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. 

We are at the source of everyday life. We help the sector build trust and confidence with customers, the environment and wider society: keeping water flowing, bills affordable and helping ensure the health of our rivers and waterways. We push hard to improve day-to-day water company performance for customers, including on leakage, sewer flooding and customer service. We drive the sector to take a longer-term view and to take steps now to protect and enhance the environment, using digital and data innovations and making sure our water supplies are secure for future generations. Through our five-yearly price reviews, we oversee billions of pounds of investment into the water sector across England and Wales.

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 our teams to balance meaningful collaboration in the office with the flexibility of working from home.

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.

You can find out more about Ofwat, our Values and our Framework for Success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack. 

The Casework Team

The Casework team is the “front door” for many of the customers and stakeholders who contact Ofwat with enquiries or complaints about the sector or their water company. Where we have the legal powers to do so, we investigate and resolve customer disputes or water company failures, to ensure that water and wastewater companies meet their legal obligations to their customers, society, and the environment. Our work can range from helping an individual customer resolve a dispute with their water company, to imposing multi-million-pound fines on a water company where it has failed to meet its legal obligations through our enforcement team. We also assess applications from companies wanting to be granted a licence to serve customers in the water sector. 

Job description

Director of Casework Opportunity

You will be one of three Directors responsible for supporting the Senior Director in ensuring the Casework, Enforcement and Customers directorate delivers on Ofwat's strategic priorities of performance and delivery.

This is an exciting role where your focus will be on putting Ofwat's casework on a more connected and strategic footing. You will drive engagement with key internal and external audiences: stakeholders (environmental/consumer), policy and enforcement colleagues.

As part of your role, you will lead the team, alongside policy colleagues, in developing Ofwat's approach to new licence applications and variations, driving efficiencies in process; and leading developments in our approach to case work to deliver effective and efficient processes to achieve the best outcomes for customers, society and the environment.  You will take strong ownership of the work you are responsible for, demonstrating Ofwat’s SAILOR values and ways of working.

Key deliverables:

Reporting to the Senior Director of Casework, Enforcement and Customers, in this role you will be expected to:

• Take ownership of and develop licensing and customer enquiries and disputes projects, and day-to-day delivery workstreams, in close collaboration with the Senior Director and relevant directors, inputting insights from the team's work into wider policy issues and strategic drivers and translating them into deliverables.
• Direct, prioritise, delegate, and monitor the casework and licensing workstreams within the Directorate programme to ensure that work is effectively planned and delivered on time and within budgets, and that risks and issues are highlighted and resolved effectively and efficiently.
• Develop, maintain, and foster high standards of professional competence so that continuous improvement is integrated into programme delivery.
• Ensure decisions made, such as granting of licences and consumer dispute determinations, are robust and well evidenced.
• Engage, collaborate, and build effective relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders, internally and externally, raising the profile of the work, building support and a positive reputation for Ofwat.
• Demonstrate strong, visible leadership, through effective communication tools, stakeholder and role modelling the Ofwat corporate values (SAILOR).
• Set clear and stretching deliverables for the team and manage and coordinate successful outcomes across the team.
• Maintain and evolve an inclusive culture within the organisation where our people are representative of the communities we serve, and everyone is valued, treated fairly, and empowered to thrive. You will also support our people to sustain a work life balance and get the best from hybrid working.

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 1: Experience working in a regulated environment.
• Lead Criterion 2: Experience of leading significant programmes of demand-led work and providing constructive challenge to drive change.
• Ability to understand and apply legal frameworks, including to identify and manage associated risks, and being comfortable making final decisions on behalf of the organisation.
• Expert knowledge and experience in leading teams delivering solutions, driving value and improved outcomes for the business.
• Ability to set stretching and clear work objectives at team and individual levels to deliver measurable improvements in outcomes for customers.
• Experience of working with senior leaders, executive teams, and boards across multiple disciplines, communicating with credibility and clarity.
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills and the ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.
• An inclusive leadership style which inspires, motivates, and promotes collaboration to develop high performing individuals and teams.

Attributes 

• You champion and lead change.
• You build the team.
• You deliver outcomes.
• You promote collaboration.

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for Director 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.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of 30.3% , for this role ranging from £25,800 to £30,300. You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
• 27.5 days 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.

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 and we will be happy to support.

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 17 March 2024
Sifting	W/C 18 March 2024
Informal chats via MS Teams	Thursday 28 March 2024
Panel Interviews in person	Wednesday 10 April 2024

Assessment process

Sift Stage - Blind Sifting

At sift stage we assess your application against key essential skills, experience, and knowledge, listed 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 two lead criteria.

In your personal statement, please tell us about your 'Experience working in a regulated environment and your experience of leading significant programmes of demand-led work and providing constructive challenge to drive change'.

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

Informal chat with Ofwat

As part of the process, if you are selected to attend an interview, we will offer the opportunity to meet Lynn Parker, Senior Director of Casework Enforcement and Customers, for an informal chat via MS Teams, where you can find out more about Ofwat and the role. This step of the process will not be assessed.

Interview Stage

We will assess your Experience, Skills and Knowledge as well as Attributes (set out above) 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.

We operate a transparent interview process which involves candidates receiving a list of attribute-based questions in advance. This has been proven to help neurodiverse candidates and others to perform better at interview and is part of our inclusive culture.

Please note that the interview will be conducted in our London Office at 5th Floor, Westferry House, 11 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14 4HD.

It may be necessary for a second stage interview, which will be communicated to the successful candidates, if required.

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 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.