Principal Process Engineer Water

Thames Water Ltd; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 81,000 - 99,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary up to £90,000 per year

Generous pension scheme

Private medical health care

Cycle to work scheme

Wellbeing programs

Job summary

Thames Water Ltd. is seeking a Principal Process Engineer to lead design and technical assurance across diverse water treatment projects. The role focuses on delivering complex solutions while guiding operational teams and project delivery programs.

You will mentor engineers, ensure regulatory compliance, and act as a key technical authority through lifecycle stages to commissioning. A Chartered Engineer or progressing towards chartership is expected.

Qualifications

• Significant process engineering experience within the water sector.
• Proven track record of leading complex engineering projects and providing technical leadership.
• Experience managing, mentoring and developing engineering teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Chartered Engineer status, or clear progression towards chartership.

Responsibilities

• Leading the design and technical assurance of complex water engineering schemes.
• Providing expert process engineering support to operational teams and project delivery programmes.
• Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, industry standards, and Thames Water asset standards.
• Acting as a key technical authority, approving designs and providing assurance throughout project lifecycles through to commissioning and handover.
• Mentoring and developing a team of engineers, creating a high-performing and collaborative engineering culture.
• Managing and reviewing engineering design partner outputs to ensure technical excellence and value.
• Supporting complex incident investigations and driving process improvements and corrective actions.
• Influencing and continuously improving technical standards, best practices and engineering guidance.
• Working with multi-disciplinary teams to develop innovative, sustainable and resilient engineering solutions.
• Supporting the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies that will help transform our business and customer outcomes.

Skills

Process engineering

Water treatment

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Stakeholder management

Regulatory awareness

Education

Process Engineering degree

Chartered Engineer status

Job description

Make a Difference as a Principal Process Engineer.

Are you an experienced Water Process Engineer looking for an opportunity to shape the future of the UK water industry? At Thames Water, you'll play a pivotal role in delivering our ambitious AMP8 programme and beyond, helping to solve some of the most complex engineering challenges across water treatment. This is your chance to influence major investment projects, champion innovation, and be part of a team that makes a real impact on the environment and the communities we serve.

What you'll be doing as a Principal Process Engineer

As a technical leader within our Process Engineering team, you'll provide specialist expertise and strategic direction across a diverse portfolio of water treatment projects and operational challenges. Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading the design and technical assurance of complex water engineering schemes.
• Providing expert process engineering support to operational teams and project delivery programmes.
• Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, industry standards, and Thames Water asset standards.
• Acting as a key technical authority, approving designs and providing assurance throughout project lifecycles through to commissioning and handover.
• Mentoring and developing a team of engineers, creating a high-performing and collaborative engineering culture.
• Managing and reviewing engineering design partner outputs to ensure technical excellence and value.
• Supporting complex incident investigations and driving process improvements and corrective actions.
• Influencing and continuously improving technical standards, best practices and engineering guidance.
• Working with multi-disciplinary teams to develop innovative, sustainable and resilient engineering solutions.
• Supporting the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies that will help transform our business and customer outcomes.

Base location: Hybrid working with time split between home and our Reading office at Clearwater Court (RG1 8DB).

Working pattern: 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

What you should bring to the role

We’re looking for a subject matter expert with significant water treatment design experience.

You'll ideally bring:

• Significant process engineering experience within the water sector.
• A strong track record of leading complex engineering projects and providing technical leadership.
• Experience managing, mentoring and developing engineering teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• A collaborative approach and commitment to fostering an inclusive and diverse engineering environment.
• A degree in Process Engineering (or equivalent) and Chartered Engineer status, or clear progression towards chartership.
• An understanding of commercial and contractual considerations within project delivery environments.
• Strong knowledge of engineering design, constructability, commissioning, operability, maintainability and asset lifecycle management.

What's in it for you?

This is an opportunity to join a business investing billions in its assets, people and communities, where you'll have the platform to influence major strategic programmes and help shape the future of water infrastructure.

• Salary of up to £90,000 per annum dependant on experience.
• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Private Medical Health Care.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks (Please note different T&Cs apply if on secondment)