{"id":3475924,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security","title":"Principal Technical Consultant - Operational Technology, Network Security","company":{"id":3614,"name":"AHEAD","domain":"ahead.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/ahead","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Lever","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":73,"open_postings":38,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.868,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":74,"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"}},"role":"Solutions","role_family":"Solutions","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":{"min":180000,"max":195000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":195000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"DNP3","optional":false},{"name":"OPC UA","optional":false},{"name":"NERC CIP","optional":true},{"name":"NIST CSF","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-28T21:07:47Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-28","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T10:27:41Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"About AHEAD\nAHEAD helps organizations modernize and secure the technology that runs their business. We are building a deeper Operational Technology capability for clients in manufacturing, energy, utilities, healthcare, transportation, and other industries where uptime, safety, and resilience matter. This role helps shape that capability while delivering meaningful client work.\nThe Role\nThe Principal Technical Consultant, Operational Technology is a senior technical leader and trusted advisor, and the primary technical resource on OT Assessments and SRDP (strategy, roadmap, design, and plan) engagements. This is a hands-on role. You will lead technical discovery, facilitate workshops, analyze industrial environments, build architecture and roadmap deliverables, guide delivery teams, and present recommendations to client leaders. You should be equally comfortable discussing a PLC network with an automation engineer, an operating model with plant leadership, and investment priorities with a CISO or CIO.\nWhat You Will Do:\nLead OT assessments and advisory engagements\nServe as the primary technical lead for OT Assessments, OT strategy work, and SRDP workstreams.\nPlan and facilitate discovery workshops, site visits, technical deep dives, and executive working sessions.\nEstablish a safe, non-disruptive discovery approach that respects production schedules, safety requirements, and change control.\nAssess the client environment across assets, networks, control systems, dependencies, ownership, and operational constraints, and evaluate maturity across people, process, and technology.\nIdentify risks, gaps, single points of failure, and lifecycle concerns affecting security, reliability, visibility, and resilience.\nProduce current-state and future-state architecture views, findings, maturity assessments, and prioritized roadmaps that connect recommendations to business impact, investment, and sequencing.\nOwn the technical quality of deliverables and present findings to engineering teams, plant and operations leaders, and executives.\nApply deep OT and cybersecurity expertise\nAnalyze OT and ICS architectures spanning PLCs, HMIs, SCADA, DCS, historians, MES, engineering workstations, safety systems, and connected edge environments.\nEvaluate IT/OT connectivity, Purdue-aligned design, zones and conduits, industrial DMZs, segmentation, remote access, and third-party connectivity.\nAssess asset inventory, passive visibility, communication flows, protocol use, legacy platforms, and compensating controls.\nEvaluate identity and access, endpoint protection, vulnerability and patch management, monitoring, incident response, backup, and recovery practices. • Balance security recommendations against safety, availability, performance, maintenance windows, and long OT lifecycles.\nApply recognized standards including NIST SP 800-82, ISA/IEC 62443, and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, plus applicable regulatory requirements.\nBring a point of view on secure remote operations, edge computing, industrial wireless and private 5G, cloud-connected OT, and OT data.\nLead technical teams and delivery qualit y\nLead and delegate work across technical consultants, engineers, and client resources on one or more workstreams.\nBreak complex problems into work packages with clear approach, decision points, and acceptance criteria.\nCoordinate with Project Managers, account teams, and other AHEAD practices to deliver an integrated solution.\nReview technical work for accuracy and clarity, and mentor consultants on architecture, analysis, documentation, and client interaction.\nContribute to repeatable methods, templates, and reference architectures for the OT practice.\nContribute to business development\nParticipate in discovery and qualification meetings as the OT subject matter expert.\nHelp shape scopes of work, estimates, work breakdown structures, assumptions, risks, and proposals.\nSupport technical solutioning and proposal presentations with senior client stakeholders.\nDevelop practical thought leadership, internal enablement, and client briefings that strengthen AHEAD's OT brand.\nWhat You Will Bring:\nRequired Qualifications\n10 or more years delivering complex technology, cybersecurity, network, or engineering solutions, with significant Operational Technology or ICS experience.\nDemonstrated experience leading OT or ICS assessments, architecture, segmentation, cybersecurity, or modernization engagements.\nStrong understanding of control-system architectures and industrial protocols such as Modbus, DNP3, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, or OPC UA.\nStrong OT networking and security depth, including routing and switching, firewalls, industrial DMZs, segmentation, remote access, identity, and monitoring.\nAbility to explain the operational impact of technical decisions where safety, availability, and production continuity are critical.\nExperience producing architecture diagrams, maturity assessments, prioritized roadmaps, and executive presentations.\nExperience facilitating workshops with stakeholders from the plant floor through executive leadership.\nExcellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to tailor complex material to the audience.\nDemonstrated ability to lead technical teams, delegate, review work, and mentor others.\nWillingness to travel to client sites as engagements require.\nBachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent professional experience.\nPreferred Qualifications\nExperience with ISA/IEC 62443, NIST SP 800-82, NIST CSF, NERC CIP, FDA, or other industry-specific requirements.\nBackground in manufacturing, energy, utilities, water, healthcare, transportation, chemicals, or pharmaceuticals.\nExperience with OT asset discovery and passive monitoring platforms, industrial firewalls, secure remote access, or OT security operations.\nExperience with IT/OT convergence, edge platforms, industrial wireless, private 5G, or OT data platforms.\nExperience developing estimates, work breakdown structures, service briefs, or statements of work.\nCertifications such as GICSP, GRID, CISSP, ISA/IEC 62443, or CCNP/CCIE.\nHow You Will be Successful:\nIn your first year, you will independently lead OT discovery and assessment work that clients trust, produce client-ready deliverables that move decisions forward, earn credibility with both plant-floor and executive stakeholders, strengthen the delivery team through coaching and review, and contribute reusable OT methods that improve how AHEAD delivers.\nWhy This Role Matters:\nOT consulting is not about applying enterprise IT controls unchanged to a plant floor. It takes technical depth, operational humility, and the ability to make progress without losing sight of safety, reliability, or recovery. If you have spent your career understanding how industrial environments work and want to help organizations make them more secure and resilient, this role puts that experience in front of the clients who need it.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6932,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Network Security","Information Security","IT Consulting & Digital Transformation","AI Consulting & Integration"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-29T18:49:19Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 23 · green card filings: 4","filings_12m":23,"filings_prev_12m":21,"green_card_filings_12m":4,"median_offered_wage_usd":151759,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":3}],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":6,"expected_fill_days":74,"reasons":["conf:0","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":195000,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T11:09:52Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"assistant_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":2706,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3614},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3614"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fahead-principal-technical-consultant-operational-technology-network-security"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3475924}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"ahead.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3475924},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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