Continuous Improvement Lead

Yorkshire Water; Bradford; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 51,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading utility company is seeking a Continuous Improvement Lead to join its Engineering Continuous Improvement Team. This role involves managing maturity assessments, coaching teams, and driving continuous improvement across Yorkshire. Candidates should have experience in operational excellence and effective stakeholder engagement. A Lean Six Sigma qualification is preferred. This position offers hybrid working, with travel across Yorkshire required.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual incentive bonus

Attractive pension scheme

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Life assurance cover

Health cash plan scheme

Gym membership discounts

Qualifications

• Proven experience in continuous improvement ideally within utilities, engineering, or asset-intensive environments.
• Ability to engage and influence colleagues.
• Experience of identifying problems and opportunities and solving them.

Responsibilities

• Manage delivery of maturity assessments.
• Map and document workflow processes.
• Coach and mentor Team Leaders and team members.

Skills

Continuous improvement

Operational excellence

Coaching

Stakeholder engagement

Data analysis (MS Excel, Power BI)

Education

Lean Six Sigma qualification

Job description

12-month secondment / fixed term contract with potential for extension

Hello! Thanks for stopping by. Let us tell you about all the great reasons to join us here at Yorkshire Water:

• We offer a competitive salary, depending on experience, (4b): £40,667 - £50,834
• Annual incentive-related bonus (£1000 maximum bonus opportunity for the performance year)
• Attractive pension scheme (up to 12% company contribution)
• Development opportunities in line with the Continuous Improvement Lead progression plan
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays – plus an extra wellness day!
• Life assurance cover of 4 times pensionable salary
• A great benefits package – choose from health cash plan scheme, critical illness insurance, dental insurance, life assurance flex and partner cover.
• Retail savings scheme
• Online GP service, cycle to work scheme, gym membership discounts and many more!

Location: Buttershaw, Bradford, hybrid working (minimum 1 office day per week plus flexibility to travel around Yorkshire regularly, shadowing our field teams)

Work type: Permanent. 37 hours per week, Monday – Friday 12-month secondment / fixed term contract with potential for extension

We have an exciting opportunity for a Continuous Improvement Lead to join the Engineering Continuous Improvement Team at Yorkshire Water and be a part of helping Yorkshire Water to provide the best service to our customers. Could this be you?

What we do:

Everyone has an idea of what a water company does. Here in Yorkshire, we make sure that over 5.4 million people living in the region and the millions of people who visit our region each year, can rely on our services, and have clean and safe drinking water on tap and that their wastewater is taken away. But for us, it’s so much more than this.

We look after communities, protect the environment, and plan to look after Yorkshire’s water, today, tomorrow 24/7, 365 days a year. We provide essential water and wastewater services to every corner of the Yorkshire region, and play a key role in the region’s health, wellbeing, and prosperity.

New environmental legislation, unprecedented levels of investment and changing expectations from customers means that this is an exciting time to discover opportunities within the water industry. The Engineering Continuous Improvement Team are a key part of how we plan to meet the changing expectations of customers and regulators.

We are looking for a 12-month fixed-term Continuous Improvement Lead to join our Engineering Continuous Improvement Team at Yorkshire Water.

You will play a key role in delivering maturity assessments and driving continuous improvement across our end-to-end asset maintenance process.

This is a varied role, involving regular travel across Yorkshire—working out in the field, at different office locations, and occasionally from home. You’ll be instrumental in supporting teams to achieve their best, with a strong emphasis on coaching and capability building.

Where you fit in:

As our Continuous Improvement Lead you will:

• Manage the full delivery of maturity assessments in structured stages, adapting timing to operational needs.
• Initiate contact and introduction meetings with Team Leaders, sharing presentations and planning assessment kick-off dates.
• Confirm assessment scope, logistics, and outputs with Team Leaders; plan site visits, 1-1 discussions, and team meetings.
• Map and document workflow processes (from job initiation to closure) and produce a comprehensive assessment plan.
• Observe day-to-day operations, tools, and behaviours in the field; conduct one-to-one and group discussions; attend or review team meetings using structured guides.
• Capture observation notes, team insights, and identify improvement opportunities.
• Coach and mentor Team Leaders and team members, supporting them to identify strengths, address gaps, and develop improvement skills.
• Empower teams through coaching to own and sustain improvement actions, fostering a culture of feedback, learning, and collaboration.
• Interview Team Leaders/Deputies to explore leadership behaviours, performance management, and problem-solving; review improvement measures and document leadership insights.
• Generate and prioritise action plans, assigning ownership and target dates collaboratively.
• Deliver playback presentations to Team Leaders and stakeholders, presenting scores, strengths, themes, and agreed actions; confirm action ownership and follow-up.

What skills & qualifications you will need:

• A passion for improving how we do things at Yorkshire Water
• Proven experience in continuous improvement, operational excellence, or a similar role—ideally within utilities, engineering, or asset-intensive environments.
• An ability to engage and influence colleagues, building relationships and bringing people along the journey
• Experience of identifying problems and opportunities and solving them
• An ability to extract data from our corporate systems and turn it into insightful analysis using MS Excel and Power BI
• The ability to understand user requirements and translate them into user stories for technical development, working within the Agile Framework
• Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills
• Demonstrated coaching ability, with a passion for developing others and enabling sustainable change
• Analytical mindset with the ability to observe, assess, and document processes objectively
• Confident in presenting findings and driving action plans
• Proficient in using assessment tools, spreadsheets, and digital collaboration platforms
• Willingness to travel regularly across Yorkshire and work flexibly in the field, in offices, and from home as required.

You will also benefit from having:

• A knowledge of YW above ground assets
• An understanding of our performance commitments and regulatory obligations
• Awareness and experience of the YW corporate systems used to plan, schedule and deliver work
• A recognised qualification in improvement, such as Lean Six Sigma Yellow, Green or Black belt

Although we operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, it’s important to us that we support flexible working patterns and job share options (when we can), to help you make the best of both your work and home life. We know that juggling childcare responsibilities or getting that ideal work/life balance isn’t always easy!

Do we sound like your cup of tea?

If you’ve got experience in Continuous Improvement and want to help us deliver great service for our customers whilst looking after the environment, then be sure to apply today to find out what a career with Yorkshire Water can offer you.

Accessibility

We are committed to removing barriers and ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We offer a range of adjustments to make your application experience as comfortable and straightforward as possible.

If you have an accessibility need, disability, or condition that requires changes to the recruitment process, please include this information in your application. We will then discuss any reasonable adjustments required.

Just a heads-up! We might start interviewing and close the position earlier based on the response. To make sure you’re considered, please send in your application as soon as you can.

If successful for the role, you will be required to undergo pre-employment checks that will include a Basic Disclosure Check, carried out through a Third-Party Company, prior to commencing employment. Depending on the role, you may also be required to go through the security vetting process for either a Counter Terrorist Check or Security Check clearance.

All our roles are subject to a medical questionnaire, and further medicals when required.