Automation Engineering Manager

Closing Date:

Job Title:

Automation Engineering Manager

Location:

Hybrid working between our head office in Durrington (Worthing) 2 days per week, and home.

Contract Type:
Permanent

Hours:

37 hours per week, Monday - Friday

Salary:
Starting salary of up to £72,000, commensurate to skills and experience.

Water underpins everyday life, yet it remains an industry that is still evolving in how it uses automation, AI and digital technologies to transform operations. At Southern Water, that is changing.

We are building a new Process & Intelligent Automation capability at the heart of the organisation. This is not about incremental improvements, it is about embedding automation, AI and digital engineering into how work gets done, creating a more efficient, resilient and future‑ready business.

As Automation Engineering Manager, you will play a critical role in shaping that future.

This is a senior technical leadership role within a growing capability, giving you the opportunity to lead the design, development and delivery of automation and AI‑enabled solutions  will set engineering standards, drive delivery excellence and build a high‑performing team that delivers real business value.

Working closely with Architecture, Platform and Process teams, you will influence the automation roadmap, shape delivery approaches and ensure solutions are secure, scalable and aligned to enterprise standards.

This role goes beyond delivery management – it is about building an engineering function that enables automation and AI at enterprise scale.

• Leading the design and delivery of complex automation, workflow and AI‑enabled solutions across Power Platform, RPA, Logic Apps, Alteryx, Foundry and Co‑Pilot Studio
• Translating business and process requirements into robust, scalable and secure solution designs
• Owning end‑to‑end delivery, including build, testing, deployment, documentation and transition to operations
• Setting and enforcing engineering standards, ensuring quality, resilience and maintainability across all solutions
• Providing technical leadership, coaching and mentoring to Automation Engineers at different levels of seniority
• Conducting code reviews, peer reviews and quality assurance to uphold engineering best practice
• Building reusable components, patterns and frameworks to improve delivery efficiency and consistency
• Working closely with Platform Engineering to ensure secure environments, governance and deployment practices
• Collaborating with Architecture to ensure solutions align with integration patterns, security models and governance standards
• Partnering with Process teams to ensure solutions support optimised processes and measurable performance improvements
• Leading the resolution of complex technical issues, defects and performance challenges
• Driving continuous improvement across engineering practices, tooling and delivery approaches
• Exploring emerging technologies, including AI and Co‑Pilot capabilities, to drive innovation and value

• Extensive experience designing and delivering automation solutions across multiple technologies
• Strong hands‑on expertise across Power Platform, RPA, Logic Apps, Alteryx or similar platforms
• Proven technical leadership experience within automation or digital delivery teams
• Strong understanding of cloud governance, including DLP, RBAC, identity and secure integrations
• Experience working with APIs, integrations and enterprise data platforms
• Excellent problem‑solving and troubleshooting skills across complex technology environments
• Ability to lead, mentor and develop engineering teams
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills across technical and non‑technical audiences

• Microsoft certifications (e.g. PL‑400, PL‑500, PL‑600, AZ‑104, AZ‑204)
• Blue Prism or Service Now RPA certifications
• Experience with AI tooling (e.g. Co‑Pilot Studio, Azure OpenAI)
• Knowledge of data governance and platforms such as Purview
• Exposure to cloud engineering, data engineering or AI/ML practices
• Experience in regulated or asset‑intensive environments

Southern Water is delivering a generational transformation across the business, investing significantly to…