Emergency Planner

JAM Recruitment Ltd; Reading; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days holiday (up to 30 with service

Pension scheme

Health & wellbeing benefits

Job summary

Thames Water in Reading is seeking an Emergency Planner to support preparation, response and learning from incidents affecting customers and operations. The role involves writing and reviewing emergency plans, supporting live incidents and exercises, and collaborating with resilience partners and Local Resilience Forums.

Base location is Reading with hybrid pattern (3 days in office, 2 days home). Security clearance will be required, estimated 2–3 months process.

Qualifications

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience writing, maintaining and reviewing emergency plans.
• Experience supporting incident management teams during live events and exercises.
• Experience liaising with internal and external stakeholders and multi-agency partners.

Responsibilities

• Write, maintain and review emergency plans to prepare for incidents.
• Support incident management teams during live incidents and exercises.
• Represent Thames Water at multi‑agency meetings with Local Resilience Forums and authorities.
• Design, deliver and participate in emergency exercises and training.
• Ensure plans meet Civil Contingencies Act and other regulations.
• Capture lessons learned from debriefs and drive improvements.

Skills

Emergency planning

Disaster management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Incident management

Tabletop exercises

Education

Resilience / emergency planning related qualifications

Job description

This full-time Emergency Planner role in Reading sits with Pertemps Thames Water, paying £45,250 to £50,000 annually, dependent on skills and experience.

The postholder helps the organisation prepare for, respond to, and learn from incidents affecting customers, communities and operations.

Duties include writing, maintaining and reviewing emergency plans, plus supporting incident management teams during live events and exercises.

The planner liaises with internal and external stakeholders, represents Thames Water at multi‑agency meetings, and works closely with Local Resilience Forums.

Strong communication, stakeholder engagement and planning skills are essential, alongside the ability to remain calm under pressure.

As an Emergency Planner at Thames Water, you’ll play an important part in helping us prepare for, respond to and learn from incidents that could affect our customers, communities and operations. You’ll work across the business and with external resilience partners to develop practical emergency plans, support live incidents and exercises, and help strengthen how we respond when it matters most.

What you’ll be doing as an Emergency Planner

• Writing, maintaining and reviewing emergency plans so we’re prepared to respond effectively to incidents.
• Supporting incident management teams during live incidents and emerging events, including communicating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Representing Thames Water at multi‑agency meetings and working closely with Local Resilience Forums, local authorities and other resilience partners.
• Designing, delivering and taking part in emergency exercises and training to test our response arrangements.
• Helping ensure emergency plans and activities meet relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, including the Civil Contingencies Act and Security & Emergency Measures Direction.
• Taking part in incident and exercise debriefs, identifying lessons learned and helping embed improvements and best practice across the business.

Base location and working pattern

Base location: Kemble Court, Reading, RG2 6A. Working pattern: Hybrid, typically with 3 days in the office and 2 days working from home.

Please note, successful candidates will need to complete the required security clearance before starting employment. This process takes approximately between 2 to 3 months.

What you should bring to the role

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex information clearly to senior colleagues and stakeholders.
• Previous experience working within utilities, local authorities or incident response background.
• Emergency planning, business continuity or multi‑agency civil contingencies experience.
• Experience developing emergency or crisis plans and designing or delivering tabletop or live exercises would be beneficial.
• Knowledge of the water industry or relevant resilience legislation would be beneficial.

Qualifications

• Qualifications in resilience, emergency planning, disaster management, environmental science or a related subject also welcomed.

What’s in it for you?

• This role will be paid from £45,250 up to £50,000 per annum depending on skills and experience.
• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with length of service, plus bank holidays.
• Performance‑related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you 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.
• Find out more about our benefits and perks (Please note different T&Cs apply if on secondment).

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.

Learn more about our purpose and values.

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 our planet. 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.