OT Service Manager (Waste)

Join Thames Water as an OT Service Manager (Waste) and play a pivotal role in strengthening our digital operations. You’ll lead the delivery, maintenance, and optimisation of Waste SCADA systems across critical wastewater treatment sites — ensuring resilience, reliability, and continuous improvement.

This is a high-impact role where you’ll manage a skilled team, collaborate with stakeholders, and drive innovation in support of our strategic goals, including leakage
reduction, pollution control, and digital transformation.

What you’ll be doing as OT Service Manager (Waste):

Waste SCADA System Leadership:
Oversee the performance and resilience of SCADA platforms (Aveva System Platform/Wonderware, Iconics, Rockwell FactoryTalk), ensuring secure and optimised operations.

Stakeholder Collaboration:
Partner with operational teams and OT stakeholders to understand requirements, manage risks, and deliver services aligned with SLAs.

Team Leadership & Development:
Lead a team of system engineers with clear objectives, regular 1:1s, and development plans. Foster a positive, high-performing culture through training, reviews, and succession planning.

Service Desk & Incident Management:
Manage the OT Waste service desk, ensuring timely resolution of incidents and requests. Act as an escalation point for critical issues and monitor trends for continuous improvement.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing:
Champion a strong safety culture through audits, toolbox talks, and monthly forums — prioritising the well-being of your team.

Upgrade & Innovation Roadmap:
Work with OT Technical and DevOps teams to plan and deliver hardware and software upgrades, keeping Waste SCADA systems evergreen and future-ready.

Supplier & Budget Oversight:
Manage supplier relationships and a £1m operational/capital budget, ensuring value, compliance, and cost-efficiency.

Base location – Hybrid – Flexible working with travel to Thames Water offices and operational sites as required.

Working pattern – 36 hours Monday to Friday.
What we’re looking for:

• Proven experience in OT/SCADA system management within critical infrastructure.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder engagement skills.
• A proactive approach to service delivery, safety, and innovation.

What you should bring to the role:

Essential Experience:

• Experience in a technical delivery or maintenance role in SCADA or ICA
• Proven experience managing technical teams and/or project delivery
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills
• Strong customer service orientation and clear communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to solve problems and balance technical, operational, and customer requirements

Essential Technical Skills & Qualifications:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in OT/ICA/SCADA technical discipline
• In-depth understanding of SCADA systems and associated control technologies
• Familiarity with health and safety frameworks in operational environments
• Skilled in OT fault analysis, change control, and documentation
• Ability to manage budgets, forecasts, and technical supplier relationships

Desirable Experience:

• Experience managing competing demands and prioritising effectively
• Knowledge of the water or utilities sector
• Background in internal and external customer relationship management
• Familiarity with digital transformation projects in OT environments
• Understanding of service-level reporting and KPI management

Desirable Technical Skills & Qualifications:

• Strong analytical and technical problem-solving skills
• Awareness of cyber security principles in OT systems
• Exposure to SCADA upgrades, migrations, or lifecycle planning
• Experience with remote monitoring or telemetry systems
• Vendor certification in Wonderware, or Rockwell FactoryTalk SCADA platforms

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary up to £77,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays).
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to both company and individual performance measures and targets.
• 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

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.