IT

Asking the right questions to unlock the power of data

From improving the accuracy of wind speed forecasts at offshore wind farms to giving customers deeper insight into their energy use at home, data is transforming every aspect of our business.

Digitalisation means we have access to ever-greater quantities of data, but the real benefit lies in turning that into insight to help make better decisions.

Using the latest Azure product stack, our Data/BI team is always exploring where the technology could take us next. Through Advanced Analytics for example, we’re looking at new ways to try and identify patterns across internal and external datasets to better predict energy consumption and optimise power generation.

Solving complex business challenges

As a Data Engineer, you’ll work closely with experts and solution designers across the business to build, maintain and optimize state of the art analytics systems.

Together with experts in Finance you could be developing a solution using Snowflake and Power BI to better track KPIs to improve financial steering, planning and forecasting. With colleagues in IT you could be developing a solution using Azure Data Factory to help ensure best-in- class security through improved monitoring of Key Risk Indicators.

As well as improving the way we work, intelligent use of data is accelerating our journey to fossil-free. At the front end, as a Dashboard Developer you could help design a system to give maintenance staff access to the data needed to decide when best to replace critical components on a wind turbine to minimise generation downtime.

Help design the change to a better world

Digitalization is at the heart of Vattenfall’s ambition to become fossil-free in one generation and that means the technology infrastructure underpinning our business is radically changing.

As well as enabling seamless connectivity across devices, industries and market parties, our technology backbone will also allow AI and data driven processes to balance traditional generation, micro-consumption and production, flexibility services and increased demand for electrification.

Vattenfall’s ranking among the top tier users of Microsoft Azure in Europe underlines our ability to deliver this digital roadmap. The technology is impressive, but it is the potential for our IT Architects to use it to translate business needs into innovative solutions which really excites us.

Opportunity to work deep and wide

Our expertise and reach across all of Vattenfall’s business units and countries means you will have no shortage of opportunities to work on projects which will have a direct impact on the journey to fossil-free.

Those opportunities also come with the need for agility. Our team of around 30 architects is involved in around 180 projects at any one time, often acting as the ‘spider in the web’ to understand business needs and to see the bigger picture to help us securely adopt the technologies of tomorrow.

You’ll be developing hybrid and enterprise-grade platform solutions using tools such as Microsoft Azure, SAP ERP and Kafka to accelerate digitalization. Our architects don’t just understand the IT, but the core processes of the business areas they work with, whether that’s Heat, Distribution, Wind or Customer-focussed units. You will also need to have a strong awareness of system engineering, understanding how architecture solutions fit in with the wider IT landscape around scalability, security, and maintenance.

No two projects are the same. As a Senior Architect you could be designing a solution for drone inspections on the high voltage grid using Azure as well as helping optimize HR processes to ensure we continue to attract and retain the best talent. Alongside specific projects you may also get to work on strategic topics and develop technology roadmaps.

Blue-sky thinking with the Cloud

A ‘cloud-first’ approach is supporting a more agile business, enabling faster development of products to accelerate the shift to fossil-free as well as reducing Vattenfall’s own carbon footprint.

Our commitment to cloud services is highlighted by significant investment in the Vattenfall Digital Platform which ensures stable operations across scalable cloud systems including customer engagement, mobile and Internet of Things (IoT).

As part of the Cloud Core Operations team you’ll work closely with colleagues from across the business to help them understand the power of the technology and use it to meet their goals, simply and securely.

Broad knowledge and specialist skills

The far-reaching potential for cloud technologies means that as a Cloud Engineer you’ll use your broad knowledge across areas including governance, security and networking to plan, build and run clouds for Core and Agile applications.

It’s a fast-paced and varied role which could see you troubleshooting OS issues with Windows and Linux one day, and working with colleagues in IT security on secure implementation the next.

There will also be plenty of opportunities to deploy specialist expertise in your T-shaped skill profile to overcome problems and deliver solutions, and continual development of our custom-build Microsoft Azure enterprise platform means there are always new features to explore.

As new services continue to be rolled out, as a Cloud FinOps Engineer you’ll use tools such as Azure Advisor and Azure Cost Management to optimize deployments and spending. As a Cloud Security Engineer you’ll help identify and protect against vulnerabilities throughout the platform using Azure Policy, Log Analytics, and customized Power BI to ensure colleagues always work in a safe environment.

