Cybersecurity Jobs in Richmond, VA

Lead Manufacturing Automation, Digital Transformation and OT Cybersecurity

We are seeking a Site Automation & OT Cybersecurity Cluster Lead to provide technical and strategic leadership across a cluster of manufacturing facilities.

This position is responsible for maintaining reliable, secure and supportable manufacturing automation systems while leading the cluster’s digital transformation and automation roadmap. The successful candidate will oversee existing systems, capital-project deployments, industrial control-network infrastructure, OT cybersecurity, technology lifecycle planning and business continuity.

This is a highly visible, hands-on technical leadership role requiring a strong combination of industrial automation, controls engineering, Industry 4.0, OT cybersecurity and project-management experience. The Cluster Lead will coordinate cross-functional teams, influence senior stakeholders and ensure automation investments deliver measurable operational and financial benefits.

Key Responsibilities

Automation and Digital Strategy

• Develop, align and execute site and cluster roadmaps for automation upgrades and digital manufacturing transformation.
• Translate business and manufacturing priorities into practical technology initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, reliability, quality and operational visibility through automation.
• Lead the adoption of connected manufacturing, IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies.
• Align local automation initiatives with enterprise architecture, cybersecurity and infrastructure standards.
• Maintain short-, medium- and long-term plans for automation and control-system development.
• Contribute technical expertise to regional and global automation communities of practice.

Manufacturing Automation Leadership

• Provide day-to-day technical leadership for manufacturing automation systems across the assigned plant cluster.
• Maintain a consistently high level of system availability, reliability and performance.
• Support existing automation systems and newly deployed solutions introduced through capital projects.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex automation, controls, infrastructure and cybersecurity issues.
• Coordinate issue resolution across Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, IT, vendors and enterprise teams.
• Ensure automation systems are maintained in a safe, secure and supportable state.
• Identify recurring problems and develop sustainable corrective actions.

OT Cybersecurity

• Lead cybersecurity technology and compliance for plant-based automation and industrial control systems.
• Ensure sites follow enterprise OT cybersecurity, infrastructure and automation standards.
• Assess cybersecurity risks affecting manufacturing assets and control networks.
• Coordinate remediation of vulnerabilities and technology risks.
• Promote secure system configuration, access control, patching, backup and recovery practices.
• Support cybersecurity assessments, audits and improvement initiatives.
• Develop cybersecurity capabilities among plant automation, engineering and maintenance teams.
• Participate in regional and global security communications and initiatives.

Industrial Control-Network Infrastructure

• Oversee industrial control-network infrastructure supporting manufacturing automation systems.
• Develop and execute roadmaps for control-network upgrades and lifecycle management.
• Coordinate delivery and support of shared infrastructure, including industrial data-centre and control-network components.
• Ensure reliable connectivity between automation equipment, manufacturing systems and approved enterprise platforms.
• Work with infrastructure and security teams to maintain network segmentation, resilience and system performance.
• Escalate requested exceptions or improvement opportunities to regional automation leadership.
• Ensure infrastructure changes are appropriately assessed, tested and controlled.

Capital Projects

• Lead the automation and digital-manufacturing elements of capital projects.
• Provide technical leadership during the design, procurement, implementation and commissioning of new systems.
• Support the deployment and integration of new production lines and equipment.
• Develop project plans, schedules, budgets, resource requirements and technical deliverables.
• Monitor project progress and manage technical risks, dependencies and escalations.
• Ensure projects remain aligned with approved scope, budget and business objectives.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams and external suppliers throughout project delivery.
• Capture implementation feedback and apply lessons learned to future projects.

Benefits and Savings Realisation

• Define the expected operational and financial benefits of automation initiatives.
• Establish appropriate project-performance measures.
• Track benefits and savings throughout project delivery and after implementation.
• Validate whether deployed solutions achieve the expected improvements.
• Communicate progress, risks and realised value to plant and supply-chain leadership.
• Identify corrective actions when projects are not delivering anticipated outcomes.

Technology Lifecycle Management

• Develop long-term plans for replacing obsolete or unsupported automation systems.
• Maintain visibility of hardware, software and infrastructure lifecycle risks.
• Prioritise upgrades based on cybersecurity, reliability, operational impact and business risk.
• Develop financial plans and budgets for system support, maintenance and replacement.
• Coordinate business involvement during technology upgrades and system transitions.
• Reduce technical debt while minimising disruption to manufacturing operations.
• Ensure newly deployed technologies align with enterprise standards and remain supportable.

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

• Own business-continuity and disaster-recovery planning for plant automation and industrial control systems.
• Develop and maintain backup, recovery and restoration procedures.
• Ensure local plans align with enterprise recovery requirements.
• Conduct regular reviews and exercises to validate recovery readiness.
• Identify gaps in system resilience and implement improvement plans.
• Coordinate responses to major automation, infrastructure or cybersecurity incidents.
• Ensure production-critical systems can be restored within appropriate business timeframes.

