Lead Hosting Platform Engineer

United Utilities; Warrington; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days holiday

Employer pension contribution

Annual bonus

Flexible benefits

Voluntary share scheme

Job summary

United Utilities is seeking a Lead Hosting Platform Engineer to steer our Hosting Platform Services. You will oversee enterprise Linux hosting platforms, automation, and virtualization to deliver secure, resilient infrastructure across on-premise and hybrid cloud environments.

The role emphasizes technical leadership, platform optimisation, and collaboration with Security, Architecture and Operations teams.

Qualifications

• Extensive enterprise Linux/Unix hosting platform experience.
• Proven expertise in automation, patching, and security hardening for large-scale environments.
• Experience with enterprise storage/backup technologies and virtualization.
• Ideal candidates hold RHCSA/RHCE and ITIL certifications.

Responsibilities

• Lead the support, optimisation and continuous improvement of enterprise hosting platforms.
• Ensure highly available, secure and resilient infrastructure services across on-premise and hybrid cloud environments.
• Drive platform automation, lifecycle management, patching and security hardening.
• Provide technical leadership on upgrades, implementations and new technologies.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex platform issues.
• Collaborate with Security, Architecture and Operations teams to maintain standards.
• Mentor engineers and develop technical capability across the team.
• Support continuous improvement through monitoring, reporting and automation.

Skills

enterprise Linux/Unix hosting

automation

virtualisation

security hardening

Azure Cloud

backup/storage tech

Education

RHCSA/RHCE Certification

ITIL Certification

Tools

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Red Hat Satellite

PowerShell

Bash

Perl

VMware

TLS/PKI

Job description

Job number UU06164 Country United Kingdom Region Cheshire West and Chester Location name Lingley Mere (UU), Lingley Green Avenue, Great Sankey, Warrington, WA5 3LP Posting End Date 18/09/2026 Band 4b Role Type Permanent Work hours 37 Hours per Week Salary Competitive

Drive the platforms that power critical services

At United Utilities, technology is at the heart of delivering essential services to millions of customers. We're looking for an experienced Lead Hosting Platform Engineer to join our Hosting Platform Services team and play a key role in ensuring our enterprise hosting environments remain secure, resilient and available 24/7.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a senior infrastructure professional with deep expertise in Linux platforms, automation, virtualisation and enterprise hosting technologies to lead the evolution of our critical infrastructure estate.

What you'll be doing

As a technical lead and subject matter expert, you'll:

• Lead the support, optimisation and continuous improvement of enterprise hosting platforms
• Ensure highly available, secure and resilient infrastructure services across on-premise and hybrid cloud environments
• Drive platform automation, lifecycle management, patching and security hardening
• Provide technical leadership on upgrades, implementations and new technologies
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex platform issues
• Work closely with Security, Architecture and Operational teams to maintain best practice standards
• Mentor engineers and help develop technical capability across the team
• Support a culture of continuous improvement through monitoring, reporting and automation

What we're looking for

We're particularly interested in candidates with strong enterprise Linux/Unix hosting platform experience, including:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) administration and lifecycle management
• Linux/Unix platforms within large-scale enterprise environments
• Automation and configuration management using Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform
• Red Hat Satellite and OS lifecycle management
• Scripting skills including Bash, PowerShell, Perl or similar
• VMware and virtualisation technologies
• High-availability hosting platforms and infrastructure
• Security hardening, SELinux, TLS, SSL and PKI
• Azure Cloud and Hybrid Infrastructure environments - Including Windows Server
• Enterprise storage and backup technologies including Veeam, SAN, HPE Alletra or Dell PowerStore

Ideally, you'll also hold (or be working towards) RHCSA, RHCE and/or ITIL certifications.

Why join United Utilities?

You'll be joining a highly respected team responsible for maintaining and evolving critical infrastructure services across an organisation managing over 50,000 technology assets.

In return, we offer:

• 26 days holiday, rising to 30 with service, plus bank holidays
• Up to 14% employer pension contribution
• Up to 10.5% annual bonus
• Enhanced parental leave and flexible working options
• Flexible benefits package
• Voluntary share scheme

Ready to make an impact?

If you're a senior Linux and Hosting Platform specialist looking to influence enterprise-scale infrastructure, drive technical innovation and lead platform excellence within a critical-services environment, we'd love to hear from you.