About the job

Job summary

We’re Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority – a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales. 

As the economic regulator of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales, our role is to enable, incentivise and hold companies to account for providing the very best for customers, communities and the environment now and in the future. We also oversee the markets in the water sector to ensure they’re working for customers.   

We are looking for an Asset Management and Operational Resilience Specialist to join our Asset Management and Operational Resilience team. The team lead on driving greater maturity in asset management and operational resilience across the water sector, to achieve the best outcomes for customers, society, and the environment. Our ambition is to create the conditions for an operationally resilient sector.

A key aspect of the team's work is influencing the sector to improve its asset management capability and understanding of Operational Resilience. Previous key publications in this area include our Asset Management Maturity Assessment and Operational Resilience Discussion Paper.

Job description

You will support the development of Ofwat's approach to regulating operational resilience and challenge companies to improve. The position will also involve working within a growing team and will be supported by a matrix of technical, data and analytical expertise across Ofwat.

Experience of working within the Water sector is desirable, however, we will consider applications from a variety of utility sector backgrounds (e.g. water, energy, telecoms) in fields such as;, operations, asset management, investment planning, capital delivery, engineering etc).

You will work closely with colleagues within the directorate, across Ofwat and the wider industry. You will be comfortable adapting to different working styles, working collaboratively across different teams, organisations and disciplines. Building trusted and collaborative relationships, will be essential to success. 

Key deliverables

Reporting to the Director of Asset Management and Operational Resilience, in this role you will:

• Shape Ofwat future policy on how to drive better asset management and operational resilience decisions and assessment through the regulatory framework.
• Work with the water sector to improve its Asset Management capability and understanding of Operational Resilience
• Support the development of the integrated monitoring framework for operational resilience to include the development of a comprehensive suite of leading and lagging asset health performance measures, measures of systems resilience, service performance outcomes and organisational capability measures.
• Provide coaching and support to colleagues, proactively sharing skills and knowledge and contribute to the continuous improvement of Asset Management and Operational Resilience principles within the organisation.
• Provide operational and asset management thought leadership and tailored support across Ofwat’s work including enforcement, PR24 and RAPID/Major Projects.
• Encourage the sector to innovate, collaborate and promote good practice in asset management (including use of digitisation and leading technology enablers) and highlighting challenges.
• Promote cross regulator intelligence sharing to combine efforts on customer, environmental and social outcomes requirements underpinning water and waste-water systems resilience.
• Lead, deliver and manage, complex, stakeholder interactions to ensure opportunities for internal and external collaboration are fully utilised.
• Develop your skills through continued learning and development within the Water Engineering Science and Technology (WEST) profession and within the wider directorate you work in.

Ofwat is an agile working environment, so you can expect opportunities to support other directorates and to move around the organisation as required.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need the below essential attributes, experience, skills and knowledge:

Experience, skills and knowledge 

• Lead criterion: Expert knowledge and experience delivering asset management solutions, operation and maintenance of assets, driving value and improved outcomes in a regulated utility environment.
• Experience in delivering asset management best practice and leading organisations through advanced asset management capability development including integration of asset data and digital technologies.
• Experience of working within the utility sector (e.g. water, energy, telecoms) in fields such as, operations, asset management, investment planning, capital delivery, engineering etc).
• Excellent project management skills, experience of leading significant programmes of work fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment and providing constructive challenge to drive change.
• Ability to work with senior internal and external stakeholders across multiple disciplines, communicating with credibility and clarity.
• Skilled at communicating complex concepts and information clearly and to multi-disciplinary stakeholders.
• Degree level qualification or industry accreditation (such as Institute of Asset Management (IAM) Certificate/Diploma), or equivalent knowledge / experience in a relevant field including but not limited to Asset Management, Engineering, or Operations Management.

Attributes 

• You are a champion and leader of change
• You deliver outcomes
• You are an adaptable thinker
• You promote collaboration

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for Principal Band. You can read more about Attributes here.

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us: 

We are forward-thinking, creative, innovative and ambitious. We actively encourage autonomy, collaboration and innovation and we have a unique culture fostered by trust, flexibility and respect.

With us, your work matters, your voice is heard, and your impact is felt. Ours is a culture of trust, flexibility, autonomy, collaboration, and innovation. We all want positive change for water customers, the environment, and the future of water.

But for us, change is more than what happens on the outside – we’ve always pushed boundaries internally, too. From becoming the first Civil Service organisation to achieve ‘Smarter Working’ status, to gaining our prestigious ‘Smarter Working Maturity’ award, we’ve consistently demonstrated our commitment to embracing innovative ways of working. We know our people do their best work when given freedom over where, when, and how they work. Which is why we trust them to do exactly that.    

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of 28.97% (for this role around £15,900 - £23,100 per annum.
• 27.5 days leave (25 days annual leave + 2.5 days privilege leave) increasing to max 32.5 days with each year of service), plus bank holidays
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail 
  outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an online application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk. 

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date: 23:55 on 30 April 24
• Sifting: 1-3 May 24
• Interview date(s): WC 13 May 24

Assessment process

Sift Stage

At sift stage we assess your application against key essential skills, experience, and knowledge, listed in the professional requirements section above. 

In your application, please state clearly how your skills, experience, and knowledge meet the essential criteria.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the following lead criterion:

• Expert knowledge and experience delivering asset management solutions, operation and maintenance of assets, driving value and improved outcomes in a regulated utility environment 

In your personal statement, please tell us how your skills and experience meet the lead criterion, with examples if appropriate. 

You may find the STAR method useful in structuring your personal statement. 

Interview Stage

We will assess your Experience, Skills and Knowledge as well as Attributes (set out in the professional requirements section) at Interview Stage.

You can read more about Attributes in Ofwat’s Framework for Success.

As part of the interview process, we may require a short presentation. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates upon invitation to interview.

Please note that the interviews will be conducted via video conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.

Please read the attached "Candidate Information Pack" for details on terms and conditions.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.