Laboratory Sampler

Anglian Water; Colchester; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 33,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water utilities company in Colchester is looking for a dedicated professional in their Essential Sampling Team. You will be responsible for ensuring compliance with water quality regulations through extensive sampling across various sites. The role requires a full UK manual driving license, experience in following safety procedures, and a customer-focused attitude. Enjoy benefits like a competitive pension scheme, private healthcare, flexible benefits, and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Private healthcare

Annual bonus

Community volunteering opportunities

25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays

Life cover up to 8x salary

Flexible benefits

Paid time off for illness

Free parking

Family-friendly policies

Qualifications

• Full, valid UK manual driving licence required.
• Experience in safe working systems and following procedures is essential.
• Confidence in approaching customers for water samples is needed.

Responsibilities

• Maintain compliance with water quality regulations through sampling.
• Travel extensively between various sites for sampling.
• Prepare sampling bottles and gather samples for analysis.

Skills

Manual driving license

Understanding of occupational driving

Ability to meet deadlines

Customer-focused attitude

Basic IT tools knowledge

Ability for manual lifting

Education

Scientific A-Level

Tools

Word

Excel

Outlook

Job description

Starting Salary: £28,000 per annum
Full‑time / Permanent / 6:30 – 14:30
Location: Colchester / Braintree

Join our Essential Sampling Team!

Every drop of drinking water undergoes rigorous cleaning, disinfection, and testing before it reaches our customers. After use, it flows through our sewers, is treated at our recycling works, and is then returned to nature. To ensure the safety and quality of our water and to protect the environment from pollutants, our dedicated sampling team of 120 experts works relentlessly, collecting thousands of samples each year from water treatment facilities, recycling centres, reservoirs, rivers, boreholes, and customer properties across the region.

What You’ll Be Doing

In this vital role, you’ll help Anglian Water maintain compliance with water quality regulations by following a sampling program set by our regulators. You’ll also handle additional investigative sampling as needed.

Traveling extensively between various sites, you’ll be working independently to prepare sampling bottles, gather samples, and safely transport them to our laboratories, where your contributions are essential to the analysis process. No two days are the same – your route, sampling points, and the skills required will vary, and you’ll be working in all kinds of weather.

As the face of Anglian Water at customer properties and trade sites, you’ll be expected to act professionally and answer any questions about the sampling process. At work and environmental sites, you’ll play a key role in maintaining health, safety, and operational procedures.

Of course, all of this requires strict adherence to Health & Safety guidelines, our lone working policy, and the quality standards set out in our Water Quality Sampling procedures and ISO17025 accreditation.

For a personal insight into the role, click here to hear from Neal, one of our dedicated Samplers.

What We Need From You

• A full, valid UK manual driving licence and a clear understanding of the challenges of occupational driving
• Experience in following procedures, safe working systems, and risk assessments
• Ability to meet deadlines without compromising safety or quality
• A customer‑focused attitude with enthusiasm for delivering great service
• Confidence to approach customers unannounced for water samples
• Basic knowledge of IT tools like Word, Excel, and Outlook, with a willingness to learn new systems
• Availability for a standby rota, including evening and weekend sampling
• Comfortable with manual lifting up to and including 25kg

While a scientific A‑Level is desirable, it’s not essential, so please apply even if you don’t have one.

Why Join Us

In return for your dedication, we offer a dynamic and important role with a high level of autonomy, giving you the chance to explore the scenic beauty of the Anglian region – come rain or shine.

As a valued member of our team, you’ll enjoy

• A competitive pension scheme where we double‑match your contributions up to 6%
• Private healthcare for your peace of mind
• An annual bonus scheme
• The opportunity to volunteer in your local community
• 25 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays), increasing with service, with the option to swap Christmas and Easter for religious holidays
• Life cover (8× your salary) and personal accident cover (up to 5× your salary)
• Flexible benefits to support your well‑being and lifestyle
• Paid time off for illness, both physical and mental
• Free parking at all office locations, sites, and leisure parks
• Excellent family‑friendly policies, including 26 weeks of full pay for maternity/adoption leave and 4 weeks of paternity/partner pay, with the opportunity for shared parental leave

We are committed to fostering learning and development, ensuring that our employees have the skills and knowledge they need to thrive and reach their full potential.

If you are successful, you’ll undergo the usual employment checks, including verification of your right to work in the UK, references, driving licence, and identity. Some roles may require additional checks.

Closing date: 17th December

Interviews: 22nd/23rd December