Senior Associate Water Supply Technical Specialist

Ofwat; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension contributions

25 days annual leave

Volunteer days

Hybrid/office working flexibility

Job summary

Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, is seeking a Senior Associate Water Supply Technical Specialist to join the Water Quality, Resilience and Security sub-team within the RAPID and Environmental Planning Directorate. You will work on water supply issues from source to tap, collaborating with agencies and regulators.

The role suits someone with engineering, water, or environmental science background, keen to influence price controls and performance in England and Wales through

Qualifications

• Degree in engineering, science or similar technical field or equivalent experience.
• Numerate with strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience building and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to work autonomously, manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, able to explain complex concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Assess Company Delivery Plans, Price Control Deliverables and APR data to oversee company performance.
• Engage with water companies through large scheme processes, understanding risks to support timely, cost-effective delivery.
• Review cost change process submissions, develop benchmarking models and review proposals.
• Contribute to development of the next price review framework and respond to queries on costing options.

Skills

Water sector engineering

Analytical skills

Stakeholder engagement

Autonomous working

Communication skills

Education

Engineering degree

Job description

Join Ofwat’s Water Supply Team as a Senior Associate Water Supply Technical Specialist

* Office Location: Birmingham (B5 4UA) or London (E14 4HD) with hybrid working*

About Us

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non‑ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. The government has set out a bold new direction, bringing together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. We are collaborating with fellow regulators to respond to recommendations in The Independent Water Commission Report, the Welsh Government’s response to the Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Water Governance in Wales, and the Government’s White Paper, A new vision for water.

Ofwat is working with the government and other regulators to help create a new body for England, bringing together our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. We are also continuing to work with the Welsh Government to support decisions on the future arrangements for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Associate Water Supply Technical Specialist to join our Water Quality, Resilience and Security sub‑team, part of the Water Supply team within the RAPID and Environmental Planning Directorate. The team works closely with the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), Defra, Environment Agency (EA), and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on water supply issues from source to tap, while also collaborating with colleagues from the Price Review Directorate.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a background in engineering, water or environmental science, or operational/asset management, looking to work within a regulatory environment.

You will have the opportunity to work across several key areas, which may include:

• Assessing Company Delivery Plans, Price Control Deliverables (PCDs) and Annual Performance Review (APR) data to provide effective oversight of company performance.
• Engaging directly with water companies through the large scheme process, understanding uncertainty, risks and issues to support the cost‑effective delivery of schemes to time and budget.
• Assessing information submitted as part of the cost change process. This may involve the development of benchmarking models and undertaking detailed reviews of company proposals.
• Inputting into the development of the next price review framework and answering ad‑hoc queries on the costing of different options relating to water quality and treatment, resilience and/or security.

The successful candidate may come from a variety of professional backgrounds and is likely to have experience in water supply process management, design, or delivery, water resilience scheme investment planning, design or delivery (e.g. network reinforcement, interconnectivity and water treatment works investment), or water production operations. This can also include experience in water company emergency planning, physical and cyber security activities, and investment planning.

About You

Below are some of the key essential experience, skills & knowledge required for this post:

• Relevant experience within water sector engineering, capital or environmental programmes, asset/operational management and/or business planning, applying technical expertise to deliver projects, assessments, operational activities and/or business outcomes.
• Degree level qualification in engineering, science, or similar technical specialism/discipline or sufficient relevant experience.
• Numerate with analytical and problem‑solving skills, including experience of analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence‑based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.
• Demonstrable experience of working autonomously, managing competing priorities and exercising judgement to define and deliver work to agreed deadlines, while collaborating effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Good communication (oral and written) skills, including the ability to communicate complex concepts to technical and non‑technical audiences.

Why You Should Join Us

• People Centric: Our people are at the heart of Ofwat and everything we do - we ensure all voices are heard and treat each other with respect; you'll be given the autonomy and the support to do your role in the best way.
• Innovative Work Environment: We embrace agile and new ways of working and have a culture build on trust, flexibility, and collaboration.
• Development Opportunities: Gain valuable experience and develop your skills in a supportive and dynamic setting.
• Work-Life Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of working from home combined with the benefits of in person collaboration in our Birmingham and London offices.
• Excellent employer pension contributions.
• 25 days’ annual leave, increasing to 30 with each year of service, plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave.
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay supporting your family life.

Closing date

23.55 on 22 November 2026

Ofwat is recognised as an Official Sensitive department and a Security Check (SC) is a requirement for this role. Applicants are normally expected to have been resident in the UK for the last five years to meet the standard residency requirements for SC clearance. Successful candidates must obtain SC clearance to a standard satisfactory to Ofwat within the first six months of employment.