Operational Technology “OT” Network Support Engineer - Estates - 108212 - Grade 7

Position Details

Estates Office

• University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
• Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822
• Grade: 7

Full Time, Permanent

Closing date: 4th November 2026

Our offer to you

People are at the heart of what we are and do.

The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge. Professional Services put students at the heart of all they do and enable an exceptional educational experience. They provide outstanding support to our researchers and help the University to grow its influence regionally, nationally, and globally.

They ensure the University’s resources are used wisely, manage and improve the infrastructure which sits at the heart of the institution, and support decisions to be made quickly and based on sound evidence. Our Birmingham Professional programme, supports colleagues to network and collaborate, offering opportunities to learn and develop, contributing to the delivery of the University’s objectives, and helping everyone to understand the broader context within which we work.

Sustainability underpins out Strategic Framework which includes the goal of being net carbon zero by 2045.

Department overview

The University of Birmingham Estates Office is responsible for both the master planning and stewardship of our extensive estate. Our team is made up of over 180 dedicated members of staff, including many apprentices studying an extensive range of subjects; all striving to deliver a world class university experience for the benefit of all students, staff, academics and visitors. After our staff, our physical estate is the largest single enabler for our world-class teaching, research and providing a fantastic student experience.

Our estate is large and varied covering 672 acres, with over 200 buildings of different ages, complexities, physical condition and use, ranging from grade 1 & 2 listed properties to brand new state of the art learning and research spaces. It consists of two main campus sites (Edgbaston & Selly Oak) along with properties in Stratford upon Avon, Ansty (near Coventry), Coniston and Dubai. The total gross internal area is 538,000 m2. Three quarters of the non-residential estate is in building condition A and B and we typically spend approaching £20M/yr on energy and water.

We operate and maintain our own energy Centre that generates 75% of our own power and provides heat to our buildings via combined heat and power plants, this is distributed by our extensive HV private wire network and district heating systems and an extensive OT network which supports a wide range of systems, energy metering, lighting, fire, security, radio, access control in addition to the 660 outstations and 35,000 i/o of the BEMS.

Role Summary

To support and advise the BEMS & OT Network Manager to ensure that the day-to-day operation and uptime

of the OT Network has high availability. Ensuring that you support the wider estates team to meet all the strategic objectives that have been set out for the Department, including supporting the ambition of the University to:

• Become a top 50 University
• Decarbonisation of the campus
• Energy Efficiency - delivery of fiscal savings
• Supporting the wider team with the development of a secure and intelligent campus

To work with and support the BEMS Team to drive improvements in connected technology and system integration across campus. Improving how the BEMS & OT Team deliver value for the University.

Provide a responsive and efficient service provision, expert advice and guidance to the wider estate’s teams and the end users around campus. Continually developing and improving how we approach reactive and planned maintenance to ensure all the OT Network assets are supported to ensure maximum uptime.

The post holder and team will provide specialist technical advice on the OT Network to the Estates Office colleagues and the wider University.

To help and assist with contractor management as relates to the OT Network and small works projects.

Ensure Health and Safety management for yourself and any OT Network Vendors and Contractors.

Main Duties

As a subject matter expert support and advise the BEMS & OT Network Manager with the day-to-day operations of reactive and proactive maintenance of the OT Network. Report on any BEMS OT Network defects; advise on how to remedy, implementing remedials as necessary. Analyse reasons for defect / downtime and recommend additional procedures/practices to limit recurrences and improve network uptime.

Plan, install, commission, maintain, support and de-commission OT network and security infrastructure where necessary across the university campus. This includes highlighting any system improvement, assess proposed changes/improvements to service provision and/or legislative requirements. Support the BEMS & OT Manager to design and develop network architecture to align with business needs and industry standards, ensuring all works are delivered on time and to a satisfactory level.

Ensure the Cyber Security of the OT Network by implementing and managing network security measures (firewalls, VPNs, IDS/IPS), perform security audits and vulnerability assessments. Respond to and mitigate network security incidents.

Collaborate with the university IT Services Team and third-party vendors on all OT Network related projects.

Ensure we deliver positive stakeholder feedback and support on OT Network projects, network performance and network document. Maintain comprehensive network documentation and diagrams.

Provide expert guidance and advice within the Estates Office and end users in relation to the OT Network operation, maintenance, and policy development. Advise on risks to business continuity and produce risk assessments.

Manage contractors and working with Facilities / Technical managers within buildings, on call staff and other stake holders to review any OT Network issues highlighted, especially “critical” loss of network connectivity to ensure they meet user’s needs. Ensure successful delivery of network projects on time and within budget.

Working with the BEMS & OT Network Manager Provide expert technical guidance and mentorship to the OT & BEMS Teams and wider university (including IT services) as and when necessary.

Fosters a fair and equitable workplace for all staff. Identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant university policies and procedures.

Any other duties commensurate with the grade.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification in a relevant IT or OT Networks/technical and/or management role as a technical specialist. A higher degree may also be held. Where no equivalent qualification is held a proven track record of extensive and substantial work experience in a series of progressively more demanding and relevant roles will be required.

Relevant professional qualification in the field of networking or substantiative evidence of working towards them.

Proven technical specialist knowledge and understanding in a relevant technical area (specialists will require advanced technical expertise).

Knowledge of TCP/IP networking and L2/L3 protocols

Experience of planning networking equipment installations, upgrades, fault finding & troubleshooting

Broad knowledge and substantial functional experience across the range of IT / OT Network design, commissioning, servicing, and management of systems, preferably within a similar large-scale environment

Extensive experience with OT systems, cyber security and wide area fibre networks.

Including service, commissioning, configuration and programming of all system functions.

A strong background and knowledge of Microsoft Azure and automation tools would be advantageous.

Evidence of literacy and numeracy.

Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area.

Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied.

A clear understanding of university strategy, and how your activity needs to be targeted to support over the short and long term.

Informal enquiries to Craig Sherrington, email: [email protected]

View our staff values and behaviours here

Use of AI in applications: We want to understand your genuine interest in the role and for the written elements of your application to accurately reflect your own communication style. Applications that rely too heavily on AI tools can appear generic and lack the detail we need to assess your skills and experience. Such applications will unlikely be progressed to interview.

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations.

We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website.