Head of Portfolio - Revenue and Debt ( 13-month maternity contract)

Thames Water Utilities; England; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 107,000; Full time

Job summary

Thames Water Utilities is seeking a Head of Portfolio – Revenue and Debt for a key leadership role. This position is critical in managing the household debt portfolio and ensuring financial strength through effective debt recovery and proactive risk management. The successful candidate will lead strategic initiatives to enhance revenue performance while driving operational excellence.

Benefits

26 days annual leave, rising to 30 with service

Car allowance

Annual bonus scheme

Private medical insurance

Generous contributory pension

Personal medical assessments

Access to wide range of employee benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in portfolio and performance management.
• Strong background in delivering change in regulated environments.
• Visionary leadership with a transformational edge.

Responsibilities

• Design and deliver a strategic framework for debt recovery.
• Drive improvements in collections performance.
• Lead forecasting and tariff-setting processes.

Skills

Portfolio Management

Performance Management

Change Management

Problem-solving

Data Analysis

Tools

SQL

SAS

Job description

Are you ready to lead the charge in transforming customer portfolio performance?

We’re seeking a strategic and inspirational leader to step into a 13-month maternity cover role as Head of Portfolio – Revenue and Debt. Join Thames Water and play a pivotal role in shaping our revenue, billing, cash and debt operations—ensuring financial strength through exceptional planning, forecasting, and debt performance management.

Start date: Early August 2025

What you’ll be doing as a Head of Portfolio – Revenue and Debt

This is a critical leadership role within our business, fundamental to the successful monitoring and performance of Thames Water’s Household debt portfolio. As Head of Portfolio – Revenue and Debt, you will be responsible for designing and delivering the strategic framework that ensures both effective debt recovery and proactive risk management across our customer base.

Equally important, you’ll lead our forecasting and tariff-setting processes, ensuring accurate and insight-driven contributions to our overall financial planning and budgeting. Your work will directly influence the financial health of Thames Water and the value we deliver to customers and stakeholders alike.

Working closely with turnaround, income, and billing operations teams, you’ll drive improvements in collections performance, enhance credit strategies, and optimise revenue delivery. This role is pivotal to helping Thames Water achieve and maintain top-quartile debt performance, while keeping customer outcomes at the heart of everything we do.

We are keen to start the recruitment process as soon as possible to allow for a 30-day handover with the current role-holder.

Location: Swindon / Hybrid
Hours: 36 hours per week
Contract Type: Maternity cover – Secondment (internal) or FTC (external)

What you should bring to the role

Content/Technical

• Proven experience in portfolio and performance management
• A strong background in delivering change in complex, regulated environments
• Experience with sustainable initiatives that elevate customer experience
• Confidence in building reporting frameworks and using data to inform action
• Excellent problem-solving and planning skills
• SQL/SAS experience is advantageous

Business/Operational

• A commercially focused mindset, with a track record of reducing bad debt and improving revenue performance

Leadership and Management

• Visionary leadership with a transformational edge
• Ability to inspire and manage high-performing, cross-functional teams
• Excellent communicator and trusted stakeholder relationship builder
• Proven experience in managing third-party contracts and partnerships
• Delivery-focused—able to drive outcomes personally and through others

Commercial Acumen

• Skilled in managing OPEX and CAPEX budgets
• Experience in full P&L responsibility and financial governance

What’s in it for you?

This is a fantastic opportunity to lead a mission-critical function at Thames Water—contributing to long-term financial health and service excellence, all while gaining exposure to senior stakeholders and complex strategic challenges.

• Salary Banding: £70,960 to £106,440 per annum
• 26 days annual leave, rising to 30 with service (plus bank holidays)
• Car allowance
• Annual bonus scheme
• Private medical insurance
• Generous contributory pension – up to 12% with company match
• Personal medical assessments
• Access to a wide range of employee benefits, including our benefits hub packed with discounts, wellbeing tools, and more

Find out more about our benefits and perks

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 fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Whether you’re interested in a role in one of our call centres or science labs, we’re looking for people like you with real passion and a burning desire to make things better.

So, 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.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Our aim is to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, 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.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

In Short

• Industry Engineering & Manufacture
• Founded 1989
• Location London & Thames Valley
• Company size 5000+

About Us

We are the UK’s biggest water and sewerage company with around 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley. You would be joining a company with an amazing history and an exciting future.

We provide clean and take away waste water for almost 25 per cent of the UK population every day – that’s more than 11,000 Olympic size swimming pools worth of clean water and 16,000 pools of waste.

Building our skills

A skilled workforce supported by a strong education and skills system will drive social mobility. It will also promote inclusion and provide good work for all.

We want to contribute to the creation of a fair society and tackle the digital skill shortage and in-work poverty. We'll ensure our people get the right investment in skills to have successful and sustainable careers.

Respecting and valuing everyone

Our ongoing commitment to a great, inclusive workplace enables us to attract and retain diverse talent representative of our communities. Our people help us to deliver life’s essential service so that our customers, communities and the environment can thrive.

We’re proud to be the first water company ever to be awardedDisability ConfidentLeader status.

In the most recentStonewallworkplace equality (LGBT+) index we were listed as a Top 100 Employer and a Gold award winner. Our employee Pride network was awarded Highly Commended Employee Network Group status for our work on creating an inclusive and safe environment for our LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Our Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships play a key role in our success in delivering life's essential service to our customers, and we have a great track record in taking apprentices on and helping them develop their careers.

The learning curve will be challenging, exciting, and rewarding – and you’ll be earning at the same time.