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About the role:
We’re looking for a hands-on Smart Factory Consultant to collaborate with us on a freelance, ad-hoc, project basis (this is not a full-time position). This role is well-suited for experienced consultants who enjoy stepping into complex environments to shape and guide architecture decisions.
In this role, you’ll design and drive delivery of edge-to-cloud industrial data & application architectures across global manufacturing sites. You’ll bridge OT systems (PLC/SCADA/DCS/MES/Historians) with cloud services (Azure/AWS/Snowflake, etc.), ensuring ISA-95 interoperability, robust cybersecurity (Zero Trust), and reliable data flows for use cases like performance analytics, predictive maintenance, and digital twins.
You’ll act as a technical leader who reviews architecture, validates implementation plans, unblocks delivery, and communicates clearly across engineering, OT, security, networking, and site stakeholders.
Tasks:
Architecture & technical leadership:
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Act as the technical expert for Smart Factory / Edge architectures in a multi-site, multi-stakeholder environment.
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Review architectural designs (edge, network, cloud, security, data models) and confirm the feasibility of implementation plans.
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Align with Cloud Engineers and OT consultants to ensure ISA-95 compliant IT/OT integration and interoperability across layers (L0–L4/5).
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Validate that all required services are deployed and configured correctly (cloud resources, edge runtime, connectivity, identity, monitoring).
Edge-to-cloud integration & data flow validation:
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Define and validate edge-to-cloud data flow requirements, including:
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Tag list/signals, payload schemas/formats, naming conventions.
Data quality rules (units, timestamps, limits, gaps, duplicates).
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Create logical & conceptual models for contextualization.
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Validate conceptual and logical modelling of the factory asset hierarchy (site/area/line/cell/equipment/component) and mapping to data streams.
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Support the implementation of industrial connectivity patterns (e.g., OPC UA, MQTT, Modbus, REST) and integration with OT data sources (historians, SCADA, MES, CMMS, LIMS when relevant).
Firewall rules, ports, and secure connectivity patterns (VPN/ExpressRoute/Direct Connect where applicable).
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Ensure alignment with factory cybersecurity and Zero Trust principles, including segmentation, least privilege, secure remote access, and auditability.
Testing, go-live, and operational stabilization:
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Own the go-live checklist and drive issue resolution during integration testing and cutover.
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Support test data ingestion and end-to-end validation, from OT signal extraction through cloud ingestion, storage, and consumption.
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Validate performance and reliability requirements (throughput, latency, resilience, recovery) and ensure operational handover readiness.
Digital Twin & OT platforms:
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Contribute to Digital Twin concepts built on IT/OT convergence (asset hierarchy + telemetry + context).
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Work hands-on with OT / Smart Factory platforms such as AVEVA, Sight Machine, and/or similar (e.g., Ignition, OSIsoft/PI, Tulip, PTC ThingWorx, depending on environment).
Requirements:
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7+ years of experience in industrial IT/OT, smart factory, or manufacturing digitalization roles, with architect-level ownership of designs and deployments.
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Proven hands-on delivery experience implementing edge-to-cloud integration in real factory environments.
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Strong understanding of:
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ISA-95 (integration patterns and manufacturing system layers).