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; escalate 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 standups, bi-weekly sprint reviews, and regular Core Team syncs. Multiple sequential PoC engagements are expected across the contract duration.
Mandatory Skills | Skill Proficiency | |||||
Years of Experience | Basic Knowledge | Medium | Expert | |||
Ignition SCADA | 3+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
AWS | 3+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
Demonstrable Programming Capability | 5+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
Agile Delivery in OT/IT | 2+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
Shopfloor Integration / UNS | 2+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
DevOps & CI/CD Tooling | 3+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
Regulated Manufacturing Experience | 5+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ Preferred | |||
Experience leading solution architecture design | 5+ | ✓ Min. | ✓ 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 though 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 30th 2026.
The annual salary for this position is between $ 100,000 K -$ 132,500 K 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: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:
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.
Über Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) i ist ein Technologiedienstleister und Entwickler von KI-Lösungen. Wir schlagen die Brücke zwischen KI-Investitionen und echtem unternehmerischem Mehrwert, indem wir ganzheitliche Full-Stack-KI-Lösungen für unsere Kunden entwickeln. Mit unserer fundierten Branchen-, Prozess- und Engineering-Expertise integrieren wir die spezifischen Anforderungen von Unternehmen passgenau in Technologiesysteme. So entfalten wir das menschliche Potenzial, erzielen greifbare Ergebnisse und sichern globalen Unternehmen in einer sich rasant wandelnden Welt den entscheidenden Vorsprung. Erfahren Sie mehr unter cognizant.ai oder @cognizant.
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