Who are we? 

Thames Water is the UK’s largest water and wastewater company. We make a daily difference to our 15 million customers by supplying 2.6 billion litres of water through 32,000 km of pipes, keeping taps flowing and toilets flushing.

At Thames Water, every one of our actions, big and small, matters every day. Water is essential to life, so our business is always open.

What you’ll be doing           

The Platform Services Team Manager will lead the development and operation of their platform, encompassing strategic direction and roadmap, through development into in-life operational support and beyond.

A number of Platform Service Teams are being established to build internal competencies around strategic technologies and help Thames Water regain ownership of its technology strategy.  The teams will build technical capability through systems and process, define and promote best practice for their platform, and ensure the relevant technical governance is understood and being followed.

The Platform Service Team Manager leads one of these (~10) Platform Services teams which have been conceived along standard ‘Centre of Excellence’ lines. For the systems and applications that the Platform Services team manages, they will operate a ‘run what we build’ model, implementing suitable DevOps practices.

The team will establish and execute a strategy for the platform, building, maintaining and supporting it through the full lifecycle of all technologies in use within the platform.

As well as delivering the platform roadmap to meet this strategy, the Platform Services team will provide skilled technical resources to work on approved project or product teams that consume or evolve the services that the platform provides.

We’re looking for you to do

Establish and maintain a strategy for the platform and a supporting team charter for the Platform Services team, in support of our overall Digital Strategy and working towards the realisation of our target Enterprise Architecture

Define and deliver a platform roadmap for the continued improvement and on-going maintenance of all component elements

Adopt and embed Agile working practices, and support the evolution of our scaled agile delivery approach, working with other platforms and PPM community as necessary to ensure a joined-up delivery approach

Establish and embed the end-to-end operational support model, working with the Service Operations community and 3rd party suppliers to ensure appropriate response & resolution times are available for dependent business services

Shape and recruit the team required to build enduring internal capability, and work with partner organisations to flex capacity as required

Actively manage the technology suppliers and other 3rd parties that make up the overall platform in line with our Enterprise Sourcing Strategy, ensuring their delivery, service and support obligations are being delivered, and any issues are being heard and being resolved

Agree and operate funding and re-charging mechanisms with Senior IT Team, Finance & programmes, whilst managing the on-going Platform budget

Ensure that KPIs agreed with Senior IT Team and have processes in place for information capture and measurement

Create and manage ongoing communications plan to ensure that the operation and engagement model for the platform is understood

Maintain appropriate stakeholder & communication plans and ensure that potential conflicts and issues are managed

Build a positive team spirit and collaborative culture across the Platform Services team, where the team succeeds and fails together, celebrating, learning and improving as one

Evangelise the benefits of the platform, its technology and the services/capabilities it offers – foster a wider community of consumers and contributors to ensure the scale and success of the platform

Help project and product teams make best use of the platform to meet their own needs, through hands-on support/advice as well as the establishment of guardrails, guidelines and best practice where it makes sense to do so (Centre of Excellence)What Skills are we looking for?          

Educated to degree level (BSc) or equivalent

Significant experience as a Technical, Product, Solution Architect or System Design Authority or Development Manager

Experience of working with different IT delivery approaches (waterfall, agile etc.)

Practical experience of defining and delivering technology roadmaps in related technology domains

Experience in working with 3rd party technology partners

Extensive years practical IT technical delivery experience

Demonstrable experience delivering platforms based on the Salesforce platform and associated applications (e.g. Service Cloud, Field Service Lightning, Commerce Cloud, App Exchange and integration of other 3rd party applications)

Excellent interpersonal skills and is fully experienced at dealing with diverse and senior stakeholders sets

Proficient and effective communicator

Ability to explain complex problems in a simple and effective manner

Experience in building Digital environments

Proficient in the following disciplines: solution architecture, process improvement, stakeholder analysis, business proposals and cost management, supplier relationship managementWhat’s in it for you?

We’re proud of the positive ways of working we’ve adopted during the pandemic, creating a more flexible and dynamic environment so all our colleagues can thrive. For our office-based roles we’re moving to a hybrid approach with various options across working from home, office and our sites.

Our competitive salary and package include a bonus, car allowance, private healthcare, an excellent contributory pension and 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with length of service.  

Thames Water is a dynamic, rewarding and diverse place to work, with opportunities around every corner.  If you join our team, you’ll enjoy a fulfilling career, flexible working arrangements and a wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing.

We’re also proud to embrace and promote diversity and believe that creating a workforce that reflects the communities we serve will help us to thrive.  We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process.

Find out more about working at Thames Water.

We deliver life's essential service so our customers, communities and the environment can thrive. This means, that when a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of your role, you’ll be required to participate in a rota to provide Customer Incident Support, as requested by the Company from time to time. This may be by supporting our customers on the frontline as an Ambassador or being part of the team managing the incident as a Control Tower Lead. This is incredibly rewarding, and you’ll be given full training – 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 a vacancy earlier than the advertised date. This is so we can manage all the applications properly and give candidates a positive experience. Once closed, we can’t consider any further applications, so please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment