Scada Engineer

Confidential Executive Search Brief
Growth Leader SCADA and Industrial Automation

Purpose: Build and accelerate a SCADA, OT and Industrial Automation business. This is an entrepreneurial business-building role requiring technical depth, customer-facing capability, project execution expertise and commercial leadership.

Executive Mandate:
The company is seeking a growth leader who can combine deep SCADA engineering experience with business development, solution consulting and hands-on delivery leadership. The successful candidate must be capable of creating opportunities, designing credible solutions, winning strategic customers and ensuring successful execution.
This is not a conventional P&L maintenance role. The mandate is to create a scalable SCADA and Industrial Digitalisation business.
Core Responsibility

• Define and execute the SCADA business growth strategy.
• Identify priority utility, infrastructure, energy and industrial markets.
• Build pipeline and originate strategic opportunities.
• Create SCADA, OT, automation modernization and managed-service offerings.
• Engage utility leaders, plant heads, engineering teams, CIOs and CXOs.
• Lead consultative solution selling and customer discovery.
• Build partnerships with OEMs, EPCs, consultants and system integrators.
• Develop reference customers and lighthouse projects.

Critical Additional Requirement: Hands-on SCADA Delivery Leadership
The candidate must not only sell SCADA solutions but also possess the credibility and experience to lead complex SCADA implementation and integration programmes.

• Lead end-to-end SCADA project execution from engineering design through commissioning.
• Review and approve system architecture, functional specifications and engineering designs.
• Manage integration between utility systems and SCADA platforms.
• Coordinate integration of RTUs, FRTUs, PLCs, IEDs, protection relays, meters, sensors and field devices.
• Drive communication architecture including IEC 60870-5-101/104, IEC 61850, Modbus, OPC UA, MQTT and industrial networks.
• Lead FAT, SAT, commissioning, cutover and operational handover activities.
• Manage control centre implementation including SCADA servers, historians, databases, HMI, alarm systems and redundancy.
• Ensure integration with GIS, OMS, DMS, ERP, enterprise systems and analytics platforms.
• Resolve technical-commercial conflicts between customer requirements, engineering capability and project commitments.
• Establish project governance, quality standards and delivery methodologies.

Ideal Career Journey

• SCADA engineer, automation engineer, PLC/HMI engineer or commissioning engineer.
• SCADA architect, technical lead or automation project leader.
• Solution consultant, presales leader, strategic account leader or business development head.
• Business builder responsible for creating markets, offerings and revenue streams.

Technical Experience Required

• SCADA, DCS, PLC, RTU, FRTU, HMI, historian and control room systems.
• Utility automation, distribution automation, substation automation and ADMS/OMS.
• Industrial automation and OT architectures.
• IT/OT integration, edge computing, IIoT and cloud connectivity.
• Cybersecurity concepts including IEC 62443, segmentation and secure remote access.
• Project lifecycle including engineering, procurement, installation, testing and commissioning.

Utility SCADA Delivery Experience:

Preferred candidates should have delivered or technically led utility-scale SCADA projects involving architectures such as multiple control centres, disaster recovery, field automation, communication networks, cybersecurity and lifecycle support.
Growth Expectations

• Create a three-year business growth plan.
• Develop differentiated solution offerings.
• Build strategic account plans.
• Generate qualified pipeline.
• Win strategic projects.
• Create recurring revenue through AMC, managed services and lifecycle offerings.
• Build presales, engineering and delivery capability.

Candidate Assessment Criteria

• Evidence of new revenue created.
• Strategic deals personally influenced or won.
• SCADA projects delivered successfully.
• Customer relationships developed.
• Offerings created or repositioned.
• Teams and capabilities built.
• Partnerships established with measurable outcomes.

Candidates to Avoid

• Pure SCADA programmers without customer-facing experience.
• Project managers without business-development responsibility.
• Sales executives without technical SCADA credibility.
• Operational P&L managers maintaining inherited businesses.
• Tender-only presales professionals.

Success Definition

• Strong qualified pipeline.
• Strategic customer wins.
• Successful SCADA project delivery.
• Referenceable lighthouse projects.
• Repeatable sales and delivery processes.
• A scalable SCADA business independent of founder relationships.

Executive Search Positioning
The ideal candidate is an engineer who became a trusted advisor and then became a business builder. The role requires equal strength in SCADA technology, project execution, customer engagement and commercial growth.