Quality & Envr System Specialist

Thames Water Utilites; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Thames Water is seeking a Quality & Environmental System Specialist to develop and maintain Environmental Management System standards and documentation. This hybrid role requires strong collaboration skills and a good understanding of environmental legislation to ensure compliance and effective operational processes.

Benefits

26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with length of service

Generous Pension Scheme through AON

Access to health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in implementing procedures in operational settings.
• Hands-on experience with Environmental and/or Quality Management Systems.
• Strong understanding of environmental legislation and permits.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain Environmental Management System standards.
• Collaborate with SMEs to ensure new standards are accurate.
• Support implementation of actions from external audits.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Influencing

Communication

Relationship building

Education

Qualification in environmental or science-related discipline

Tools

Microsoft 365

Job description

This role will be at the forefront of developing and maintaining standards and procedures related to our Environmental Management System (EMS) and MCERTS Quality Management System (QMS). You will work closely with subject matter experts across the business to ensure the requirements of environmental legislation and permits are reflected in our standards. You will also need to work with operational teams to ensure these requirements are successfully implemented and reported on.

What you’ll be doing as a Quality & Envr System Specialist

This is a vital role in ensuring the requirements of our management systems are met and that compliance risk is identified and acted upon. The key to your success will come from your ability to work closely with a variety of teams across the business and implement our standards. You will undertake a key technical role, so strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, knowledge of operational processes and environmental legislation will be fundamental to your success.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take ownership of the development and ongoing maintenance of Environmental Management System (EMS) standards, identifying gaps related to water discharges, air emissions, and permitted waste activities.
• Serve as the technical author for EMS documentation, including standards, procedures, and forms.
• Collaborate with a wide range of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to ensure that new standards are accurate, comprehensive, and reflect best practices.
• Work closely with Operational Teams to ensure all standards are practical, field-ready, and clearly understood.
• Partner with the Quality Management System Specialist to identify and implement enhancements to procedures and processes within the MCERTS Quality System.
• Develop clear and accessible training materials for EMS standards, in collaboration with the Learning & Development team, ensuring all requirements are well understood across the business.
• Support the Quality Management System Specialist in monitoring the progress of annual MCERTS maintenance programmes, ensuring timely action on any non-conformances.
• Assist in tracking and reporting improvements in flow data quality.
• Support the implementation and follow-up of actions resulting from external audits of the MCERTS management system.

Base location: This is a hybrid role, and the base location will be at one of our sites, depending on the location of the successful candidate.

Working pattern or hours: 36 hours, Mon-Fri

What you should bring to the role

• Proven experience in implementing new procedures and processes within an operational environment
• Hands-on experience working within Environmental and/or Quality Management Systems
• Strong ability to build effective and collaborative working relationships across departments
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to engage stakeholders at all levels
• Strong understanding of environmental legislation and environmental permits, with the ability to translate these into practical operational procedures
• Skilled in drafting technical documents, procedures, and guidance in a clear, concise, and accessible format
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 applications (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Teams)
• A qualification in an environmental or science-related discipline (e.g., Environmental Science, Chemistry, Biology)
• Experience working with or supporting front-line operational teams (ideally within Sewage Treatment Works or Pumping Stations)
• Experience in developing Power BI dashboards and Microsoft Forms for process tracking or reporting is desirable
• Familiarity with ISO-certified management systems (e.g., ISO 14001, ISO 9001) is desirable.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary of up to £55,000 per annum depending on experience
• Annual Leave: 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• 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

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Whether you’re interested in a role in one of our call centres or science labs, we’re looking for people like you with real passion and a burning desire to make things better.

So, if you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Our aim is to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.