Head of Technical Services (Critical Systems)

Wokingham / Reading (with future national scope)
Mitie | NESO Contract

The Role

Mitie is looking for a highly capable Head of Technical Services (Critical Systems) to join our NESO (National Energy System Operator) contract.

Working alongside the Head of Operations and reporting to the Account Manager, you'll act as the technical authority across the account, ensuring all engineering activity is safe, compliant, and future-focused.

This is not a purely strategic role — we're looking for someone who can combine deep technical knowledge with a proactive, hands-on approach, spotting risks before they materialise and driving improvements across critical systems.

You'll be based primarily across sites in Wokingham and Reading, with occasional travel as the contract evolves.

About the Contract

The NESO contract supports the UK's National Energy System Operator, responsible for balancing electricity supply and demand across the country.

Mitie delivers a total facilities management solution across key operational sites, including critical control environments, infrastructure and associated systems. These sites operate in a highly resilient, always-on environment, where maintaining service continuity is essential.

This role operates at the heart of that environment, ensuring that all critical engineering systems continue to perform to the highest standards.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Assurance & Compliance

• Lead on Safe Systems of Work, SOPs, EOPs and electrical compliance
• Oversee the performance, maintenance and reliability of critical M&E infrastructure
• Ensure compliance with statutory, regulatory and client standards
• Conduct audits, reviews and continuous improvement of engineering processes

Engineering Leadership

• Act as the SME for technical excellence across the contract
• Provide guidance on maintenance strategy, asset lifecycle and system optimisation
• Identify risks and opportunities across plant, systems and infrastructure
• Drive a culture of consistency, best practice and operational excellence

Critical Systems Oversight

• Maintain resilience of key infrastructure including:
  • High and low voltage systems
  • UPS, generators and backup power systems
  • Cooling and environmental controls
• Proactively identify upgrades or changes required to maintain uptime and resilience

Risk & Safety

• Lead on engineering risk management and mitigation
• Support incident investigations and root cause analysis
• Ensure a strong health, safety and compliance culture across all activities

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong relationships with the NESO client team
• Present technical recommendations and challenge where required
• Provide clear, confident and evidence-based reporting on system performance and risk

Team Support & Development

• Support the development, capability and compliance of engineering teams
• Ensure all engineers are appropriately trained, qualified and authorised
• Act as a technical mentor and escalation point for complex issues

About You

We're looking for someone who combines technical credibility with strong presence and foresight — someone who can influence, challenge and lead from the front.

Essential

• Professionally qualified Engineer (e.g. IET, CIBSE)
• Strong HV/LV electrical background with Authorised Person (AP) experience
• Experience working in critical environments (e.g. data centres, CNI, control rooms)
• Deep understanding of compliance, safety standards and engineering governance
• Ability to be proactive — identifying issues before they arise and driving solutions
• Confident communicator, able to engage and influence senior stakeholders

Highly Desirable

• Experience as or working towards Authorising Engineer (AE)
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status
• Data centre or Uptime Institute / critical systems exposure
• Broader mechanical knowledge alongside electrical expertise