Salary : $129,532.00 - $174,204.16 Annually
Location : Escondido, CA
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: 2026-07-1750
Department: Operations and Maintenance
Opening Date: 07/08/2026
Closing Date: 7/26/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

The Operations & Maintenance Department
The Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Department is responsible for operating the Water Authority's aqueduct delivery system; ensuring facility security and emergency preparedness; and maintaining and managing the fleet and various other assets. Specifically, the department controls water deliveries to meet member agency demands; manages dam and reservoir operations; ensures water quality; oversees water treatment plant and power generation operations; maintains all vehicles and heavy equipment; provides electro-mechanical support; implements the Asset Management Program (AMP); complies with all applicable environmental regulations; and develops and manages computerized Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and system maintenance programs.
The Operations Technology Division
The Operations Technology Division supports and maintains the core IT and OT infrastructure that supports the operation of the Water Authority's mission-critical systems, including enterprise virtualization platforms, clustered storage environments, network and compute resources, and integrated industrial control and communications systems. Routine work involves sustaining and troubleshooting the IT/OT-aligned operational technology stack, including instrumentation and control hardware and the networked communication infrastructure that supports industrial control and data-exchange operations. The division also provides design and construction support for Capital Improvement Projects, as well as technical assistance to the Aqueduct Protection Program.
The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate for the Senior Information Systems Analyst (Operational Technology) is a highly skilled IT/OT professional who thrives in complex technical environments and is motivated by safeguarding critical infrastructure. This individual will bring deep experience supporting and securing large-scale operational technology environments including industrial control systems, OT networks, virtualization platforms, and field communication systems and will be comfortable serving as the technical lead for system reliability, architecture, and cybersecurity.
The ideal candidate will possess:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex system issues and improve system performance.
• Knowledge of information systems, industrial control system, standard network architectures, and common OT protocols.
• Experience applying cybersecurity principles in operational environments, including system hardening, monitoring, and compliance.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with engineering, operations, cybersecurity, integrators, and field staff.
• Skill in leading technical aspects of multi-disciplinary projects, including system upgrades and major capital improvement work.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• A proactive, forward-thinking approach and the ability to work independently in a mission-critical environment.

The successful candidate will be committed to the mission-critical nature of the Water Authority's operations, demonstrating reliability, adaptability, and a focus on system security, continuity, and performance. If you are energized by hands-on technical work, protecting essential infrastructure, and contributing to the safe and reliable delivery of water throughout the region, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

The Position
The Senior Information Systems Analyst (Operational Technology) plays a critical role in supporting the Water Authority's mission of delivering a safe and reliable water supply to the San Diego region. As part of the Operations & Maintenance Department, this position leads the design, implementation, maintenance, and protection of the Water Authority's Operational Technology (OT) environment including control system networks, physical and virtual servers, virtualization platforms, field communication systems, and other infrastructure supporting Industrial Control System (ICS) operations.

Building on the advanced-level responsibilities of the including performing complex systems analysis, administering and securing large, specialized systems, and ensuring the integrity of mission-critical networks. This role focuses on the unique technical and cybersecurity needs of OT environments throughout the Water Authority's treatment, transmission, and monitoring systems.

This position serves as the technical lead for OT architecture, cybersecurity, and system reliability. It collaborates closely with engineering, operations, cybersecurity, and field staff to design and maintain resilient control system infrastructures across geographically distributed facilities. Key responsibilities include improving system performance, implementing high-availability and disaster-recovery strategies, enhancing system hardening, and ensuring compliance with cybersecurity standards applicable to industrial environments.

The role also provides essential support to capital improvement projects, integrating new equipment and technologies into the OT ecosystem and ensuring adherence to established standards. This work directly supports the continuity, safety, and security of essential water delivery operations.

In addition, this position is responsible for several core OT functional areas:

• OT Infrastructure Administration - Maintains and optimizes physical and virtual servers, storage systems, networks, and ICS components to ensure stability and performance; administers firewalls, switches, routers, secure remote access, and redundant communication paths to maintain reliable OT connectivity across facilities.
• Reliability, Redundancy & Disaster Recovery - Implements high-availability strategies, conducts failover testing, and maintains backup and recovery procedures to support operational continuity.
• Troubleshooting & Optimization - Diagnoses complex issues across hardware, software, networks, and OT systems; implements corrective actions and system enhancements.
• Documentation & Governance - Maintains detailed system documentation, network diagrams, configuration records, and assists in developing policies for security, reliability, configuration management, and disaster recovery.
• Cybersecurity & Compliance - Implements ICS-specific security controls (e.g., ISA/IEC standards), manages network segmentation, oversees intrusion detection measures, and ensures compliance with cybersecurity requirements for OT environments.

