IT / OT Solutions Architect & Technical Lead

Job#: 3058489

Job Description:

Lead Solutions Architect

Manufacturing Network (PLAD) Technical Lead

R2Next Program | Annapolis Junction / Linthicum Heights, MD | On site | No clearance required

Our client, an engineering, research, and microelectronics manufacturing organization, runs a dedicated manufacturing network (PLAD) that connects manufacturing equipment across multiple buildings and rooms. PLAD is intentionally kept off the larger enterprise network the client is building, and its major build milestones are complete. What exists today is functional but bare bones: a small set of servers, domain controllers, VMware hosts, email, SharePoint, Confluence, Office tools, and a large set of manufacturing applications, with only basic security and monitoring in place.

The Lead Solutions Architect is the technical lead and single point of contact for PLAD. This is not a maintenance role. You will lead our team supporting PLAD, keep the environment stable as it grows, turn it into a secure and fully functional network, and represent manufacturing users in the client's larger plan for upgrading it. You will act as architect, team lead, and day-to-day project lead in one, and be the steady, experienced voice the client relies on. Overall enterprise architecture and integration are handled by another partner, and a separate vendor supports the manufacturing applications; you will work closely with both.

How the Role Evolves

Phase

Focus

Now through January

Lead the team deploying and building virtual machines and keeping PLAD running day to day. Learn the environment, its users, and its requirements, and set up the team's working rhythm, documentation, and priorities.

Stabilize and secure

Close the gaps expected in a network of this type, including network monitoring, security tooling, backup, patching, and quality-of-life improvements, so PLAD is secure and functional before major upgrades begin.

Build together

Help shape and deliver the next phase of PLAD alongside the client, the architecture partner, and the manufacturing application vendor, representing manufacturing requirements and practical operating needs.

Managed service

Lead the transition into a steady-state managed service delivered by our team, with defined processes, service levels, and reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership and Point of Contact

• Serve as the single accountable point of contact for PLAD across client IT leadership, manufacturing staff, the architecture partner, and the application vendor.
• Lead and coordinate our PLAD team, set priorities, assign work, track progress, and report status, risks, and decisions needed to client leadership.
• Bring calm, experienced judgment to a fast-changing environment, flagging risks early and keeping work organized and documented.

Keep PLAD Running and Growing

• Oversee deployment and build of virtual machines and servers on VMware, and day-to-day operation of domain controllers, email, SharePoint, Confluence, and supporting services.
• Coordinate with the manufacturing application vendor so changes to the network or systems do not disrupt manufacturing tools or production.
• Apply manufacturing-appropriate change control: planned maintenance windows, tested rollback, and production availability first.

Secure and Mature the Environment

• Assess PLAD against what a well-run isolated manufacturing network should have, and build a prioritized plan to close the gaps.
• Recommend and implement network monitoring, logging, endpoint protection, vulnerability scanning, and backup suited to a network with no direct internet access, including controlled processes for bringing in patches and software.
• Improve network segmentation across buildings and equipment areas, and harden servers, endpoints, and network devices against recognized baselines.
• Maintain accurate inventory, network diagrams, runbooks, and as-built documentation.

Requirements and User Advocacy

• Review the PLAD requirements set with the client team, and help confirm, prioritize, and phase what PLAD needs to become.
• Act as the advocate for manufacturing users: turn requests for a specific program into the underlying capability, and recommend options that fit PLAD's security and support model.
• Evaluate emerging requests such as AI tools for the manufacturing environment, including what could run securely in an isolated network.

Future State and Managed Service

• Contribute PLAD expertise to the client's overall upgrade plan, working with the architecture partner so PLAD stays aligned with it while remaining off the larger network.
• Provide input on lifecycle refresh, capacity, and budget for PLAD hardware and software.
• Define the processes, staffing, service levels, and reporting for our managed service, and lead the team through that transition.

Technical Environment

Category

Environment

Network

Single manufacturing network across multiple buildings and rooms; Cisco switching and routing; no direct internet access; kept separate from the enterprise network.

Servers and virtualization

VMware vSphere hosts, Windows Server, domain controllers, and virtual machine build-out.

Collaboration

On-network email, SharePoint, Confluence, and Microsoft Office tools.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing applications and equipment across buildings, supported by a separate application vendor; client workstations used by manufacturing staff day to day.

Security

Basic security tooling today; target state adds monitoring, logging, endpoint protection, vulnerability management, and hardened baselines aligned to NIST SP 800-171.

What Will Make You Successful

• Ownership: you treat PLAD as your environment and want to improve it, not just keep it running.
• A service mindset toward manufacturing users, including patience in finding out what they actually need.
• Collaboration with multiple vendors and client teams without losing accountability.
• Comfort with ambiguity while plans, scope, and team structure continue to evolve.

Work Location and Conditions

Primarily on site in Annapolis Junction and Linthicum Heights, Maryland, including time in manufacturing spaces across multiple buildings. No security clearance is required. Occasional after-hours work may be needed for maintenance windows. The initial engagement runs through March 2027 and is expected to continue into later phases and managed service.

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