Flushing Operative

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group); Lound; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday entitlement

Company pension scheme

Wellbeing support

Travel and cycle schemes

Discount scheme

Digital GP service

Job summary

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) is hiring a Flushing Operative to support the Suffolk region. You will work in a mobile role with a Transit van, flushing water mains, operating valves and hydrants, and using acoustic equipment to detect leaks. Expect daily outdoor work, customer interaction, and occasional evenings or weekends on standby.

Full UK driving licence is essential. Training provided, with focus on safety, environmental protection, and service standards.

Qualifications

• Ability to work outdoors in varying conditions.
• Customer-facing communication skills.
• Comfortable using mobile devices as part of daily tasks.

Responsibilities

• Flush water mains and manage valves/hydrants.
• Respond to calls within 30 minutes of notification.
• Work on standby rota outside regular hours as needed.
• Operate acoustic equipment to detect leaks.
• Represent NWG in diverse environments with professionalism.

Skills

Outdoor work

Customer service

Tech minded

Mobile technology

Tools

Acoustic leak detection equipment

Transit van operation

Job description

About The Role

Flushing Operative

Full time – 37 hours

Permanent

Location: Lound, Suffolk (however, travel across the Suffolk supply Region is expected)

About The Role

Salary £26,180 - £30,800 (depending on experience)

Are you ready to take on an exciting, hands-on role that keeps our communities flowing with top-quality drinking water? We’re offering an incredible opportunity to join our dedicated team of Flushing Operatives who help clean and maintain our water mains across the region.

This isn’t just any job, it’s a vital role where you’ll be on the frontline, ensuring our customers continue to receive safe, clean water every single day. As a Flushing Operative, you’ll be out and about in a fully equipped Transit van, ready to respond when our water analysts identify an area that needs flushing. You’ll be operating valves and hydrants with care and precision, making sure the network stays calm and that water is safely discharged without harming the environment.

You’ll thrive on working proactively to meet targets, but also stay sharp for reactive situations, especially when the weather throws a curveball and we need all hands on deck for leak detection and emergency support. We’ll train you up to use acoustic equipment to detect invisible leaks beneath our streets, making you a key player in protecting this precious resource.

This is a customer-facing role too. Whether you're in a busy city centre or a quiet rural lane, you’ll sometimes be the face of our operation helping to manage expectations and providing clear, helpful communication in line with our service standards.

Water doesn’t keep office hours, and neither do we. Our team is committed to getting the job done, which means we sometimes work evenings and weekends. Once you’re fully trained, you’ll also join our standby rota to help maintain water supply outside of regular hours. When you’re called out, you’ll need to be mobile within 30 minutes of receiving a call – so being responsive is a must.

This role includes a company Transit van and a fuel card, both for business use only. You’ll keep the van at your home address when you’re not working, ready to hit the road when needed.

If you're practical, proactive, and passionate about delivering great service while protecting one of life’s essentials this could be the perfect role for you.

About You

The successful candidate will enjoy being outdoors and thrive in a hands-on environment, and doesn’t mind getting stuck in come rain or shine. You’ll to be technically minded, adaptable, and comfortable using mobile technology like smartphones or tablets as part of your daily routine. Engaging with customers comes naturally to you, and you know how to strike the right balance between being professional, helpful, and reassuring.

Once fully trained, you’ll be working solo most of the time, so a strong sense of responsibility and self-drive is key. But don’t worry we’ll make sure you’re fully supported with all the training, guidance, and tools you need to be successful in the role.

If this sounds like your kind of job, being outdoors, solving problems, rising to a challenge, and keeping customers happy – then we’d love to hear from you.

Please note, a full UK driving licence is essential for this role.

Here at Essex and Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work.

Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

Please note this role will require a DBS to be completed prior to employment

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.

About Us

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we’re committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.

We’re aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in the job description, however if you have some of the skills listed, we'd encourage you to apply

NWG At a Glance:

Our purpose at NWG is caring for the essential needs of our communities and environment, now and for generations to come.

We do this by providing reliable and affordable water and wastewater services for our customers.

We make a positive difference by operating efficiently and investing prudently, to maintain a sustainable and resilient business.

Our vision is to be the national leader in the provision of sustainable water and wastewater services.

To support us in achieving our vision, we have five core values which are the guiding principles, defining who we are, what we do and how we do it.

• Generous holiday entitlement starting at 23 days, plus bank holidays and additional time off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. There’s also the option to buy or sell holidays.
• Company pension scheme, where we’ll double match your contributions up to an employer contribution of 10%.
• Free access to local attractions.
• A fantastic discount scheme, with savings on days out, shopping, travel and more.
• Award winning ‘Living Well’ wellbeing support, including access to a digital GP service for you and your family members.
• Support with sustainable travel – through salary sacrifice cars and a cycle to work scheme.
• Financial wellbeing support – access our community savings scheme, financial education and low cost loans through Salary Finance. We also provide 4 x Life Assurance and an Income Protection Scheme.
• Support with your development – we offer a range of development opportunities, can support you through an interest free qualification loan and we’ll even pay for any relevant professional body subscription.

This role has also been defined as a safety or security critical role and as a condition of a formal offer of employment you’ll be required to undergo a drug and alcohol test.

Prospective employees and agency workers in defined safety and security critical roles will be required to undertake a drug and alcohol test after the job offer has been made. This will be prior to or within four weeks of their start date.

Prospective employees and agency workers who fail a pre-employment urine drug screen will have their sample analysed by the Company appointed laboratory as a matter of course. Failing a pre-employment drugs or alcohol test may lead to the job offer being revoked

About Us

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.

We are proud to serve our customers and we're committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.