Options Developer

Anglian Water Services; Norwich; Hybrid; GBP 44,000; Full time

Job summary

A water resource management company is seeking an Options Developer to shape the future of water asset planning. This role involves developing innovative solutions for sustainable water supplies and leading projects from inception to evaluation. As part of the Strategic Asset Planning team, you will drive technical investigations, evaluate options, and ensure stakeholder engagement. The position offers a competitive salary of £44k and includes benefits such as private healthcare and a flexible working environment.

Benefits

Personal private health care

26 days annual leave

Flexible working

Competitive pension scheme

Bonus scheme

Flexible benefits for wellbeing

Qualifications

• Experience in technical planning or operations in water supply.
• Familiarity with cost estimating, risk and value techniques.
• Strong report writing and storytelling skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive technical investigations to assess future water supply needs.
• Create and evaluate options with detailed scopes and cost estimates.
• Lead reporting for the Water Resources Management Plan submission.
• Ensure integration of WRMP options with business planning.
• Provide expert input across water supply initiatives.

Skills

Technical planning

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Project management

Education

Relevant engineering qualification

Job description

Starting salary £44k, salary depending on skills and experience

Permanent, 37 Hours a week

Location: Peterborough, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk

Anglian Water offers a flexible approach, this role provides you with hybrid working. Depending on your location, you could be based anywhere within the region but with regular travel to Peterborough and Huntingdon. There will also be occasional travel to operational sites.

Join Our Team as an Options Developer – Shape the Long-Term Future of Water Asset Planning

Are you ready to make a lasting impact on how we shape and future-proof our water supplies? As an Options Developer, you’ll be tackling some of the biggest challenges facing our region’s water infrastructure. From climate resilience to sustainable growth, you’ll help develop real-world solutions that deliver value for customers, protect the environment, and drive long-term change.

Working within our Strategic Asset Planning team, you will explore and develop a wide range of options, which could range from nature-based solutions to infrastructure such as strategic pipelines and new reservoirs. These new innovative, integrated options will shape the narrative for the Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP29), a 25 year statutory plan that sets our water asset investment strategy from 2030, and our regulatory business plan submission for PR29.

This isn’t just about planning on paper; it’s much more than that. You’ll collaborate across the business, with consultants and stakeholders to bring these supply-side options to life by developing their technical feasibility, costing them, contributing to risk and value sessions, supporting design and delivery, and fielding technical queries from our regulations with confidence. You’ll champion smart, joined-up thinking and push for innovation, ensuring our solutions work in practice, not just in theory.

To do this, we’re looking for someone with solid water supply or planning experience, a knack for leading high-impact projects end-to-end, with an innovative mindset focused on getting it right first time. With plenty of room for innovation and autonomy, this role offers the chance to stretch your skills, lead new thinking, and contribute directly to Anglian Water’s future.

If you’re passionate about using your technical expertise to make a tangible difference and thrive in a role where no two days are the same, this is your opportunity to help shape a smarter, more resilient water future.

Key Accountabilities

• Investigation & Evaluation
  Drive technical investigations to assess current and future needs of water supply systems. Guide innovation through workshops, site inspections, data gathering, and analysis to identify cost-effective, resilient, and customer-focused solutions.

• Options Development
  Create and evaluate options with detailed scopes, cost estimates, risk analysis, and carbon impact assessments. Ensure robust development of multiple options and communicate them clearly across the business.

• Reporting & Stakeholder Engagement
  Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to build consensus on solutions. Lead reporting for the WRMP submission and present strategies to regulators and partners to secure feedback and support.

• Business Plan Integration & Delivery Readiness
  Work cross-functionally to align WRMP options with business planning and asset delivery. Ensure proposed solutions integrate seamlessly into corporate systems such as C55, are operationally viable, and contribute to a strong PR29 submission.

• Technical Support Across Projects
  Provide expert input across other water supply initiatives, including reviewing consultant outputs, writing scopes of work, and supporting stakeholder engagement to ensure high technical standards are maintained.

What We’re Looking For

We’re after a motivated expert with a strong engineering or project management background, ideally with:

• Relevant engineering experience or qualification

• Experience in technical planning or operations in water supply

• Familiarity with cost estimating, risk and value techniques, and business risk analysis

You’ll Also Bring

• Sharp analytical and strategic thinking

• A natural ability to communicate, influence and challenge at all levels

• A collaborative mindset with confidence to drive change and innovation

• Strong report writing and storytelling skills to bring ideas to life

• Independence, initiative, and the want to stretch yourself – and others – to deliver great outcomes

Benefits

• Personal private health care

• 26 days annual leave – rising with length of service

• Flexible working

• Competitive pension scheme – Anglian Water double-matches your contributions up to 6%

• Bonus scheme

• Flexible benefits to support your wellbeing and lifestyle

Closing date: 18 January 2026

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