Data Centre Manager

81998 - Data Centre Manager

This Data Centre Manager position will report to the Network Capability Manager and will work within the Strategy Regulation and Support Services directorate based in our Ipswich office. You will be a permanent employee.

You will attract a salary of up to £80,000 - Depending on skills, qualifications and experience and a bonus of 7.5%. This role can also offer blended working after probationary period (6 months) - 3 days in the office and 2 remote

Close Date: 06/02/2026

We also provide the following additional benefits

• 25 Days Annual Leave plus bank holidays.
• Reservist Leave – Additional 18 days full pay and 22 unpaid
• Personal Pension Plan – Personal contribution rates of 4% or 5% (UK Power Networks will make a corresponding contribution of 8% or 10%)
• Tenancy Loan Deposit Scheme, Season Ticket Loan
• Tax efficient benefits: Cycle to Work, Home & Tech, and Green Car Leasing Schemes
• Occupational Health support
• Switched On – scheme providing discount on hundreds of retailers' products
• Discounted gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme

Job Purpose

UK Power Network (UKPN) is dedicated to the management of its data centres, with an emphasis on compliance, safety, and operational resilience. These facilities are critical to the delivery of essential services to 28% of the UK's homes and businesses, and their reliable operation underpins both UKPN's reputation and its ability to meet regulatory obligations. Ensuring that data centres run safely and securely is therefore a matter of public importance and maintaining BAU functionality.

You will be the central point of accountability for UKPN's OT data centres located across London and the South East. This newly created role is designed to bring clarity to the management of these vital assets. Improving operational efficiency and streamlining decision-making. By coordinating across a wide range of internal teams and external partners, the manager will ensure seamless collaboration and alignment, becoming the single point of authority for all matters relating to the data centres, covering Operational Technology (OT), Information Technology (IT), facilities management, building management systems and physical security. In the role you will embed yourself in daily operations, with opportunity for long-term planning, forecasting and new ideas.

In its initial phase, the role will focus on leading the implementation of UKPN's newly reviewed data centre strategy and operating model. While supported by the UKPN technology management and current programme team, the Data Centre Manager will take ownership of changes to processes, governance, and ways of working, promoting them into daily operations. An important part of your role will be on asset management and security, raising standards, enhancing accountability, and ensuring resilience across the estate. This is a unique opportunity to establish a new way of working that strengthens operational excellence, safety and partner trust.

This is an exciting time to join UKPN as a Data Centre Manager. With the progression and support of the UKPN technology team and programme, your role will have the space and opportunity to shape how the data centre estate evolves, raising standards towards Tier 4 classification, with respect to infrastructure and communication capabilities. By combining foresight into emerging demand with proactive preparation, the role will ensure the design and architecture of the data centres remain robust, flexible, available and scalable, through for example, the exploration of automation opportunities. You will also have responsibility for shaping the future direction of the data centres, aligning planning and forecasting with UKPN's long-term strategy, which places a strong emphasis on sustainability and Net Zero practices, embedding these principles into the planning and management of the estate.

This role requires strategic vision to shape long-term strategy, architecture and design while maintaining a strong operational focus to ensure capabilities are available, facilities are managed effectively, issues are addressed promptly, and standards are consistently upheld. In practice, this means balancing direct involvement in daily operations with the responsibility to influence and define the future direction of UKPN's data centres.

Dimensions

• Direct reports: The Data Centre Analyst & Data Centre Resilience Lead
• Budget: None directly but influencing organisational spend of c£10m.

Principal Accountabilities

Influence and Embed the New Data Centre Strategy & Operating Model

• Lead the final stages of implementing UKPN's reviewed data centre strategy and operating model.
• Take ownership of new roles, responsibilities, processes, governance, and ways of working, ensuring they are embedded into daily operations.

Lead Data Centre Capability & Capacity Planning

• Develop capability and capacity plans for all data centres, considering Infrastructure, Applications, Networking, Facilities, and Physical Security.
• Forecast future requirements to ensure we can meet non-functional demands, for example scalability and resilience.

Lead Data Centre Operational Delivery & Onsite Oversight

• You will maintain an onsite presence across UKPN's data centres to oversee daily operations and ensure situational awareness around all OT, IT, facilities, building management systems and security.
• You will oversee the asset management lifecycle for all hardware and software within the data centres
• You will oversee data centre access, supplier access - conducting regular audits to safeguard personnel security.
• Be the escalation point for issues, both run and change, ensuring resolution and minimal disruption.

Lead Data Centre Supplier Management

• Review existing supplier relationships and service performance against SLAs, ensuring alignment with UKPN's raised standards for resilience and security.
• Lead contract reviews and renegotiations to meet evolving requirements, cost effectiveness and ongoing technology refresh and modernisation.
• Improve accountability with suppliers through clear performance metrics, escalation processes, and governance forums.

Lead Data Centre Projects & Contribute to Org-Wide Change & Transformation

• Oversee all projects within the data centres, ensuring collaboration across teams and alignment with strategic goals, design principles and codes of practice.
• Contribute to organisation-wide programmes and projects where data centres have impact or influence, providing expertise to ensure delivery.

Manage Data Centre Incident & Risk Management

• You will lead responses to major incidents and disaster recovery situations, ensuring timely resolution and minimal service disruption.
• You will maintain the Data Centre Risk Register, ensuring updates in coordination relevant governance forums, including Cyber GRC.

Manage Data Centre Governance & Reporting

• Establish and chair data centre governance forums to ensure efficient decision-making and accountability.
• Provide accurate, holistic reporting on the status of on-prem data centres to senior leadership and partners.

Manage Data Centre Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Manage projects to enhance functional capability as well as efficiency, reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness across the data centre estate.
• Promote a culture of proactive risk mitigation/control.

Manage Data Centre Partner Engagement & Advocacy

• Communicate the strategic importance of data centres across UKPN through leadership engagement and internal channels.
• You will report on the delivery of data centre workloads and understand the pipeline of need that will need to take account future planning/roadmap, to enhance functional and/or non-functional realisation of the data centres.
• You will be the single point of authority for all matters relating to data centres, promoting trust and clarity.

Manage Data Centre Team Development

• Mentor junior team members on data centre operations and management, building internal capability.

Nature & Scope.

You will combine strategic leadership with operational oversight, requiring an experienced data centre professional who can navigate long-term planning while maintaining a capability delivery day-to-day.

You will bring experience across the full data centre lifecycle, including strategy, architecture, design, deployment, and operation, alongside a track record in run and change and transformation thereof. You will help embed UKPN's newly defined operating model, establishing new behaviours and ways of working that foster accountability, operational discipline, and continuous improvement.

You will be someone who knows what "good" looks like and can uphold and raise standards across the estate, ensuring compliance and excellence in all aspects of data centre operations. This includes driving higher expectations internally and with suppliers to meet UKPN's ambition for capability and resilience/security, while also applying tecno-economic thinking to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness without compromising performance.

UKPN aspires to be recognised as an industry leader in operational technology. The role holder must possess the capability to lead with vision and motivate teams to achieve this objective, creating sustainable and long-term value and ensuring the functional and non-functional capabilities of our mission critical infrastructure.

Skills & Knowledge:

• Knowledge of Data Centre Infrastructure & Systems including; HPE Hardware, HPE iLO, VMWare, StableNet Network Monitoring, HPE OneView, HPE SAN Technology, SSH, RDP, Windows Server, RHEL Server and VSphere.
• Expertise in Data Centre Operations, including:
  • Power, cooling and environmental building management
  • Disaster recovery and business continuity planning
  • Monitoring tools and DCIM software
  • Preventative and corrective maintenance
• Expertise in Security & Compliance, including:
  • Cybersecurity principles and physical security controls
  • Governance, risk and compliance frameworks and processes
• Exposure and understanding of working with ITIL
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to colleagues, up to senior leadership level.
• Excellent collaboration and partner management skills.
• Act as a community builder for the DC's

Qualifications & Experience

• Experience as a Data Centre Manager or similar role in a large IT/OT environment i.e. 8+ years in planning, providing and operating a data centre.
• Experience with Operational Technology
• Experience in both greenfield and brownfield data centres
• Experience with industry standards and design patterns regarding Data Centres
• Experience in project management and resource planning
• Experience in technology vendors and contract management
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems or a STEM field (or applicable project-related experience).
• National Security Vetting to at least SC checked that active or prepared to undertake and see no reason why would not be acceptable [see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/united-kingdom-security-vetting].

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

• Experience in the utilities or electricity distribution industry would be beneficial.
• Have knowledge around data centre networking.
• Membership of a related institution, eg BCS, IET

Important Behaviours & Competencies

• Comprehend the functions and capabilities of OT/IT data centres.
• Commitment to continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to enhance processes and outcomes.
• Engage suppliers and maintain close working relationships and improve performance.
• Hold suppliers accountable for delivery quality, timelines and compliance with standards.
• Deliver results at both a practical operational level and a strategic level.
• Collaboration skills to build relationships and work effectively across diverse teams and suppliers.
• Anticipate risks and opportunities and act decisively to avoid or capitalise on them.
• Turn business problems into a solution design.
• Seek out opportunities to create change and to help people make informed decisions.
• Understand the long-term ("big picture") and short-term perspectives of situations.

Health & Safety Responsibilities:

Managers and supervisors carry both legal and company responsibilities for ensuring the health and safety of their employees, those under their control and those who might be affected by the work undertaken, i.e. public, visitors and employees of other organisations. This includes briefing individuals working for them and ensuring there is the necessary understanding, competence and application of requirements to work safely and without harming the environment.

Employees will ensure they understand the health and safety risks involved in their work activities and their responsibility to apply the controls needed to manage those risks to acceptable levels. Similarly where work activities can have an adverse impact upon the environment, and where there are legal requirements, employees will understand those impacts and the controls they must ensure are applied.

If in doubt ask!

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

If you have any queries in connection to this vacancy or your application, please contact us at careers@ukpowernetworks.co.uk quoting the vacancy reference number and a member of the team will get in touch with you as soon as possible.