About the job

Job summary

We have a new and exciting opportunity for a Stakeholder Engagement and Communications expert to join us!

Ofwat (the Water Services Regulation Authority) is 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. 

Job description

You will work with the engagement team and other teams across Ofwat to identify key stakeholders, set the approach for stakeholder engagement, and build on new and existing relationships to enhance Ofwat’s reputation. You will be working with senior leaders (the Ofwat board, Chair, CEO as well as senior leadership team) advising them on stakeholder’s insight, approach and delivery of engagement.

As part of this role, you will engage with a wide audience of external stakeholders such as Government, NGOs, water companies, consumer groups, charities, environmental activists. You will need to set up key engagement channels such as conferences, regional visits, speaking engagements, etc.

This is a newly created role and you will have the unique opportunity to be part of a programme of work to improve the environment and consumer experience of the water sector!

Key deliverables

As Ofwat’s Head of Head of Stakeholder Engagement and Communications you will be the focal point for developing Ofwat’s communications and stakeholder engagement strategy. The role will include:

• Working with the Director of Engagement and across Ofwat to devise and develop a stakeholder engagement strategy and approach.
• Collaborating across Ofwat on an engagement programme to deliver impactful engagement and communications.
• Working closely with Ofwat communications colleagues, drawing on their expertise as needed to deliver a coordinated programme of communications- including thought leadership, speaking engagements and events.
• Establishing and maintaining a strong network of stakeholder relationships across and beyond the water sector including with consumer and environmental representatives.
• Managing the stakeholder research and building insight sharing to senior level and across Ofwat.
• Developing a corporate events programme – from roundtables, working groups to high profile hybrid events.
• Devising a speaking engagement process ensuring Ofwat is reaching the right audience, at the right time with the right message.
• Enabling team members to deliver by building supportive, inclusive team environment based on trust-based relationships, transparency and inclusivity.
• Building a culture of continuous improvement through evaluating engagement regularly and learning quickly
• Helping ensure Ofwat is seen as taking a leading role in delivering cleaner rivers and seas for customers. 

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 of working in a high-profile organisation.
• Lead criterion 2: Experience in developing and delivering communications plans which support the delivery of corporate objectives.
• Lead criterion 3: Experience in developing and delivering stakeholder engagement across an organisation to deliver communications or policy objectives.
• Lead criterion 4: Experience working with senior leaders and the ability to influence.
• Experience in identifying and creating events, speaking and partnership opportunities and managing them from end to end. 
• Skilled at building strong working relationships with key stakeholders, both internally and externally, at every level, with excellent diplomacy skills.
• Experience in leading and motivating people both within their team, wider communications directorate, and organisation as well as external stakeholders.
• Experience of and ability to manage and deliver budget and resource requirements.

Attributes 

Attributes as per Ofwat’s Framework for Success for Principal Grade. You can read more about attributes here.

• Delivers outcomes;
• Creates clarity;
• Adaptable thinker;
• Champions change;

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 Civil Service pension contributions of more than 27%. 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

Ellwood Atfield is acting as an employment agency advisor to Ofwat on this appointment. You should apply for this role via the Ellwood Atfield website here and you will be contacted by one of their consultants. If you would like to have an initial discussion about the opportunity, please contact James Green (James@ellwoodatfield.com).

Candidates should apply with a CV and personal statement.

Your personal statement should be no longer than 2 pages A4 and should clearly outline how you meet the essential experience, skills, knowledge required for the role. 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.

Closing date	12.00 noon on Monday 15th April 2024
Longlisting	w/c 15th April 2024
Shortlisting	w/c 22nd April 2024
Interview date(s)	29th and 30th April 2024

Selection process

Longlisting Stage                    

At longlisting stage, your application will be assessed against the 4 Lead criteria identified under the essential skills, experience, and knowledge section above. 

Interviews with Ellwood Atfield

Candidates that pass longlisting stage will be invited to attend a virtual interview with Ellwood Atfield to explore their skills, experience, and knowledge in more detail.

Shortlisting Stage                              

At shortlisting stage, your application will be assessed against the remaining 4 criteria identified under the essential skills, experience, and knowledge section above.

Ofwat Interview Stage - Transparent Interviews and Presentation

Our transparent interview process 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.

At interview stage we will test against attributes, as well as skills, experience, and knowledge (set out in the professional requirements section) You can read more about attributes and our Framework for success  here.

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

Please note that the interviews will be conducted in person in our London Office (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 contact James Green (James@ellwoodatfield.com).

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.