Head of Water Strategy and Regulation (Senior Associate Director)

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.; Warrington; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Head of Water Strategy and Regulation to lead a dynamic team in delivering assurance and regulatory advice to water companies. This pivotal role involves managing performance, nurturing client relationships, and driving business development. You will play a key role in supporting clients through the upcoming regulatory changes while ensuring high-quality outputs and compliance with industry standards. Join a forward-thinking firm that values safety, integrity, and diversity, and offers a competitive package along with a culture of continuous improvement and community engagement.

Benefits

Free single medical cover

Digital GP service

Enhanced parental leave pay

Employee assistance programs

Professional development reimbursement

Paid volunteering time

Charitable donations matching

Qualifications

• Experience in a regulated industry, preferably water.
• Strong leadership skills with high personal accountability.

Responsibilities

• Manage and lead the Water Strategy and Regulation team’s performance.
• Develop client relationships and ensure team meets regulatory standards.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory Reporting

Strategic Decision-Making

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Relationship Building

Education

Honours Degree in Economics, Engineering, Science or Geography

Job description

Head of Water Strategy and Regulation (Senior Associate Director)

At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.

Your impact

Jacobs is market leading in providing assurance and regulatory advice services to water companies in England and Wales, working with 12 companies across the sector. This is a great opportunity to lead our Water Strategy and Regulation team delivering these services. The team consists of around 30 skilled staff across all grades, bringing together experience across the entire water system including finance, regulation, engineering, water resources and operations. We understand how water companies operate, the challenges they face, the regulatory environment they operate in and the performance data we are reviewing.

We take a partnership approach with our clients, acting as a ‘critical friend’ to review documentation, processes and data to minimise reporting risk and provide Boards with the information they need to make their assurance statements confidently. We cover a broad range of issues across different types of regulatory submissions – including Annual Performance Reports, Charges submissions, Water Resources Management Plans, Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans, Strategic Resource Options submissions and the business plans that companies submit for the Price Review process. Alongside traditional assurance, we support clients with technical advice, developing solutions and building business cases.

Key Duties:

• Your role will be to manage and lead the Water Strategy and Regulation team’s performance, maintain and grow the activity portfolio and play an active role as part of the Jacobs Water Division senior management team.
• You will have a key role in business development, leading bid teams, responsible for nurturing established client relationships, while also growing the client base.
• You will be responsible for ensuring that the Water Strategy and Regulation team achieves its potential, and that it is well-placed to grow and meet future challenges.
• You will have line management responsibility for colleagues at Senior/Associate Director level, and you will guide and support other team members to deliver high quality outputs.
• In addition, you will lead projects covering a diverse range of client activity, providing assurance and advice.
• You will join the team at an exciting time as we move past Ofwat’s 2024 Periodic Review (PR24) Final Determinations to supporting companies with implementation of PR24 across AMP 8. You will play a key role in helping clients to develop robust plans, based on clear evidence.
• Coordinating input from colleagues, and drawing on their expertise, you will make sure that our service meets the high standards we set for ourselves.
• You will be responsible for ensuring the team meet expectations associated with ISO9001 quality management and the ISAE3000 non-financial audit standard, taking into account any potential Conflicts of Interest and meeting Ofwat expectations in reporting quality.
• Consistent with our culture of continuous improvement, you will help to raise the bar – identifying ways to add more value for clients.
• You will also prepare bids for client contracts, using your excellent communication skills to make a clear case for our services.

Here's what you'll need:

• An Honours Degree in economics, engineering, science or geography, or a related discipline.
• Experience of working in a regulated industry – preferably in the water industry – encompassing:
• regulatory reporting and compliance, including producing, advising on and/or interrogating regulatory submissions and assessing the risks associated with them.
• experience and understanding of policy within highly regulated sectors – whether developing policy, or interpreting, implementing and advising on it.
• Experience of strategic decision-making.
• A strong track record in a leadership role. Motivated, enthusiastic and a self-starter with high level of personal accountability.
• Ability to work under pressure and to very tight deadlines.
• Ability to build strong relationships on the basis of mutual trust and respect.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.

Our People

People are Jacobs’ greatest asset, and we offer a competitive package to retain and attract the best talent. In addition to the benefits you’d expect, UK employees also receive free single medical cover and digital GP service, family-friendly benefits such as enhanced parental leave pay and free membership of employee assistance and parental programs, plus reimbursement towards relevant professional development and memberships. We also give back to our communities through our Collectively program which incorporates matched-funding, paid volunteering time and charitable donations.

Our Culture

Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and diversity. We put people at the heart of our business and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees. Find out more about life at Jacobs.

We aim to embed inclusion and diversity in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected, and if we are diverse, we’re more creative. We accept people for who they are, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, mental health, race, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave. This is reflected in our wide range of Global Employee Networks centred on inclusion and diversity – ACE, Careers, Enlace, Harambee, OneWorld, Prism, Women and Vetnet. Find out more about our employee networks here.

Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain diverse talent. For greater online accessibility please visit www.vercida.com to view and access our roles. As a Disability Confident employer, we will interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a vacancy. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.

If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team.

Your application experience is important to us and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. We welcome feedback on our recruitment process and if you need more from us before deciding to join Jacobs then please let us know.