Network Engineer Contract Jobs in Minnesota (NOW HIRING)

We’re a growing manufacturer serving the IT infrastructure field, with a no-nonsense attitude: stay humble, work hard, and take on challenges head-first. Around here, you won’t just “do your job” — you’ll be part of a team that builds, solves, and delivers products we’re proud to put our name on. The benefits and pay are solid, but the real perk is being part of something that matters alongside people who care just as much as you do.

Full-time employees enjoy:

• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• Supplemental insurance options
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid holidays
• Online apparel store

Job Summary:

Kendall Howard is seeking an IoT Systems Engineer to build, deploy, and maintain the edge-to-cloud infrastructure that powers our next generation industrial telemetry platform. This hands-on engineering role is responsible for the messaging infrastructure, networking, and cloud connectivity that securely moves machine and battery telemetry from customer equipment into cloud-based storage and analytics platforms.

Working alongside an established Controls Engineering team and a dedicated Data Engineering counterpart, you will play a critical role in designing and scaling a reliable, secure, and resilient telemetry pipeline. As an early technical contributor on a growing platform, you'll have the opportunity to influence architecture, engineering standards, and long-term scalability while helping deliver innovative industrial IoT solutions.

The position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving complex connectivity challenges, working across operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) environments, and building systems that perform reliably in real-world industrial applications.

Key Responsibilities

Edge-to-Cloud Connectivity

• Deploy, configure, and maintain MQTT brokers or comparable publish/subscribe messaging infrastructure receiving telemetry from industrial equipment.
• Implement and support industrial communication protocols including MQTT and OPC-UA for secure telemetry transmission from the plant floor to cloud services.
• Design, build, and maintain secure network connectivity between edge devices and cloud infrastructure, including firewall traversal, segmentation, and secure communication across OT/IT boundaries.
• Collaborate with Controls Engineering to define telemetry payloads, topic architecture, data contracts, quality-of-service settings, and TLS certificate management.
• Support controller-side integration, testing, validation, and field commissioning related to telemetry publishing and data delivery.

Telemetry Pipeline Development

• Develop and maintain telemetry ingestion services transporting CAN-based battery and machine data from industrial controllers to cloud storage.
• Ensure reliable delivery through buffering, retry mechanisms, and reconnection strategies for equipment operating in environments with intermittent connectivity.
• Deliver validated, structured telemetry to downstream data platforms while maintaining established platform data contracts.

Cloud Infrastructure Operations

• Build and operate containerized cloud services supporting telemetry ingestion and processing.
• Deploy and maintain cloud infrastructure using infrastructure-as-Code methods.
• Implement secrets management, logging, monitoring, and operational observability throughout the telemetry pipeline.
• Partner with internal IT to provision, configure, and maintain cloud environments supporting production systems.

Security & Fleet Operations

• Implement remote monitoring, diagnostics, and alerting capabilities for deployed equipment.
• Maintain the security posture of the telemetry pipeline through secure connectivity, TLS encryption, credential management, access controls, certificate lifecycle management, and audit logging.
• Establish scalable connectivity and security standards as the deployed fleet grows.

Reliability & Technical Support

• Diagnose and resolve connectivity, networking, and telemetry pipeline issues affecting deployed systems.
• Support engineering and field service teams with troubleshooting, diagnostics, and telemetry analysis.
• Use operational feedback and field performance data to improve reliability across future equipment generations.

Documentation & Configuration Management

• Create and maintain technical documentation including:
  • System architecture diagrams
  • Network diagrams
  • Data flow documentation
  • Payload specifications
  • Integration documentation
  • Test plans
  • Operational runbooks
• Maintain version control for application code, infrastructure definitions, and system configurations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent professional experience.
• Two or more years of experience in Industrial IoT, edge-to-cloud integration, industrial connectivity, or similar telemetry engineering roles.
• Hands-on experience implementing MQTT or comparable publish/subscribe messaging systems in production environments.
• Experience deploying and operating cloud-based services supporting messaging and containerized workloads.
• Working knowledge of industrial networking, secure communications, firewall configuration, and OT/IT network segmentation.
• Ability to work hands-on in manufacturing and industrial environments.
• Authorization to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Preferred Qualifications

Industrial Protocols & Edge Systems

• OPC-UA, Modbus, EtherNet/IP, or similar industrial communication protocols
• Industrial edge gateways and edge computing platforms
• Industrial networking hardware
• Controller-side telemetry publishing (Siemens or B&R experience preferred)
• CAN bus or CANopen experience in industrial or automotive applications

Messaging Infrastructure

• Administration of MQTT brokers such as HiveMQ, EMQX, Mosquitto, or similar platforms.
• TLS implementation and certificate lifecycle management
• Quality-of-Service configuration, buffering, and reliable message delivery across unstable network connections

Cloud & Network Security

• AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud IoT and telemetry services
• Infrastructure-as-Code tools and containerized deployment environments
• Secrets management and cloud security best practices
• VPNs, network segmentation, industrial firewalls, and OT cybersecurity
• PKI and TLS certificate management for large device deployments

Additional Experience Valued

• Time-series databases and telemetry data platforms
• Battery Management Systems (BMS), motor controls, or industrial equipment telemetry
• Experience contributing to the architecture and growth of an early-stage technology platform

Our Ideal Candidate is:

• A hands-on engineer who enjoys designing and troubleshooting complex technical systems.
• Comfortable working across embedded devices, industrial networks, cloud infrastructure, and software services.
• Detail-oriented with strong documentation and organizational skills.
• Able to collaborate effectively with controls engineers, software developers, IT professionals, and Field Service Personnel.
• Motivated to improve reliability, security, and scalability through thoughtful engineering practices.
• Excited by the opportunity to help build and shape a growing industrial IoT platform.

Work Environment

• This position is 100% at Kendall Howard's facility in Chisago City, Minnesota. Remote work is not available for this role, except for occasional customer-site travel as required for deployment, commissioning, or technical support.
• Applicants should be prepared to work daily in both office and manufacturing environments and be comfortable interacting with industrial equipment and production systems.

Kendall Howard provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability. We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities.