Optel Operations Manager

About us

At National Grid, we keep people connected and society moving. But it’s so much more than that. National Grid provides the environment, support, and purpose that enable us to make real impact. As we drive momentum in the energy transition for all, we’re committed to ensuring none of our customers are left in the dark.

So, join us as an Optel Operations Manager, and find your superpow er.

This is a rare opportunity to join a specialist team at the heart of the UK’s electricity system. As part of our Operational Telecommunications (OpTel) team, you’ll play a crucial role in supporting the networks and systems that keep electricity flowing safely and reliably across England and Wales. From the OpTel network to our Control Telephony System, you’ll be working with the critical infrastructure that underpins the management and operation of the GB Electricity System.

You won’t be doing this alone. You’ll be part of a tight-knit, highly skilled team responsible for providing technical and operational governance to the third party suppliers who deliver our managed services. Your expertise will help guide and challenge these suppliers to ensure our systems remain robust, secure, and future ready.

You’ll also be hands on with major and minor projects that deliver new capabilities across the OpTel network. With a major network refresh on the horizon, this role offers the chance to directly influence the technologies, architecture, and approach we take for a programme that will shape National Grid’s operational telecoms for years to come.

If you want a role where your work truly matters—and where you can help define the future direction of a national infrastructure network—this is it.

Step into a role where you’ll help protect and evolve the critical telecommunications systems that keep the GB electricity network running. You’ll lead supplier performance, shape major projects, safeguard cyber security, and keep our OpTel network resilient, reliable, and ready for the future.

• Drive supplier excellence – chair service reviews, enforce SLAs, challenge performance, ensure disaster readiness, and keep our systems secure, patched, and fully maintained.
• Lead impactful projects – provide expert technical guidance, review proposals, push on time delivery, mitigate EOL risks, and ensure new solutions enhance operational performance.
• Own incidents from start to finish – escalate quickly, coordinate with Control Rooms, investigate root causes, and ensure long term fixes to prevent repeat issues.
• Deliver commercial value – review invoices, challenge costs, support negotiations, and ensure suppliers deliver exactly what they commit to.
• Strengthen compliance & resilience – support cyber and technical audits, maintain documentation, track spares and configurations, and ensure everything stays audit ready.
• Champion asset health & innovation – monitor equipment performance, plan refresh programmes, and work with suppliers to explore and integrate new technologies.
• Protect our network through cyber leadership – ensure cyber controls are robust, standards like CAF and NIST are met, security reports drive improvements, risk reviews are actioned, and access controls are tightly managed.

• Strong telecommunications knowledge, ideally across SDH, MPLS, and IP networks. Experience with technologies such as Ericsson OMS, ABB Foxmux, Adtran DWDM, or Cisco Unified Communications Manager would be a real advantage.
• A deep understanding of security frameworks and regulations, with the ability to interpret and apply standards like CAF and NIST to ensure a secure, compliant telecoms environment.
• Confidence managing major incidents, with experience supporting critical operations and a willingness to participate in an out of hours rota.
• Experience managing and influencing outsourced services, setting direction, driving high performance, and ensuring suppliers deliver consistently against expectations.
• A drive for operational excellence, with the capability to manage the resources required to run a best in class telecoms network.
• A strategic, forward thinking mindset, using network technology as a catalyst for…