We are Uisce Éireann. Every day, we are responsible for the delivery of secure, safe, and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. As Ireland’s national regulated water utility, our vision is a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports.
Our purpose at Uisce Éireann is to rise to the challenge of delivering transformative water services that enable communities to thrive. That means we are proud to take on the responsibility of protecting our water supply and passing on a safe and secure water system to a rapidly growing population and empowering Ireland’s social and economic growth.
So, we’re passionate about helping our people to do the best work of their lives, to enable them to make a positive difference to communities all over Ireland. Our aim is to attract and develop talented and skilled people with diverse backgrounds and an evolving range of expertise and insight. We believe that such a strong workforce will help us achieve our goals and allow us to continue investing in, and advancing, Ireland’s water services.
The Role
Uisce Éireann IT (UÉ IT) provides IT services and support to the wider Uisce Éireann business, and across the Local Authority user base.
The IT-OT (Operational Technology) team houses the Operational Technology skills necessary to ensure the implementation and availability of all IT-OT applications and infrastructure, including hardware, networks, data centre and disaster recovery. The IT-OT team plan and manage technical OT projects to renew and update the underlying OT infrastructure and safeguard UÉ OT systems by implementing robust security standards such as the Network and Information Systems Directive. The team play a critical role in the operation, integration and connectivity of systems such as the National Telemetry System, Leakage Management System, Operational Data Store and Enterprise Data Historian. The team manages and maintains these systems as befitting UÉ designation as an Operator of Essential Services.
Reporting to the IT Operational Technology Senior Manager, the IT-OT Infrastructure Manager will be responsible for IT-OT infrastructure and network services to the business across a wide range of functions including maintenance of existing systems and IT-OT infrastructure, release management, configuration management, IT-OT disaster recovery, vendor management, security infrastructure and networks management, IT-OT standards compliance and quality assurance. The IT-OT Infrastructure Manager will guide resources, facilitate team demand management and capacity planning. The role also has responsibility for managing and operating the IT-OT infrastructure hosted in the Data Centres for Uisce Éireann, ensuring availability, security and continuity.


Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the delivery of IT-OT infrastructure services including infrastructure operations and monitoring, and management of OT data centres, infrastructure provisioning (user or project initiated), and infrastructure refresh
• Manage the design, implementation and maintenance of secure and efficient network infrastructures within Uisce Éireann
• Lead a motivated and talented Infrastructure Management team and define, document, maintain and communicate clear and unambiguous roles and responsibilities for the Infrastructure team’s services with all internal and external parties involved
• Build strong relationships with peer IT-OT and IT managers with the aim of optimising cooperation and maximising efficiencies across the wider organisation
• Manage ongoing relationships with wider IT Infrastructure teams to coordinate IT Operations, Availability and Performance where required
• Manage outsourced IT-OT Infrastructure and Networks contracts and relationships with strategic suppliers and ensure service providers perform to the SLA’s documented in the contract
• Contribute to Service Level Agreements and Operational Level Agreement, validating and agreeing these with stakeholders for the support and delivery of OT systems
• Review Service Levels on a periodic basis, measuring performance and recommending service improvement actions that maximise customer experience as part of IT’s Customer-first agenda
• Monitor and track KPI and performance data for Infrastructure and Networks and work closely with the IT-OT Operations & Service Management team to ensure that services and levels are aligned with business requirements
• Proactive budgeting, forecasting and procuring hardware to meet Uisce Éireann’s IT-OT infrastructure needs with prompt delivery to ensure capacity meets business needs
• Manage availability of Uisce Éireann IT-OT systems, including capacity management of on-prem/cloud servers, SAN’s, virtual servers, load balancers, etc.)
• Responsible for overseeing the incident management, problem management, event management, release and deployment in respect of OT systems and networks where required
• Ensure teams are proactive with patching schedules, housekeeping and ensuring all monitoring is relevant and fit for purpose
• Work closely with the IT-OT Applications Management team to assist in the definition of leading infrastructure solutions, ensuring alignment with business strategies and priorities
• Drive compliance with cybersecurity compliance requirements and best practice in line with the Network and Information Systems Directive (e.g: NIST Controls, CIS Hardening, IEC 62443 etc)
• Implement and maintain robust security measures to protect the system and maintain availability
• Ensure that agreed architecture principles and standards are adhered to in the Infrastructure Team
• Define and implement a set of best practice infrastructure and networks processes, including Release management, Configuration management, Asset management, Information monitoring and alerts
• Manage the addition, modification or removal of any IT-OT asset in a standard and controlled manner
• Provide Infrastructure and Networks Operations expert resources to assist with the design, estimation and delivery aspects of projects
• Produce and maintain an up-to-date IT-OT availability plan that reflects the current and future needs of the business
• Provide support in the investigations of performance issues as well as assisting with security issues and breaches as required
• Manage service continuity and back-ups, maintaining and rehearsing a set of plans to support the overall Uisce Éireann business continuity plans implementing measures to improve the availability of services where possible
• Implement robust and often bespoke OT end user computing solutions
• Engage proactively with business stakeholders, participate in relevant business facing meetings and develop strong working relationships with internal and external customers
• Delivery of the infrastructure and networks and technology integrity strategy and contribute to the overall strategy of the IT-OT mission and the broader IT strategy aligned with business objectives and leadership
• Manage an OT budget for the IT-OT Infrastructure team and participate in the annual budget process
• Manage day to day issues and act as an escalation point, taking ownership through to resolution
• Support in management of IT-OT legacy systems as required
• Assist in the implementation of the Uisce Éireann Telemetry Strategy as a key contributor for Uisce Éireann IT, Asset Operations and Asset Management through the Telemetry Programme’s work streams
• Participation in On Call Rota and flexibility for out of hours work as required
• Perform other duties as required from time to time

General Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaboration with key internal stakeholders across the UÉ business, including but not limited to;
• Other IT-OT pillar Managers
• Wider IT Teams
• Teams across the Business Units (e.g. Asset Operations, Asset Management)
• Responsible for promoting and delivering health and safety commitments across UÉ and its supply chain, reinforcing positive behaviours and delivering health and safety objectives and requirements to the highest industry standards.
• Support the delivery of the Uisce Éireann Transformation Programme, driving results required within the Directorate and supporting organisation-wide objectives.
• Provide visible leadership for your team, coaching and developing them to achieve their full potential and deliver business objectives, promoting collaboration and highlighting the behaviours that are expected from everyone in the team.
• Other duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• 7+ years of experience in a similar role in an organisation comparable to Uisce Éireann is desirable
• 7 years of technical experience that includes the management of communications networks, IT or OT infrastructure, release and configuration management is desirable
• Relevant third level qualification and or accreditation is desirable
• A minimum of 7 years’ Experience in the water, utilities or similar industries is desirable and or relevant experience
• Demonstrated leadership ability, proactive development, motivation and engagement of staff
• Experience managing a large team, with strong people, change management and conflict resolution skills
• Experience of developing and maintaining effective strategic partnerships with key stakeholders
• Proven track record with dealing with complex issues, proactively and in a timely fashion along with the ability to communicate complex information to others
• Experience of supporting policies, systems and controls and driving the implementation of progressive policies.
• You will have a proven track record in leadership, change & transformation experience ideally in a similar utility, regulated industry or multi stakeholder environment
Able to work to deadlines and adapt to changing conditions and ambiguity generating effective and pragmatic