Digital Manufacturing Maturity

• Develop and execute the site’s process, control and information-systems roadmap.
• Introduce digital tools that improve manufacturing performance and decision-making.
• Support increased maturity across the following areas:
• Computerisation
• Connectivity
• Operational visibility
• Process transparency
• Predictive capability
• Adaptability
• Evaluate emerging technologies for practical application within manufacturing operations.
• Promote scalable solutions that can be adopted across additional facilities.
• Share successful practices and implementation lessons with regional engineering teams.

Stakeholder Leadership

• Lead multifunctional teams responsible for designing and implementing automation and digital solutions.
• Partner closely with Plant Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, IT, Cybersecurity and Supply Chain.
• Collaborate with cluster digital leadership and plant automation champions.
• Build strong relationships with plant and regional leaders.
• Present technical strategies, project updates, risks and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Influence decisions without relying on formal reporting authority.
• Promote user adoption, process compliance and internal customer satisfaction.

Budget and Vendor Management

• Develop site and cluster budgets for automation support, maintenance, upgrades and lifecycle management.
• Manage spending in accordance with approved plans and enterprise standards.
• Support financial forecasting for current and future automation requirements.
• Coordinate external automation vendors, system integrators and technology suppliers.
• Monitor vendor performance, technical quality, schedules and deliverables.
• Ensure third-party solutions meet operational, cybersecurity and engineering requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Automation Engineering, Controls Engineering or a related technical discipline.
• At least seven years of relevant experience within industrial automation, controls, manufacturing engineering, OT cybersecurity or digital manufacturing.
• Strong experience supporting automation systems within a manufacturing environment.
• Knowledge of industrial control networks and plant automation infrastructure.
• Experience with OT or industrial cybersecurity technologies and standards.
• Understanding of IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies.
• Experience leading automation, controls or digital manufacturing projects.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional technical teams.
• Experience supporting capital projects from planning through implementation.
• Ability to manage project scope, schedules, budgets, risks and expected benefits.
• Experience developing automation or technology roadmaps.
• Knowledge of system lifecycle management and technology obsolescence planning.
• Understanding of business continuity, backup and disaster-recovery principles.
• Strong stakeholder-management, influencing and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with technical, operational and senior leadership audiences.
• Ability to work onsite in Richmond, Virginia.
• Willingness to travel to Long Island, New York, approximately once per quarter.
• Current authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within food, beverage or consumer-products manufacturing.
• Multi-site or cluster-level automation leadership experience.
• Experience securing manufacturing networks, industrial control systems or operational technology.
• Knowledge of industrial cybersecurity frameworks and plant-network segmentation.
• Experience integrating new manufacturing lines or production equipment.
• Experience with automation infrastructure, manufacturing data systems and connected-factory technologies.
• Previous responsibility for capital planning and automation budgets.
• Experience migrating obsolete control systems to supported hardware and software.
• Business-continuity and disaster-recovery ownership for production-critical systems.
• Experience tracking project savings, productivity gains or return on investment.
• Continuous-improvement or digital-transformation experience.
• Experience participating in regional or global automation communities of practice.

The Ideal Candidate

The strongest candidate will demonstrate:

• Technical credibility across industrial automation, controls and OT cybersecurity.
• Ownership of automation systems within a large manufacturing environment.
• Experience developing and executing multi-year technology roadmaps.
• Successful delivery of automation-focused capital projects.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing-system reliability and lifecycle risk.
• Experience introducing IoT, Industry 4.0 or digital-manufacturing capabilities.
• Ownership of automation business-continuity and disaster-recovery planning.
• Ability to develop budgets and demonstrate measurable project value.
• Confidence influencing plant, engineering, IT and senior supply-chain leaders.
• The ability to lead cross-functional teams without requiring formal people-management authority.
• A practical, hands-on approach to solving complex manufacturing technology challenges.

Work Environment and Benefits

This is an onsite manufacturing position based in Richmond, Virginia. The successful candidate will work closely with production, engineering, maintenance, IT and plant-leadership teams during normal Monday-to-Friday core hours.

Quarterly travel to a manufacturing location in Long Island, New York, is required.

The organization offers a comprehensive benefits package that may include:

• Medical insurance
• Dental and vision coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement savings plans
• Paid leave
• Paid holidays and vacation
• Wellness and family-support programmes
• Education assistance
• Professional-development opportunities
• Relocation support

Equal Opportunity

The organization is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers qualified applicants without discrimination based on any status protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

Pay: $101,346.87 - $160,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee discount
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Willingness to travel:

• 25% (Preferred)

Work Location: In person