Change Manager

Thames Water; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK water company is seeking a Change Manager to spearhead change management practices within their operations. This role involves developing change frameworks, leading strategic recommendations, and engaging stakeholders to ensure successful adoption of changes across technological platforms. The successful candidate will possess certification in change management and experience with large-scale transformations. This is a hybrid role offering a competitive salary starting from £61,010 per annum, along with various benefits.

Benefits

Competitive starting salary from £61,010 per annum

26 days holiday, increasing to 30

Car Allowance

Annual Bonus

Private Medical Health Care

Performance-related pay plan

Access to healthcare benefits

Qualifications

• Expertise in change management with a track record in transformation projects.
• Ability to evaluate complex situations and provide strategic recommendations.
• Experience in designing and implementing support frameworks for complex systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead change management practices across product delivery programmes.
• Develop and implement change management frameworks.
• Conduct impact assessments and readiness evaluations.
• Design post-go-live support models.

Skills

Change management expertise

Commercial awareness

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Education

Certification in Change Management (e.g., Prosci, APMG)

Job description

Join Thames Water as a Change Manager and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our business.

In this 12-month fixed-term contract (with potential extension), you’ll lead advanced change management practices across a complex product delivery programme, helping us deliver innovative solutions that impact millions of customers. This is an exciting opportunity to influence large-scale transformation and ensure successful adoption of new platforms and processes.

What you’ll be doing as the Change Manager

You will bring deep expertise in change management, consistently evaluating complex situations using multiple sources of information and providing strategic input to guide decision-making. This role requires a strong understanding of how change management integrates with wider business functions, combined with commercial awareness to ensure initiatives align with organisational objectives.

Working closely with product owners, you’ll support the delivery of new features and functionality—including technical configuration and custom builds—on one of our existing platforms, impacting a large colleague population. Your ability to engage stakeholders, drive business readiness, and embed sustainable change will be key to success.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a robust change management framework for large-scale technical programmes, ensuring best practice.
• Evaluate complex situations using multiple sources of information and provide strategic recommendations.
• Align change initiatives with organisational objectives through strong commercial awareness.
• Lead stakeholder engagement and communication across diverse business units, fostering collaboration and resolving challenges.
• Conduct impact assessments and readiness evaluations to inform adoption strategies.
• Design and implement post go-live support and escalation models to maintain operational stability.
• Create and execute communication, training, and adoption plans that drive business readiness and sustainable change.
• Own and maintain the end-to-end change management plan and governance, partnering with project managers and technical teams.
• Monitor, measure, and report on adoption, readiness, and benefits realisation, coaching leaders and teams throughout the process.

What you should bring to the role

• Recognised as an expert in change management with a proven track record in large-scale technology or platform transformation projects.
• Skilled in evaluating complex situations and contributing strategic input within the change management discipline.
• Deep understanding of how change management integrates with broader business functions, applying strong commercial awareness.
• Experienced in designing and implementing support and transition frameworks for complex system go-lives.
• Highly developed communication and diplomacy skills for effective stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
• Comfortable working autonomously and creating structure in complex, evolving environments, particularly with business-critical platforms such as billing, reporting, or analytics.

Required Qualifications

• Certification in Change Management (e.g., Prosci, APMG).
• Experience leading large-scale technology or platform/product transformation projects.

Location: Hybrid - Clearwater Court - RG1 8DB

Hours: 36 hours per week

What’s in it for you?

• A Competitive starting salary from £61,010 per annum
• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays)
• Car Allowance.
• Annual Bonus.
• Private Medical Health Care.
• Performance‑related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of yourself and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.