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About the Company 

SA Water is a successful, modern water utility wholly owned by the Government of South Australia. We employ more than 1,700 people across a broad range of disciplines who operate more than $14 billion worth of infrastructure to deliver essential water and sewerage services to more than 1.8 million South Australians.

We operate in a geographically and climatically diverse service area, with sites and locations from Ceduna through to Port Augusta, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, across to the Riverland, down to Mount Gambier, and most places in between.

Our strength and expertise have been shaped by our history. For more than 165 years, South Australians have depended on us to innovate and deliver efficient and sustainable water services. With nationally and internationally recognised industry expertise, we’re focused on understanding and meeting our customers’ expectations.

As well as safely delivering smart and reliable services for our customers of today, we innovate to shape the water solutions of the future that will support thriving economies and healthy communities.

We are driven by our values; we value our people, we do work that matters, we keep it real, we know that our work has impact and we are future focussed. Staying true to our values ensures that we consistently deliver positive outcomes for all South Australians.

About the job  

We are looking for a Manager Data Platforms who brings steadiness, leadership maturity and a strategic approach to guiding the evolution of our cloud environments that support our organisation every day. In this role, you will create stability, clarity and strong operational foundations across SA Water’s modern data platforms, leading the day-to-day management of our Azure environment to ensure it remains reliable, secure and financially well-managed. You will provide grounded, supportive leadership to a growing team while enabling the broader Data & Analytics group to innovate with confidence.

In this role, you will also play a pivotal part in preparing our data platforms for the adoption of AI technologies, ensuring our cloud environments are ready to support advanced analytics and machine learning initiatives.

With emerging technologies like Databricks and Microsoft Fabric coming online, you will play a key role in helping SA Water navigate change in a measured and sustainable way, partnering across Technology, business groups and external vendors to keep our platforms resilient, transparent and aligned to organisational needs.

About the Person

You bring a calm, grounded presence and a thoughtful leadership style that helps others feel supported and clear, even in complex or fast-moving environments. You have experience operationalising and managing cloud platforms, and you’re confident guiding teams through ambiguity with steadiness and sound judgement. Comfortable leading meaningful conversations about modern cloud technologies, you focus on enabling people to do their best work rather than needing to be hands-on in every tool. You naturally build trust with stakeholders, communicate with care and clarity, and enjoy creating structure where it’s needed most. With strong FinOps awareness and a collaborative approach to working with stakeholders, you understand how to run a cloud environment responsibly and transparently. Above all, you value people, lead with maturity and empathy, and are ready to step into a key leadership role where your influence will shape the stability and success of our data platforms.

About Technology

The Technology group is constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and technology and is driven by its collaborative inclusive culture. This team of diverse professionals is dedicated to transforming digital landscapes, ensuring seamless operations, delivering cutting-edge solutions and utilising data for optimised decision making. With a focus on the future and a commitment to excellence now, the group thrives on solving complex challenges, driving efficiency, and enhancing user experiences.

In addition, your responsibilities will include: 

Fostering trust with our people, customers and community by providing expert advice and service that ensure we effectively communicate and engage audiences with our business strategy and its delivery across South Australia, every day. 

You will: 

• Shape the operational stability and maturity of our Azure cloud environment, ensuring it runs safely, efficiently and reliably.
• Bring structure and consistency to a modern data platform, supporting both the team and the organisation with clarity and confidence.
• Guide cloud financial operations (FinOps), working to manage consumption models, cost attribution and optimisation opportunities.
• Lead with calm, grounded judgement, creating space for the broader team to focus on innovation and change while you provide operational certainty.
• Play a key leadership role, supporting decision-making, governance and senior stakeholder engagement.
• Prepare and evolve our data platforms to support AI and machine learning workloads, ensuring scalability, security, and compliance.
• Build strong, trusting relationships across the organisation and vendor partners.

Your success in this role will come from: 

• Demonstrated ability to manage and operate enterprise data platforms, including cloud platforms and ETL processes.
• Excellent leadership, stakeholder management, and vendor negotiation skills.
• Strong understanding of data architecture, integration patters, and modern engineering practices (CI/CD, IaC). 
• Capacity to foster a culture of innovation, learning, and collaboration around AI and data.
• Demonstrated experience in platform operations, including SLA management, incident/problem/change processes, and disaster recovery.
• Demonstrated experience in managing cloud costs, licencing and demonstrating value through KPI’s and benefits realisation.

Further information can be found in the attached PD – Manager Data Platforms.

To apply, click 'Apply'. Please submit and complete the application form, upload a cover letter and current resume. For enquiries, please contact Despina Livadiotis from the Talent Acquisition team despina.livadiotis@sawater.com.au. 

Applications close 11:55pm, 18 January 2026.

A great customer experience is best achieved by having a diverse and inclusive team that reflects the community we serve. Applications are encouraged from everyone, including people living with disability, job seekers of all ages, members of the LGBTIQA+ community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds. 

Our Industry is like no other. Dive into the wonderful world of water and explore the boundless opportunities. Learn more about the water industry at careersinwater.com.au.

Please note: We request that recruitment agencies do not submit candidates for this position, as they will not be accepted.