C&A System Engineer

About the Company

Petroleum Development Oman is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. The Company delivers the majority of the country's crude oil production and natural gas supply.

Purpose of the Job

To provide health monitoring, diagnostics, and remote oversight of security requirements for control and automation systems, Integrated Operations Center (IOC), and field instrumentation across a vast and complex Operational Technology (OT) landscape. This role aims to minimize deferment caused by automation system and field instrumentation performance degradation, assure asset integrity, and ensure the compliance of OT Security controls across 72 oil and gas assets. The engineer will also serve as the first point of contact for the new Integrated Operations Center.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in an Engineering discipline with a minimum of 4 years' experience in automation systems and field instrumentation, with some time spent in the maintenance and integrity management of live systems. At least 1-2 years should be dedicated to OT cybersecurity.
• Demonstrated knowledge and hands-on experience with various industrial control systems (e.g., DCS, PLC, SCADA), including their architecture, configuration, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management.
• Knowledgeable in OT cybersecurity controls within PDO's Operational Technology Environments, including vulnerability management, patch management, and security incident response process.
• Ability to interface and network effectively within the discipline and with other disciplines across a wide range of organizational boundaries.

Main Responsibilities

• Ensure comprehensive systems monitoring, trending, and analysis are routinely performed, with all resultant actions accurately documented and incorporated into the asset register.
• Proactively review and analyze systems performance on a regular basis, identifying and implementing continuous improvements to optimize efficiency and reliability.
• Actively participate in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) exercises, contributing to the determination of root causes and the implementation of effective defect elimination strategies.
• Continuously monitor OT hardware integrity status and diligently track all integrity-related maintenance activities to assure the ongoing integrity of the directorate's assets.
• Provide specialized discipline expertise and support to the instrument team, particularly in advanced troubleshooting and problem resolution.
• Collaborate closely with C&A system engineers and internal Asset personnel to ensure all systems remain healthy and fit-for-purpose throughout the entire asset lifecycle.
• Provide essential first-line support for the Integrated Operations Center (IOC), covering network links, Remote DCS Access, HMI, IOC cockpits, and Control Systems (CS).
• Oversee and monitor the Centralized Health Check for all critical IOC solutions, ensuring its optimal performance.
• Ensure rigorous compliance of Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity to established specifications and procedures:
  • Continuously monitor OT systems for cybersecurity non-compliance issues, specifically focusing on antivirus status, patching, software/service hardening, and security logging.
  • Analyze security alerts and logs from OT systems and detection solutions to proactively identify and assess potential threats.
  • Monitor dashboards for key indicators from intrusion detection systems (e.g., Nozomi), alongside backup healthiness status and Baseera.
  • Thoroughly document all security incidents and actively contribute to the ongoing development and refinement of incident response planning.
  • Foster close collaboration with various OT security teams (e.g., UOA6, IDS2, XXO66) to ensure a cohesive and effective security posture.

Skills Required

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