Compute Engineer

This full-time Compute Engineer post based in Hampton supports Operational Technology enterprise systems and applications, ensuring business-critical services run reliably for customers and the wider organisation. Duties include maintaining OT compute infrastructure, patching, licence administration and lifecycle management, alongside troubleshooting infrastructure faults and delivering new solutions. Close collaboration with stakeholders helps align platforms with industry regulations and security requirements.

As an Operational Technology (OT) Compute System Engineer, you will be responsible for managing and supporting OT-specific enterprise systems and applications. These business-critical systems play a key role in enabling operational technology services for both the end customer and the wider business. This role involves ensuring that all systems under the compute remit remain compliant, secure, and aligned with industry standards. You will contribute to the resolution of infrastructure issues and help deliver new solutions as required by the business.

What you’ll be doing as a Compute System Engineer includes:

• Supporting the ongoing maintenance and lifecycle management of existing OT compute infrastructure, including patching and license management.
• Working closely with business stakeholders to understand and deliver new technical solutions, including cloud-based technologies, in support of future needs.
• Acting as a key point of contact for incident response, demonstrating strong problem-solving skills and the ability to act quickly under pressure.
• Assisting in the design and implementation of infrastructure changes, including both high-level and low-level technical designs.
• Ensuring domain system security compliance through audits, reviews, and proactive management.
• Supporting the delivery of regular updates across the full technology stack, including application, OS, BIOS, and hypervisors.
• Administering and supporting a wide range of enterprise technologies, including Active Directory, SCCM, VMware, Symantec Endpoint Protection, Dell OpenManage Enterprise, Canonical patching tools, NTP, PKI/certificates, and hybrid Azure environments.
• Contributing to the integration and evolution of Industry4.0 solutions within the OT compute domain.
• Participating in an out-of-hours on-call rota (following probation and prerequisites) to provide emergency support for critical OT systems.
• Supporting and collaborating with other technical teams in delivering infrastructure improvements and new deployments.
• Staying current with industry best practices and demonstrating the ability to act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) within the compute domain.
• Engaging in personal development and training to ensure capability across required technologies.
• Being required to be part of our mandatory standby for our 24/7 support in this role.

Base location – Hybrid – Clearwater Court, Reading. Working pattern – 36 hours Monday to Friday.

What you should bring to the role:

• Higher education qualification (HNC or equivalent experience) in an engineering or IT discipline.
• Proven experience in maintaining, patching, and supporting infrastructure and enterprise systems.
• Security clearance to SC level.
• Familiarity with enterprise application administration, including Active Directory, SCCM, VMware, AV software, and Azure cloud services.
• Knowledge of IP communications and networking, including LAN and WAN.
• Understanding of industry-specific SCADA systems, or willingness to learn.
• Proficient scripting skills using PowerShell or similar.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; confident in dealing with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proven decision-making skills and the ability to balance operational, commercial, and customer needs.
• Understanding of IT and OT delivery approaches (e.g., ITIL, Agile, Waterfall, Lean).
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented and able to work under pressure.

Desirable qualifications and experience:

• Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) – Server, SQL, SCCM.
• Microsoft Applied Skills – Administer Active Directory Domain Services.
• Microsoft Azure Fundamentals and/or Azure Administrator Certification.
• Experience in scripting and automation using PowerShell.
• VMCE certification or hands-on experience with Veeam Backup & Replication (or similar).
• Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) administration certification.
• Prior experience working within the utility industry or a large-scale enterprise environment (>20,000 devices).
• Experience with stakeholder analysis and managing relationships across multiple technical and business teams.
• Security Clearance: CTC (Counter Terrorist Check) clearance is desirable. Where this is not already held, it will be obtained as part of the role.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary up to £66,435 per annum, depending on experience.
• Car allowance - £4,500.
• 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 both company and individual performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of yourself 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.

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 our 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 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?

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.