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Mgr Manufacturing IT Infrastructure

Location: 

Irvine, CA, US, 92618

Employment Type: Salaried
Work Arrangement: Hybrid 

Position Summary:

We are seeking a versatile and technical Manager of IT/OT Systems to own the infrastructure, software stack, and security posture that powers our manufacturing operations.

Reporting to the Director of IT Plant Infrastructure, you will bridge the gap between traditional IT Systems Engineering and Plant Floor Operations. You will be responsible for the "full stack" of plant technology—from managing Windows Servers and compute infrastructure to ensuring PLC/SCADA connectivity and driving OT Cybersecurity best practices.

Your primary mission is modernization: working alongside Plant Engineering to transform "brownfield" plants into modern, connected facilities, ensuring data flows securely from the production line to the cloud (AWS).  You will be critical on modernizing our plants.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

IT Systems Engineering & Infrastructure

  • Help maintain the core computing infrastructure for plant operations.
  • Manage the lifecycle of plant-floor software assets, including HMI PCs, industrial tablets, and ruggedized workstations.
  • Oversee Active Directory structures, Group Policies (GPO), and DNS/DHCP services specifically tailored for manufacturing environments.
  • Ensure high availability and disaster recovery readiness for all critical plant systems.

OT Application Stack & Cloud Connectivity

  • Own the operational health of the manufacturing software stack (e.g., Ignition SCADA Gateways, Middleware/Kepware, Enterprise Labeling/Loftware).
  • Lead the technical integration of Industry 4.0 initiatives, engineering the connectivity pipelines that move tag data from the factory floor to AWS and other enterprise systems. (Kepware+)
  • Support the SOTI MobiControl (MDM) environment, ensuring secure management of mobile devices used in production.

OT Security (InfoSec) & Modernization

  • Champion OT Cybersecurity standards, implementing network segmentation, secure remote access policies, and patch management strategies that respect production up-time requirements.
  • Lead projects to modernize "brownfield" equipment, finding creative ways to extract data from legacy PLCs and get them connected to the modern IT network.
  • Collaborate with Corporate InfoSec to translate enterprise security requirements into practical controls for the plant floor.

Engineering Collaboration & Project Execution

  • Partner closely with Plant Engineering and Controls teams, using your high degree of PLC/SCADA literacy to troubleshoot complex connectivity and data acquisition issues.
  • Drive the IT portion of capital projects, keeping the technical team on task and ensuring milestones for connectivity, testing, and go-live are met.
  • Act as the technical escalation point for the team, helping to resolve Level 3 infrastructure impediments that are blocking production goals.
  • Help with M&A actions for plant software.

Additional responsibilities as assigned.

Education and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, ( or equivalent experience).
  • Preferred: Certifications in Microsoft Systems (Azure/Server), CISSP, ISA/IEC 62443 or Industrial Cybersecurity (GICSP).

Knowledge and Skills:

Required Technical Skills

  • Experience: 10+ years of IT systems experience, with specific experience supporting manufacturing environments (Food & Beverage preferred).
  • Systems Engineering: Strong hands-on experience with Windows Server administration, and general IT infrastructure management.
  • PLC/SCADA Literacy: High familiarity with industrial automation architectures. You must understand how PLCs communicate (Ethernet/IP, Modbus) and how SCADA systems query data to troubleshoot connectivity effectively.
  • OT Security: Solid understanding of OT InfoSec principles (Purdue Model, IEC 62443 concepts) and the unique challenges of securing industrial networks.
  • Cloud & Data: Experience with cloud services (IoT Core, Greengrass, or S3) and data connectivity protocols (MQTT, OPC-UA).
  • Brownfield Modernization: Proven ability to retrofit legacy plant environments with modern connectivity solutions without replacing the entire control system.

Leadership & Soft Skills

  • Project Leadership: Experience leading technical initiatives and keeping a team focused on deliverables.
  • Collaboration: A "Bridge Builder" mindset—you can speak "IT" to the server team and "OT" to the controls engineer.
  • Problem Solving: Ability to troubleshoot complex systems that span across hardware, software, network, and cloud layers.

Preferred Skills

  •  Language: Bilingual (English/Spanish) is a strong plus to support a diverse workforce on the plant floor.
  • IaC experance with ansible or terraform.

Why Join Us:
Ventura Foods innovates and manufactures food solutions for foodservice and retail businesses.  We make exclusive products for the world's most iconic restaurants and retailers, we provide ready-to-go product solutions for professional kitchens, and we make consumer brands everyone knows and loves.  When you work for Ventura Foods, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work.  As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you’re willing to push yourself to get there.  We invest in your growth because you invest in ours.  

 

Ventura Foods offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:​

  • Medical, Prescription, Dental, & Vision – coverage beginning on your 1st day for eligible employees​
  • Profit Sharing and 401(k) matching (after eligible criteria is met)​
  • Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays​
  • Employee Appreciation Events​ and Employee Assistance Programs
  • Salary Base Range of $140,057.00 - $184,559.55*
  • Annual bonus (based on the incentive program terms and conditions)

 

*The “base salary range” provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position in the specified markets.  Ventura Foods reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to: candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography.  Ventura Foods conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.  

 

Diversity & Inclusion:
Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive environment in which all employees are treated with respect is evident in our company culture and values.  We believe that fostering an environment of inclusion and a focus on diversity across our organization is vital to attracting top talent, driving innovation, and meeting the high expectations of our customers in a rapidly evolving global marketplace.

 

Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.


Nearest Major Market: Irvine California
Nearest Secondary Market: Los Angeles

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