OT Solutions Architect

Closing Date

2026-12-01

Job Title: OT Solutions Architect

Location: Falmer or Durrington – Hybrid working (2 days a week)

Salary: depending on skills and experience

Help shape the future of operational technology at Southern Water.

We're looking for an experienced OT Solutions Architect to lead the design of secure, resilient and scalable Operational Technology (OT) solutions that support critical water and wastewater operations. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the intersection of industrial control systems, cybersecurity and digital transformation, helping to modernise essential infrastructure that serves millions of customers.

What will you be doing?

As an OT Solutions Architect, you'll be responsible for developing and governing OT architectures across our operational environments, ensuring solutions are secure, reliable and aligned with enterprise technology strategies. You'll work closely with engineering, operations, IT, cybersecurity teams and external partners to deliver innovative solutions that support safe and efficient operations.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing OT architectures across SCADA, PLC, DCS, HMI, historian and industrial network environments.
• Developing integrated OT/IT solutions and defining data flows and system interfaces.
• Providing technical assurance and governance for OT designs and implementations.
• Supporting OT cybersecurity initiatives and ensuring alignment with standards such as IEC 62443, NIST and ISO 27001.
• Leading technical engagement with system integrators, vendors and operational stakeholders.
• Supporting deployment, testing, commissioning and migration activities across OT environments.

What are we looking for?

You'll bring significant experience in Operational Technology and industrial control system architecture, with a deep understanding of complex operational environments.

We're particularly interested in candidates with:

• Experience designing OT solutions involving SCADA, PLC, DCS, RTU, HMI and historian technologies.
• Knowledge of industrial communications protocols such as OPC-UA, Modbus/TCP, DNP3, PROFINET, Ethernet/IP and BACnet.
• Experience designing secure OT networks, including segmentation, firewalls and Purdue Model principles.
• Strong understanding of OT cybersecurity, including IEC 62443, NIST and ISO 27001 frameworks.
• Experience integrating OT environments with wider enterprise platforms, cloud or edge technologies.
• The ability to influence stakeholders and provide technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams.

Desirable

• TOGAF, SABSA, CISSP, GICSP or ISA/IEC 62443 certifications.
• Experience working within highly regulated or safety-critical industries such as water, energy, transport or pharmaceuticals.
• Exposure to digital twins, predictive maintenance or advanced analytics solutions.

Why join Southern Water?

This role offers the opportunity to play a key part in the modernisation and security of critical national infrastructure. You'll work on complex and rewarding projects, collaborate with talented specialists and help shape the future of operational technology across Southern Water.

Welcome

Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In.

We succeed together

Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position.

Need flexibility in your work?

Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?