Job Description:

This is a rare opportunity to take on a senior technical leadership role at Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, where operational technology directly supports the delivery of essential water and wastewater services to 16 million customers.
We are looking for a highly technical, operationally focused and delivery driven OT Technical Manager to lead the performance, security, resilience and support of our Operational Technology estate and associated digital services.

You will act as a senior operational technical authority across OT infrastructure, IT and OT connectivity, enterprise network security, cyber compliance, compute platforms, active directory and identity services. Leading specialist internal teams and strategic service partners, you will ensure that the critical technologies supporting our water and wastewater operations remain available, secure, resilient and fit for purpose.

This is a broad and influential leadership role, combining deep technical oversight with operational delivery, supplier management, cyber resilience, business continuity and continual service improvement. You will also turn approved OT and Digital network roadmaps into deliverable operational plans, balancing day to day service performance with technical risk, lifecycle requirements, regulatory obligations and future operational needs.

The role sits within the Thames Digital OT function and provides the opportunity to shape how one of the UK’s most significant critical infrastructure organisations operates, protects and continually improves its technology estate.
What you’ll do as an OT Technical Manager
OT Technical Leadership & Operational Performance

• Act as a senior operational technical authority for Thames Water’s OT technology estate and associated digital services.
• Lead the teams responsible for IT network operations, enterprise network security, cyber compliance, OT compute, active directory and identity services.
• Ensure the integrity, security, availability, resilience and supportability of OT systems across Thames Water’s operational sites.
• Provide expert technical leadership, escalation and decision making across OT infrastructure, connectivity, compute, security and identity services.
• Maintain effective oversight of the live OT estate, ensuring that critical services remain reliable, secure and fit for purpose.

Digital Network Roadmaps

• Own the implementation of the approved Digital (IT/OT) network roadmaps.
• Translate agreed technical roadmaps into prioritised and deliverable operational plans.
• Coordinate resources, suppliers, dependencies, and change activity to deliver roadmap commitments effectively.
• Identify and escalate conflicts, risks, dependencies, and required deviations through the appropriate engineering governance routes.
• Ensure operational delivery remains aligned with approved architectures, standards, regulatory requirements, and business priorities.

Networks, Connectivity & Security Operations

• Lead the operation and continual improvement of IT and OT connectivity services supporting connected people and operational assets.
• Oversee network operations delivered through a combination of internal resources and third party managed services.
• Monitor and improve network service health, capacity, performance, resilience and lifecycle.
• Lead the enterprise network security services within the role’s remit, including firewalls, VPN and remote access services, WAN and SD-WAN security controls, and network security monitoring.
• Ensure cyber compliance activities are operated effectively, supported by appropriate evidence and subject to continual improvement.
• Identify and manage network security risks, vulnerabilities, control gaps and technical dependencies.

OT Compute, Directory & Identity Services

• Lead the reliable and secure operation of OT hosting and compute platforms.
• Oversee OT Active Directory, the OT tenant and Entra ID services.
• Ensure effective identity lifecycle management, privileged access controls, platform health, backup, recovery and technical support.
• Manage technical risks and improvement opportunities across OT compute, directory and identity services.
• Ensure platforms remain resilient, supportable and capable of meeting current and future operational requirements.

Service Management & Continual Improvement

• Manage the routine operation, maintenance and continual improvement of OT systems and associated processes.
• Ensure operational issues, recurring faults, performance constraints and capacity risks are identified, prioritised and addressed.
• Apply effective incident, problem, change, capacity and service improvement practices across the live estate.
• Establish meaningful operational KPIs and service measures covering performance, resilience, supportability and improvement.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents, operational events and service reviews are translated into practical improvements.

Operational Resilience, Compliance & Business Continuity

• Own operational resilience, business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements for the services within the role’s remit.
• Ensure critical services are appropriately backed up, recoverable and supported by effective recovery capabilities.
• Maintain, test and continually improve recovery documentation and disaster recovery arrangements.
• Coordinate technical response and service restoration during major incidents, operational events and service disruptions.
• Ensure operational compliance with approved company policies, engineering standards, cyber security requirements and relevant regulatory obligations.
• Maintain remediation plans and provide timely assurance and evidence to internal stakeholders and relevant regulatory bodies.

Leadership, Stakeholder & Commercial Management

• Lead a high performing and improvement focused technical organisation, setting clear priorities, objectives and performance expectations across internal teams and strategic partners.
• Balance operational support with risk reduction, resilience, compliance, lifecycle activity and roadmap delivery, allocating resources to the areas of greatest business and operational need.
• Act as the senior operational technical authority and escalation point, providing clear, practical and commercially balanced advice to senior stakeholders.
• Build effective relationships across Technology, Engineering, Operations, Cybersecurity, Finance, Procurement and Health and Safety, as well as with regulators and external partners.
• Manage key contracts, suppliers and service relationships, holding partners accountable for service performance, security, resilience, commercial outcomes and agreed improvements.
• Support Capex and Opex planning while managing supplier risks, dependencies and commercial constraints.
• Develop team capability, succession and professional growth while promoting health, safety, wellbeing, accountability and operational excellence.

Base location – Hybrid – Clearwater Court, Reading

Working pattern – Full-time, Monday to Friday

What you should bring to the role

Essential Experience

• Experience working within water industry Operational Technology (OT), with extensive understanding of the technology and operational environments that support critical water and wastewater services.
• Strong knowledge and practical experience of OT methodologies, principles, frameworks, systems, and architectures within a complex operational environment.
• Demonstrable experience leading operational technology services across infrastructure, networks, security, compute, identity, and associated digital services.
• Proven experience managing internal technical teams and significant third-party delivery, managed service, offshore, and outsourced partners within a matrix organisation.
• Demonstrable understanding of the use of OT within the utility industry, including the operational, resilience, security, safety, and regulatory considerations associated with critical infrastructure.
• Proven experience managing technical risks, incidents, problems, service performance, business continuity, disaster recovery, and continual service improvement across a live operational estate.
• Strong experience working with senior stakeholders across technology, engineering, operations, cybersecurity, compliance, commercial, and business functions.
• Proven ability to translate complex technical problems into simple, practical, and deliverable solutions.
• Demonstrable experience making balanced decisions that consider commercial, operational, customer, security, resilience, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience managing technical suppliers, service providers, communications partners, and system integrators, with accountability for service performance and contractual outcomes.
• Strong understanding and practical experience of LAN and WAN network technologies within complex operational environments.

Essential Technical Skills & Qualifications

• Higher education qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience, within an engineering discipline.
• Strong technical knowledge of OT systems and architecture, including the infrastructure and supporting services required to operate critical operational environments.
• Strong understanding of OT networks, LAN, WAN, connectivity, and associated operational technologies.
• Practical knowledge of enterprise network security technologies, including firewalls, VPN, remote access, WAN and SD-WAN security controls, and network security monitoring.
• Strong understanding of OT compute platforms, Active Directory, Entra ID, identity lifecycle management, privileged access, backup, recovery, and platform resilience.
• Strong knowledge of OT cybersecurity principles, cyber compliance requirements, operational security controls, risk management, and vulnerability remediation.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong decision-making and judgement, with the ability to assess complex operational, technical, commercial, security, and customer considerations.
• Demonstrable leadership capability, including leading internal teams, matrix resources, and third-party delivery partners.
• Strong personal accountability and resilience, with the ability to deliver results under pressure in a critical operational environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and establish effective relationships across organisational boundaries.

Desirable Experience

• Extensive knowledge of business operations and commercial constraints, with experience developing business justifications, cost models, investment cases, and risk/benefit profiles for projects or programmes of work.
• Experience managing significant Capex and Opex budgets and working within formal financial, governance, procurement, and investment control processes.
• Awareness of emerging OT, digital, cybersecurity, networking, and utility industry trends, with evidence of anticipating their implications for operational technology services.
• Experience maintaining external professional networks and using industry insight to identify emerging technologies, risks, standards, and best practice.
• Experience working with national and international standards and contributing to the drafting, review, and formation of technical, operational, security, and governance documentation.
• Experience working with water industry regulators and external stakeholders, including the Environment Agency, Ofwat, and Drinking Water Inspectorate.
• Experience operating within a complex matrix organisation with significant outsourced, offshore, and third-party supplier arrangements.
• Experience leading operational transformation, technology lifecycle, resilience, and continual improvement programmes across critical infrastructure environments.

Desirable Technical Skills & Qualifications

• Membership of a relevant professional engineering, technology, cybersecurity, or operational technology professional body.
• NEBOSH qualification or equivalent Health & Safety and Environmental Management competence.
• Relevant qualifications or certifications in Operational Technology, industrial control systems, cybersecurity, networking, infrastructure, or service management.
• Professional qualification or equivalent experience in engineering, operational technology, infrastructure, or technology management.
• Knowledge of relevant national and international OT, cybersecurity, networking, resilience, and critical infrastructure standards.
• Leadership and management competence appropriate to leading complex technical teams and third-party service providers.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive up to £90,000 per annum depending on experience
• £5,800 Car allowance
• Annual Leave: 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays).
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks (Please note different T&Cs apply if on secondment)

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job, and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else, just let us know. We’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.