Regional Control Centre Leader - Water Recycling

Anglian Water Services; Lincoln; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days annual leave

Flexible working

Private health care

Pension 7% double-match

Life assurance

Annual bonus up to 15%

Medical assessments

Virtual GP

Cancer screening

Wellbeing support

Lifestyle discounts

EAP

Volunteer days

Job summary

Anglian Water Services seeks a Regional Operational Control Centre Leader (Water Recycling) to provide strategic and operational leadership for the 24/7 Control Centre, ensuring incidents are managed safely and with clear accountability.

You will oversee Water Recycling events affecting over 1.6 million customers, deputise for the Head of Operational Services Control Centre, and collaborate with regulators, resilience teams and partners to improve response, recovery and prevention.

Qualifications

• Leadership experience in a complex, operationally critical environment.
• Proven track record in incident and risk management.
• Experience with regulatory compliance and governance frameworks.
• Strategic thinking with strong planning and prioritisation.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the 24/7 Water Recycling Control Centre team.
• Act as senior escalation point for high risk operational events.
• Maintain end-to-end ownership of incidents from identification to recovery.
• Provide leadership during high-pressure situations and ensure regulatory reporting.
• Build strong relationships with regulators, partners and senior leaders.
• Develop performance measures and drive continuous improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Incident management

Regulatory compliance

Strategic thinking

Communication

Risk assessment

Change management

Education

Degree-level qualification

ILM Level 5 Diploma

Postgraduate/Masters

Job description

Circa £90,000 - £95,000 (Depending on Skills & Experience) + Bonus

Permanent / Full Time / 37 Hours (Flexible Working opportunities can be discussed)

Lincoln

Double Matched Pension Scheme (up to 21% combined)

Private Healthcare

Make every drop of your potential count!

We're looking for a Regional Operational Control Centre Leader (Water Recycling) to provide strategic and operational leadership to Anglian Water's 24/7 Control Centre, ensuring operational events and incidents are managed safely, effectively and with clear accountability.

The Control Centre plays a critical role in protecting customers, communities and the environment. This role oversees Water Recycling operational events and incidents affecting services for more than 1.6 million domestic and retail customers, providing senior escalation for pollution, health and safety, serviceability and other heightened business risks.

Reporting to the Head of Operational Services Control Centre, you'll lead a rotating 24-hour team of operational response specialists, take end-to-end ownership of significant events, and work with senior operational leaders, resilience teams, regulators and delivery partners to improve response, recovery and future prevention. You'll also deputise for the Head of Operational Services Control Centre when required and represent the function in senior governance forums.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead, manage and develop the 24/7 Water Recycling Control Centre team, creating a culture of accountability, empowerment and continuous learning

• Act as the senior escalation point for operational events and incidents that present heightened customer, environmental, safety or regulatory risk

• Maintain end-to-end ownership of incidents, ensuring responses are timely, coordinated and effective from identification through recovery

• Provide clear leadership and risk-based decision-making during dynamic and high-pressure operational situations

• Ensure full compliance across alarm monitoring, pollution response, event management and regulatory reporting

• Lead tactical pollution performance and escalation, ensuring accurate and timely reporting to relevant regulators and stakeholders

• Develop insight and trend reporting that highlights emerging and heightened risk across Water Recycling operations

• Move the Control Centre towards proactive intervention through predictive analysis, strong playbooks and pre-emptive resource planning

• Work with operational resilience, performance and planning teams to strengthen processes and improve customer and environmental outcomes

• Lead post-event investigations and ensure learning, root causes and improvement actions are embedded across the business

• Develop long-term resourcing, competence and succession plans, including Licence to Operate and professional development pathways

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, operational teams, alliance partners, regulators and emergency response stakeholders

• Develop and monitor performance measures covering team competence, compliance, incident response and service outcomes

• Champion health, safety and wellbeing in every operational decision and throughout the team culture

What we're looking for

• Degree-level qualification, professional membership or equivalent relevant experience

• A recognised business or leadership qualification, such as an ILM Level 5 Diploma, together with relevant management or training capability

• Demonstrable success leading and developing teams in a complex, operationally critical environment

• Experience leading teams through organisational, cultural or operational transformation

• Strong incident and event management capability, with confidence making significant decisions under pressure

• Experience within the water industry or another highly regulated, operationally intensive environment

• Strong understanding of environmental, community and customer considerations linked to water recycling operations

• Proven ability to engage, influence and constructively challenge senior leaders, external partners and regulators

• Strategic thinking combined with excellent planning, prioritisation and organisational skills

• Ability to interpret operational information and use analysis to drive continuous improvement and proactive risk management

• Strong emotional intelligence, resilience and communication skills, with the ability to create trust and psychological safety

• Commitment to inclusive leadership, talent development, succession planning and building a diverse workforce

Desirable:

• Postgraduate or Masters-level qualification in a relevant field

• Budget management experience

• Experience working directly with environmental regulators, local resilience forums or multi-agency incident response partners

• Experience developing predictive operational insight, event playbooks or control centre capability

Why join Anglian Water?

At Anglian Water, the Operational Control Centre is central to how we understand risk, coordinate response and protect customers and the environment around the clock.

In this role, you'll lead a business-critical function with significant influence over pollution performance, customer service, asset serviceability and regulatory compliance. Your decisions and leadership will shape how effectively the organisation responds to operational events and how well it learns and improves afterwards.

You'll have the opportunity to develop a high-performing 24/7 team, move operational control from reactive response towards predictive intervention, and work with senior leaders and external partners on some of the most important operational challenges facing the business.

Benefits

• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays (increasing with length of service)

• Flexible working options

• Private health care

• Competitive pension scheme - Anglian Water double-matches contributions up to 7%

• Life assurance at eight times your salary

• Annual bonus – up to 15%

• Personal medical assessments

• Virtual GP service

• Cancer screening

• Financial wellbeing support and salary finance benefits

• Lifestyle savings including discounts on retail, travel and utilities

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Volunteer days

Inclusion at Anglian Water

We're committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels they belong. We are proud signatories of the Social Mobility Pledge, Race at Work Charter and Armed Forces Covenant, and we're a Disability Confident employer.

Closing Date: 25th October 2026

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