Consumer Involvement Lead

Thames Water Utilities Limited; Swindon; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary £65k–£70k per year

26 days annual leave (increasing with

Generous pension scheme

Broad governance exposure

Health and wellbeing benefits

Job summary

Thames Water invites applications for a Consumer Involvement Lead to drive an 18-month programme applying the Consumer Involvement Rule across Retail, Finance, Strategy and more. You will mobilise delivery, embed sustainable practices, and provide guidance to interpretation of regulatory requirements.

You’ll lead multiple workstreams, engage senior leaders, and develop evidence-based decision-making. A high-profile change role with wide organisational exposure and a strong customer focus.

Qualifications

• Experience leading complex cross-functional programmes in regulated environments.
• Ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical processes and controls.
• Strong programme management skills coordinating multiple workstreams and stakeholders.
• Experience embedding change across different business areas.
• Knowledge of customer insight to inform decision-making.
• Establishing governance, reporting and assurance arrangements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to work with senior leaders and governance forums.
• Customer-focused mindset balancing regulatory expectations with delivery.

Responsibilities

• Lead a cross-functional programme across Thames Water.
• Translate regulatory expectations into practical standards, guidance, templates and controls.
• Develop a framework for identifying decisions impacting customers.
• Plan customer insight and independent challenge at the right time.
• Maintain a central evidence repository linking insight, options, decisions and outcomes.
• Collaborate with decision owners, governance, assurance and change teams.
• Guide teams on proportional customer engagement.
• Oversee multiple workstreams, risks and actions to deliver outcomes.
• Identify barriers to change and build ownership and commitment.
• Deliver training, briefings and case studies for the business.
• Create monitoring and assurance arrangements in collaboration with teams.
• Report progress and risks to senior leadership and governance forums.
• Coordinate responses and external reporting outputs.

Skills

Complex programme leadership

Regulated environment experience

Stakeholder management

Regulatory translation

Governance & reporting

Communication skills

Customer insight awareness

Change management

Interpersonal credibility

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a high-profile, organisation-wide programme that will help place customers at the heart of significant business decisions. Over the 18-month opportunity, you will lead the delivery of Thames Water's approach to the Consumer Involvement Rule, turning an agreed regulatory direction into enhanced practical and sustainable ways of working across the organisation. You will work across Retail, Finance, Strategy and External Affairs, Operations, Customer Insight, Legal, Regulation and other business areas. This will give you broad organisational exposure and the opportunity to build strong relationships with senior leaders, decision owners, change teams and governance forums. Whether you are applying from within Thames Water or bringing relevant experience from another organisation, this is an excellent opportunity to broaden your experience, lead change at an organisational level and help embed an approach that will have a lasting impact on our customers and organisation. You will be supported by senior colleagues while owning the programme and bringing its different activities together. What you'll be doing as Consumer Involvement Lead As Consumer Involvement Lead, you will take ownership of a defined programme of activities designed to meet the expectations of the Consumer Involvement Rule. The organisation has set a clear strategic direction. Your role will be to mobilise the programme, coordinate delivery across the organisation and embed the required activities into sustainable business-as-usual ways of working, while providing guidance to support interpretation of requirements Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading the delivery of a complex, cross-functional programme across multiple areas of Thames Water.
• Translating regulatory expectations into clear, proportionate and business-friendly standards, guidance, templates and controls.
• Evolving and embedding a consistent framework for identifying decisions that could have a material impact on customers.
• Establishing a forward view of significant customer-related decisions, allowing customer insight and independent challenge to be planned at the right time.
• Creating and maintaining a central evidence repository that provides a clear and auditable link between customer insight, available options, challenge, decisions and outcomes.
• Working collaboratively with business decision owners, Customer Insight, Legal, Regulation, Internal Audit, governance, assurance and change colleagues.
• Supporting teams to use existing customer insight effectively and identify where additional, proportionate customer engagement may be required.
• Leading multiple workstreams, dependencies, risks and actions, ensuring the programme remains focused and delivers the required outcomes.
• Identifying organisational barriers to change and working with stakeholders to build understanding, commitment and ownership.
• Designing and delivering practical training, briefings, case studies and worked examples for teams across the business.
• Developing proportionate monitoring and assurance arrangements in collaboration, identifying gaps and supporting teams to complete agreed improvements.
• Producing clear reporting for senior leadership and governance forums, providing visibility of progress, evidence quality, risks and emerging issues.
• Consolidating evidence and coordinating accurate, timely responses and external reporting outputs
• Monitoring external guidance and sector developments, using learning to continuously improve the operating model.
• Delivering a fully documented and sustainable handover into business-as-usual ownership by the end of the opportunity.

We recognise that applicants may bring different combinations of experience. You do not need to have worked specifically with the Consumer Involvement Rule, but you will need to demonstrate that you can lead a complex programme, work across organisational boundaries and turn requirements into practical and sustainable change.

The essential skills and experience required are:

• Demonstrable experience of leading complex, cross-functional programmes or organisational change within a regulated or similarly complex environment.
• Experience of translating regulatory, legislative, policy or strategic requirements into practical processes, controls and sustainable ways of working.
• Strong programme management skills, including the ability to coordinate multiple workstreams, dependencies, risks, actions and stakeholders.
• Experience of successfully embedding change across different business areas, including overcoming barriers and bringing people with you.
• Knowledge of how customer evidence, insight and engagement can inform organisational decision-making.
• Experience of establishing practical governance, reporting, monitoring or assurance arrangements across multiple business areas.
• The ability to critically assess the quality, relevance and sufficiency of evidence.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to turn complex information into clear, engaging and compelling messages for different audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with a collaborative and hands-on approach.
• The confidence and credibility to work with senior leaders, decision owners, change teams and governance forums.
• The ability to build trusted relationships and create sustainable change through others.
• A customer-focused mindset and the ability to balance regulatory expectations with practical business delivery.

Additional experience that would be valuable:

• Thames Water or wider water-sector experience.
• Utilities or another regulated industry.
• Business-to-consumer organisations where customer needs and customer voice are central to decision-making.
• Programme or change roles involving the delivery of regulatory or policy-led change.
• Working with regulators, consumer bodies or independent challenge groups.
• Customer strategy, consumer insight, consumer engagement, public policy or regulatory affairs.
• Assurance, audit, compliance or risk management.
• Working across several business areas to introduce new organisational processes or ways of working.
• The Consumer Involvement Rule and the expectations of Ofwat, the Consumer Council for Water or independent customer challenge groups.

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.

Learn more about our 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. If you're looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people's lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we'll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and the planet. Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. 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 application 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.

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.

• A competitive salary of £65,000 to £70,000 per annum, dependent on experience.
• Annual Leave; 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Generous Pension Scheme.
• A high-profile opportunity to lead change across Thames Water.
• Broad exposure to different business areas, senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• The opportunity to strengthen your experience of programme leadership, organisational change, customer strategy and regulatory delivery.
• Access to a wide range of benefits supporting your health, wellbeing and finances, including health support, counselling, Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.