Duty Control Manager

South East Water Limited; Snodland; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stakeholder pension

Holiday entitlement

Flexible annual leave

Volunteer days

Cycle to work

Health cash plan

Life assurance

Wellbeing benefits

Job summary

South East Water Limited is seeking a Duty Control Manager to lead a 24/7 control room operation, coordinating incident responses and cross-departmental communications outside of normal hours.

You will oversee production site operations, manage abstraction licences, and optimise storage while contributing to core PRISM reporting and site emergency planning. A strong background in operational management and Health & Safety is essential.

Qualifications

• Experience leading a team in an operations/critical service environment.
• Solid knowledge of water industry regulations (DWI) and related legislation.
• Experience with health and safety management in operations.
• First Aid trained or willing to obtain training.
• Strong operational management background at senior level advantageous.
• Experience implementing or supervising safety and compliance programmes.
• Security vetting including Counter Terrorist Check may be required.
• Flexibility to perform duties across shifts and adapt to changing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead one of six shifts to provide 24/7 real-time control room operations.
• Coordinate responses to incidents, emergencies and operational events.
• Interface with Retail organisations and field teams outside normal hours.
• Ensure production sites operate to asset plans andLicences are not breached.
• Enhance PRISM reporting and deputise for senior managers when needed.

Skills

Team leadership

DWI regulations

Regulatory knowledge

First aid

Operational management

Health & safety

Senior operations

Counter Terrorist Check

Job description

Summary

Join South East Water as a Duty Control Manager and play a pivotal role in delivering an uninterrupted, 24/7 service to our customers and stakeholders. Leading one of six dedicated shifts, you will take full ownership of real-time control room operations, proactively driving the response to operational events, supply incidents, and emergencies. As the primary out-of-hours interface for retail organisations and field teams, you will ensure seamless cross-departmental coordination while keeping customers informed through our website, phone channels, and internal systems like Maximo. Beyond immediate incident management, you will oversee production site operations to align with asset plans, protect abstraction licences, and optimise storage levels. You will also enhance our core PRISM reporting system and occasionally step up to deputise for senior operational and emergency managers, including contributing to site-specific emergency plans. To succeed in this critical leadership position, you should bring proven experience in team leadership, operational management, and Health & Safety compliance. A strong working knowledge of DWI regulations and broader industry legislation is essential to maintain our high operational standards, along with a First Aid qualification or a willingness to complete the training. If you also possess senior-level experience in managing operations functions, your expertise will make an immediate impact on our continuous improvement drive and public-facing service delivery.

Main responsibilities

One of six shift managers to ensure South East Water provide a 24 hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year service to our internal and external customers and stakeholders. Outside of normal working hours this role will be the key interface with Retail organisations on water supply events, incidents and emergencies. To ensure our response to external customer issues is pro-actively controlled and communicated through our corporate phone channels and web site and our response to internal operational issues is pro-actively controlled and communicated through our corporate intranet and operational systems including Maximo. To ensure our production sites are operated efficiently to agreed plans set by our Asset teams ensuring abstraction licences are not breached and storage levels are maintained to optimise efficient production site operation. To work on the continuous improvement of the core operational reporting system PRISM ensuring key information is available and reporting is accurate and comprehensive for the effective management of production sites. Deputise for Central Operations and Control Centre Manager if requested. Deputise for the Emergency and Security Manager as required and help develop site specific emergency plans.

You’ll need

• Experience of managing a team
• Knowledge of DWI Regulations
• Knowledge of relevant legislation
• First Aid trained or willingness to achieve training in First Aid
• Experienced with operational management
• Experience with the management of Health & Safety
• Experience at managing operations functions at a senior level would be beneficial
• This role requires an additional Counter Terrorist Check. Further details regarding these checks can be found within the Staff Vetting Policy.
• Employees are required to be flexible and to be prepared to perform duties and other tasks within their capabilities. The nature of our business is such that the contents of any job profile are subject to change from time to time.

Benefits package

• Excellent Stakeholder pension scheme, up to 10% employer contribution.
• 5 weeks holiday plus bank holidays per annum, increasing to 6 weeks with length of service.
• Flexible annual leave policy to buy or sell holiday leave.
• Paid volunteering days.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Health cash plan.
• Life assurance.
• Wellbeing related benefits.

Compensation package

Up to £47,000, plus 20% shift allowance

Be you, belong and valued.

Grow a career with a meaningful purpose.

We supply top-quality drinking water to 2.3 million customers in the southeast of England. Through a network of 9,000 miles of pipe, we deliver 544 million litres of water every day. It's the skill and expertise of our employees that ensures our water meets the highest standards. We make sure we can meet the needs of our customers both now and in the future.

Company culture

• Come to work to be safe, valued, and trusted.
• We’ll encourage you to create and pursue new opportunities for personal growth.
• A place to be the real you, build deeper connections and enjoy a sense of belonging.
• Be invested in helping us to create a sustainable water supply for now, and in the future.

We know the communities we serve are diverse. We recognise creativity comes from diversity not similarity. That’s why we are enthusiastic about creating inclusion across age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion and identity. You will experience our dedication to equal opportunities and fair treatment for all: through your recruitment, employment and career progression with South East Water.