Taking RPA technology beyond the bots

Robotics Process Automation (RPA) is starting to have a significant impact on our business, replacing inefficient processes and enabling our people to focus on more interesting, creative work.

Front-end solutions are helping us have better and faster interactions with customers as they look to play a more active role in the energy transition, and automation of back-end processes is improving data accuracy and saving costs.

Combining RPA with technologies like Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Advanced Analytics is now opening up exciting opportunities for next level intelligent process automation to take the technology ‘beyond the bots’.

As a more complex energy system develops, robots that can learn and analyse like humans could help balance lower-carbon grids by anticipating e-vehicle charging demand, forecasting renewable generation and implementing dynamic pricing.

Smarter approach to combining people and systems

Interest from across the business in the technology means the team of experts in Vattenfall’s RPA Competence Center is working on a growing number of cost-effective and scalable solutions using the UiPath platform.

As a Consultant you could be working with our customer service teams to help them use RPA to deal with queries more effectively. Your expertise will help identify the best way to incorporate the technology to save time and enable a call center agent to focus more of their time on the customer’s needs.

As a Solution Architect you could be providing technical direction to Data Analysts on a project to develop an HR robot to onboard new staff more effectively, or to standardize metadata across hundreds of thousands of documents to enable engineers to quickly access the information they need.

As a DevOps Engineer you could using your Process Mining knowledge to help our E-mobility teams develop a solution to speed up the payment system at charging stations, or working with a finance team to identify opportunities for RPA to take over repetitive and time-consuming tasks such as checking invoices prior to approval.

Looking further ahead on the security horizon

As one of Europe’s largest generators and suppliers of energy, millions of people and businesses depend on us every day.

Making sure our facilities, networks and systems are secure is becoming ever-more important amid growing digitalization and more sophisticated threats. The rapid emergence of new sectors such as e-mobility is also bringing new challenges around legal and regulatory frameworks.
As a member of our IT Security team, you’ll play a critical role in protecting our organisation from the dangers of today and tomorrow and help ensure a safe journey to fossil-free.

Rising to the risk challenge

As an IT Security Officer you’ll play a frontline role in supporting and guiding colleagues, whether it’s carrying out security reviews on projects or assessing external suppliers.

You’ll not be afraid to ask critical questions across all levels of the business, and your domain expertise will be as important as your IT skills to be able to understand what you are assessing and ensure projects are secure by design. You’ll also be involved in first-line IT security management, finding vulnerabilities and carrying out risk assessments.

As an Expert in our 24/7 Security Operation Centre, you could be carrying out deep forensic analysis of incidents to protect against current and future threats, or developing the SecOps incident and event management tooling used.
As part of our proactive approach to security, as a Threat Analyst in our Threat Management Team you’ll need to go beyond the known risks and think like a cyber attacker to predict what tactics and technology they could use. You’ll also be assessing and acting on the growing levels of threat intelligence from industry and government sources.

Agile approach to Development

We’re an energy company, but the scale of change needed for fossil-free living means we have to think and act like the most innovative of technology firms.

Our Developers use the latest versions of tools/frameworks such as Angular or .net to empower them to make the most of the potential across areas including AI, Machine Learning and Cloud.

The need for fast delivery of innovative solutions to business challenges means working in Agile teams to bring together skills across specialisms such as SAP IS-U, Microsoft CRM Dynamics, Front- and Backend and App development.

Continuous Integration and Delivery principles means we benefit from smaller code changes and faster release rates. Our focus on agility also means Developers can take advantage of hybrid working to make the most of their time.

Good communication key to making it all work

As a Developer you could be part of an Agile team working on improvements to a self-service portal to enable customers to quickly access the information they want 24/7. You’ll be working with colleagues from across the business to achieve results so being able to effectively communicate the why and how of a solution is important.

Or you’ll be able to use your broad expertise across coding – from databases to UI management – and provide flexibility to our IT teams. You could be working on a project to integrate a sales interface platform with Xamarin, iOS or Android apps to enable customers to easily access the products and services they want on multiple devices.