Distinguishing Characteristics
The Senior Information Systems Analyst (Operational Technology) is an advanced, journey level class. Incumbents perform the most complex and difficult assignments requiring greater technical knowledge and familiarity with OT systems, equipment, and standards. Incumbents perform a full range of duties as assigned, working independently, and exercising judgment and initiative. Receives only occasional instruction or assistance as new or unusual situations arise and they are fully aware of the operating procedures and policies of the work unit. Serves in a project lead capacity on an ongoing basis, and/or provides technical and functional direction over lower-level staff.

Representative Duties
The duties listed below are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the class.

• Configures, implements and maintains physical and virtual server infrastructure, enterprise virtualization platforms and enterprise storage systems (SAN/NAS).
• Performs full lifecycle management for services, storage and network infrastructure, including patching, firmware updates, configuration backups, vulnerability remediation, equipment replacement planning, and performance optimization; Identifies and implements improvements to enhance OT system performance, reliability, maintainability, and cybersecurity.
• Implements and maintains hardware, software, and firmware upgrades to meet operational and cybersecurity requirements.
• Administers routers, switches, firewalls, secure remote access, and redundant communication paths to ensure reliable OT connectivity across geographically distributed facilities; coordinates with field personnel to troubleshoot communication issues and determines best method for issue resolution.
• Performs network design, security, and troubleshooting of overall OT network related problems; conducts network performance monitoring, bandwidth and capacity analysis, and ensures overall OT network reliability.
• Implements OT cybersecurity measures consistent with industry standards (e.g., ISA/IEC 62443), including segmentation between Information Systems and OT networks, use of zones and conduits, and ICS-specific hardening.
• Configure, implements, maintains, and tests high availability and failover strategies to ensure operational continuity; conducts periodic recovery and failover tests to validate resiliency.
• Administers, configures, maintains, and monitors intrusion detection systems (IDS), network monitoring tools, and log aggregation platforms to detect abnormal activity and maintain system security.
• Confers with staff from various departments and outside agencies to facilitate upgrades as well as solve program, system, operational, and procedure problems; analyzes problems and recommends corrective action; designs, develops and implements solutions; coordinates system activities.
• Monitors platform performance, system logs, and application health to proactively identify and resolve issues affecting reliability or security; implements and maintains OT backup, restore, and disaster recovery processes.
• Administers identity and access management; manages and maintains secure active directory integration; and designs, enforces, and audits role-based access control models to ensure users have appropriate access aligned with operational and cybersecurity requirements.
• Reviews engineering plans and specifications for new facilities and capital improvement projects; provides guidance and design recommendations to ensure proper integration with OT standards and cybersecurity requirements; recommends hardware and software needs for the new facilities.
• Tracks contracts and agreements for software, hardware, support services, and equipment; participates in the procurement processes; coordinates work from vendors, integrators, and contractors to ensure compliance with established OT standards, uptime requirements, and security protocols.
• Develops and maintains system documentation, configuration records, network diagrams, and user guides; creates and maintains automated reports for internal and external customers.
• Assists with the development, implementation, and enforcement of policies related to network reliability, security, backups, and disaster recovery.
• May participate in the design and maintenance of Human Machine Interface (HMI) applications consistent with industry best practices to enhance operator situational awareness and system usability.
• May perform testing, commissioning, and startup support for new facilities and control system upgrades while maintaining system reliability and operational continuity.

For further details regarding the duties, responsibilities, and qualification guidelines for each class specification, please click on the following link:

Working Hours and Schedule: Employees assigned to work at the Escondido office work a 4/10 schedule, Monday - Thursday, during normal business hours. Normal business hours are 6:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Qualification Guidelines
The qualification guidelines generally describe the knowledge and ability required to enter the job in order to successfully perform the assigned duties. Any combination of experience and training that would provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities will be considered.

Equivalent to a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with major coursework in information technology, computer science, or a closely related field supplemented by five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in supporting information systems or operational systems. Formal cybersecurity training specific to OT is highly desired.
Licenses and Other Requirements

• A valid California driver's license and the ability to maintain insurability under the Water Authority's Vehicle Insurance Policy.
• Cisco, VMware, ISA/IEC-62443 Cybersecurity, Security Systems Certified Practitioner (SSCP) or other relevant certifications are desirable.
• Mandatory Physical & Drug Test: The applicants selected will be given a contingent offer of employment pending the outcome of a post-offer physical and drug test.
• On-Call Duty: Employees in this classification are subject to on-call duty

Application Procedure
To be considered for this position, please submit an employment application and supplemental questionnaire by Sunday, July 26, 20