Job Summary/Purpose

This position ensures the stability and integrity of the data network environment. This is achieved by planning, designing, implementing, and operating the network environment and components across the organization.

Job Duties/Responsibilities

1. Design and implement network solutions: Provide detailed network designs to support business requirements, including routing, switching, load balancing, DDI, mesh networking, and wireless technologies for data centers, corporate environments, operational technology (OT) environments, and wide area networking.

2. Develop and execute implementation plans: Create and execute implementation plans for simple and complex network change requests.

3. Maintain and optimize network infrastructure: Participate in the installation, monitoring, maintenance, support, and optimization of all network hardware, software, and communication links.

4. Troubleshoot and analyze network issues: Perform analysis at physical, data plane, control plane, and higher-order protocol layers to troubleshoot and resolve network issues.

5. Manage network documentation: Create and maintain documentation related to network configuration, mapping, processes, and service records.

6. Oversee equipment and software upgrades: Oversee and implement new and existing equipment, hardware, and software upgrades.

7. Stay current with industry developments: Conduct research on network products, services, protocols, and standards to remain informed of advancements in the networking industry.

8. Develop and maintain network policies and procedures: Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, and associated training plans for network administration, usage, and disaster recovery.

9. Coordinate with vendors and contractors: Interact and coordinate with vendors, outsourcers, and contractors to secure network products and services.

10. Provide on-call support: Respond as the data network representative in a 24x7 on-call rotation to resolve emergent issues in corporate, OT, and automated metering/distribution automation network environments.

11. Collaborate with business and project teams: Work with business and project management teams to review strategies and requirements, ensure business and functional requirements are maintained, and review and analyze results to validate the functions of the delivered solution.

12. Support OT infrastructure strategies and operations: Support the implementation of OT infrastructure strategies and roadmaps, assist with day-to-day operations and lifecycle management of OT infrastructure components, and contribute to the automation of OT infrastructure tasks.

13. Ensure compliance with regulatory standards: Help ensure compliance with applicable regulatory standards, such as NERC CIP, NRC Nuclear Cyber (10 CFR 73.54), and other relevant energy industry frameworks, by participating in audits, assessments, and compliance remediation activities.

14. Monitor and mitigate cyber threats: Monitor and report on emerging cyber threats relevant to industrial control systems (ICS) and OT environments, and support the implementation of mitigation measures.

15. Collaborate with vendors and service providers: Collaborate with vendors and managed service providers to support service delivery and ensure alignment with Entergy's architectural and security standards.

16. Provide Tier 1/Tier 2 support: Provide Tier 1/Tier 2 support for escalated issues, including participation in on-call rotations to maintain uptime for critical OT systems.

17. Maintain OT infrastructure: Assist in maintaining infrastructure for OT systems such as SCADA, Distribution Automation, Smart Grid, and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).

18. Support infrastructure improvements and resilient design: Support infrastructure improvements and resilient design efforts within generation plants, substations, control centers, and other OT environments.

19. Track and report on key metrics: Track and report on key metrics to support system performance, availability, and compliance monitoring.       

Minimum Requirements

Minimum education required for the position.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline, or equivalent work experience.
• Master’s degree is a plus.

Minimum experience required for the position.

IT Consultant:

• 6+ years of relevant experience.
• 3+ years’ solution design experience is a plus

Minimum knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the position.

• Demonstrated knowledge / experience in Network Technologies including but not limited to networking protocols, TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS, network management tools, use of packet capture and other troubleshooting tools.
• Understanding of routing and switching technologies, as well as network security technologies (firewalls, IDS, IPS devices).
• Proficient in routing protocols (OSPF, BGP, IS-IS) and other networking features -NAT, Access-Lists, route re-distribution, IP Multicast, VLANs, spanning tree, spine-leaf architecture.  Priority given to previous networking experience maintaining NERC CIP.
• Strong understanding of IP addressing design.
• Strong verbal and written communications skills.
• Ability to document business requirements and develop technical solutions to meet the requirements.
• Experience in financial management of project deliverables.
• Experience as the technical lead for major implementation and/or network projects.
• Knowledge and experience with cloud networking and automation/scripting tools are a plus.

Preferred knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Deep understanding of infrastructure systems supporting OT and cybersecurity controls applicable to industrial environments. 
• Working knowledge of regulatory frameworks including NERC CIP, NRC 10 CFR 73.54, ISO 27001/27002, NIST, COBIT, and ITIL.  
• Proficient in scripting (e.g., PowerShell, Python, or Perl) for automation and task efficiency.  
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders across the organization.  
• Strong documentation and reporting skills to support audits and governance.
• Willingness to travel and support geographically dispersed OT assets.Strong Analytical and Data Analysis Skills.

Certificates, licenses, etc. recommended for the position.

Preferred:

• IT Consultant – Network Associate/Professional level– i.e., CCNA/CCNP, JNCIA/JNCIP, etc.
• Cloud certifications are a plus.