Network Operative

Affinity Water; Tendring; On-site; GBP 43,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water company in the UK is seeking dedicated Network Operatives to join their team. In this essential role, you will conduct maintenance and repairs to ensure the delivery of clean drinking water. You must possess experience in laying mains and service pipes, and hold relevant qualifications such as NRSWA and NVQ Level 2. The position requires participation in a standby rota and excellent customer service skills. The role offers competitive compensation with various benefits to support staff wellbeing.

Benefits

Annual leave of 23-27 days, increasing with service

Company annual bonus scheme

Double match pension scheme

Family benefits including enhanced leave

Access to wellbeing support

Life Assurance

Qualifications

• Previous experience in laying mains and service pipes is essential.
• Good understanding of health and safety regulations.
• Ability to demonstrate good team working skills.

Responsibilities

• Complete essential maintenance and repairs to the water network.
• Participate in a standby rota for customer call outs.
• Keep customers informed about any work affecting them.

Skills

Experience in laying mains and service pipes

Customer service experience

Team working

Good health & safety understanding

Education

NRSWA Operative Training

NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification

Current Street Works qualification

Job description

We are looking for self‑motivated and customer‑focused individuals to join our team of dedicated Network Operatives in the Affinity Water East supply area.

As a Network Operative, you’ll work as part of a two person team to complete essential maintenance and repairs to the water network, ensuring we can deliver clean, wholesome drinking water to the communities we serve. You’ll carry out all works safely and efficiently, ensuring all legal, regulatory and Health & Safety obligations are met. You’ll also keep customers fully informed of any works that affect them.

The role:

As the service you'll provide is essential to the customer, you'll be comfortable participating in a standby rota to ensure someone's always on call if there's an issue. It's all part of your outstanding service.

What you’ll need:

• Previous experience in laying mains and service pipes is essential
• Completed NRSWA Operative training.
• NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification in Laying Mains and Services, alongside a current Street Works qualification.
• Water industry experience is desirable but not essential as in‑house training programmes are available.
• Good health & safety understanding.
• Ability to demonstrate good team working and ensure the overall morale of the department is maintained
• Excellent customer service experience.
• Full clean/manual - UK driving licence.

If your background is in site‑based construction or labour based roles, you’ll have great transferable skills and can learn ‘on the job’ via our experienced Network teams.

This role requires participation in a 1 in 5 stand‑by rotation

Interview Process:

Closing date: 30/01/2026

Shortlisting for this role will commence after the closing date.

You will receive notification from the Talent Acquisition Partner managing this campaign on whether you have been successful or unsuccessful via email.

If you do have questions or would like more information on this role, please email the Talent Acquisition Partner managing the campaign.

Benefits:

Salary: £31,621 + Flex Allowance - £3,848 (Dependent on skills & experience)

Stand‑by: 1 in 5 = £6,611 (Separate payment on top of salary)

Total: £42,080

• Learning and development opportunities, including mentoring and a range of formal courses and open learning resources.
• Entry into the company annual bonus scheme.
• Annual leave from 23-27 rising with length of service, and the option to purchase up to 5 extra days.
• A ‘Celebration Day’ in addition to public holidays that people can use to celebrate a religious festival or other occasion that is important to them.
• A generous 'double match pension scheme' that doubles the contributions you make (company contribution capped at 12%)
• We offer a range of family benefits including enhanced Maternity, Adoption, Paternity, Shared Parental Leave, Fertility Support Leave and up to 5 full or 10 half days of paid Carers Leave.
• Menopause policy and Reasonable Adjustment policy to help everyone perform at their best.
• Access to our Wellbeing Centre with support for looking after your physical and mental health.
• Discounts at a Range of Retail Outlets and on Dental and Medical Insurance through our Tap4Perks scheme.
• Up to 4 Affinity days a year to volunteer in the community.
• Life Assurance.

Disability Confident

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to offering interviews to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria and opt in on the application form. Ask the Talent Acquisition lead for the full job description to see all the criteria. If we have a very high volume of applicants and we’re not able to offer interviews to all, we’ll take a fair and proportionate number of disabled candidates through.

Affinity Water recognises the benefits of greater diversity in our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. We are committed to building a more inclusive culture where every member of our workforce can thrive.

You can find out what it’s like to work at Affinity Water through our career site https://www.affinitywatercareers.co.uk/ where our colleagues share their career development stories and you can get a feel for our company culture.