integration patterns.
• Experience with agile delivery in an OT or hybrid OT/IT context, including sprint ceremonies, backlog management, and iterative PoC delivery.
• Ability to work independently in a lab environment with limited supervision; comfort with ambiguity and first‑of‑a‑kind technical challenges.

Preferred / Advantageous

• Exposure to HighByte Intelligence Hub, Kepware, or equivalent Unified Namespace (UNS)/SIL tooling.
• Experience in pharmaceutical or life sciences manufacturing (GxP awareness, batch process understanding).
• Familiarity with SIMCA‑Online or similar multivariate data analysis (MVDA) platforms.
• Containerization experience (Docker / Mirantis) for OT application deployment.
• Exposure to MES/EBR platforms (e.g., POMSnet) and shopfloor‑to‑historian data flows.

Working Model

The Technical Lead operates within a Delivery POD of 2–6 people (size determined per PoC T‑shirt sizing). They report into the program Core Team and are expected to participate in daily stand‑ups, bi‑weekly sprint reviews, and regular Core Team syncs. Multiple sequential PoC engagements are expected across the contract duration.

Skill Proficiency

• Ignition SCADA (Configuration, WebDev, Jython, Gateway) – 3 years minimum; Preferred.
• AWS (PrivateLink, EC2, Availability Zones) – 3 years minimum; Preferred.
• Demonstrable Programming Capability (Python, .NET, other) – 5 years minimum; Preferred.
• Agile Delivery in OT/IT (Sprint Execution, backlog management, PoC delivery) – 2 years minimum; Preferred.
• Shopfloor Integration / UNS (OSI‑PI, HighByte, Kepware, or equivalent device/controller integration experience) – 2 years minimum; Preferred.
• DevOps & CI/CD Tooling (Jira, GitHub, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, etc.) – 3 years minimum; Preferred.
• Regulated Manufacturing Experience (GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, Purdue Model, ISA 88, ISA 95) – 5 years minimum; Preferred.
• Experience leading solution architecture design (IT / OT diagramming, customer presentations, SoW development, etc.) – 5 years minimum; Preferred.

Work model

We strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in the United States. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work‑life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

Salary and Other Compensation

Applications will be accepted until May 4, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between 100 000 $ and 132 500 $ depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long‑term/Short‑term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer

The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.