We have an opportunity for two Senior Associate Economists to join our Cost Assessment Team in Price Review.

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.

Job description

We're looking for two Senior Associate Economists to join our Cost Assessment team. These roles are full of influence and exciting challenges.

The cost assessment team plays a pivotal part in shaping price reviews, setting expenditure allowances, and developing policy in areas such as incentive design and improvements to the regulatory framework.

As a Senior Associate Economist, you will lead one of several workstreams within our cost assessment team:

• Developing econometric models and related policy development for different segments of the water sector value chain.
• Managing cross-cutting data that supports high-quality regulatory reporting to inform cost assessment and delivery of funded activities.
• Designing and reviewing incentive tools to encourage delivery and hold companies to account at the next price review.

You will work closely with principals, other senior associates, and graduate associates, and collaborate across teams. Depending on your specialism you will:

• Contribute to policy development in areas such as incentive design, cost benchmarking, and wider improvements to the regulatory framework.
• Support our work to review the price control deliverables (PCDs) framework to address the Independent Water Commission (IWC) recommendations on this subject.
• Contribute to policy development on our supervisory approach and how PCDs and wider delivery incentives will feed into this.
• Work with colleagues to improve our monitoring regime to continue supporting our ability to hold companies to account in a targeted and proportionate way.
• Support the development of our approach to setting expenditure allowances at the next price review, drawing on lessons from PR24 and the recommendations of the IWC.
• Work with colleagues to ensure robust, evidence-based recommendations for expenditure allowances.
• Engage with stakeholders across the sector, including water companies, other regulators, and internal teams.
• Contribute to the robust use of data across the cost assessment team, supporting the entire team with quality assurance, expert knowledge of Ofwat's databases and best-practice modelling tools.
• Providing expert advice to ensure data quality and mitigate risks of error.

Key deliverables:

Depending on the role, you can be expected to:

• Develop policy options to address Independent Water Commission (IWC recommendations) on price control deliverables (PCD) framework, cost assessment modelling and related policy issues.
• Provide robust quantitative and qualitative analysis in developing the approach to setting expenditure allowances for our price reviews, including related policy development.
• Present clear, evidence-based policy recommendations on complex issues to senior leaders, ensuring robust and transparent decision making.
• Draft and review reports, publications, discussion papers and consultation documents to a high standard.
• Build and maintain collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to shape and test new approaches and ensure successful delivery of objectives.
• Present policy papers at internal meetings and senior policy forums to develop different elements of Ofwat's cost assessment and PCD frameworks.
• Contribute to external stakeholder engagement including organising and lead workshops with external stakeholders to support development of policy options.
• Contribute to the professional development of team members and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Develop the cost assessment Excel feeder model suite for the price review, ensuring it remains robust, transparent, and fit for purpose. Provide advice on cost assessment data and modelling including defining data requirements.

Person specification

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

• Experience of applying economics in a regulator, competition authority, consultancy or regulated company, with a strong interest in and aptitude for economic regulation and quantitative modelling (including econometrics).
• An undergraduate degree in economics and/or a discipline with significant economic/numerate content or equivalent experience including data science.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Professional experience of developing, managing and implementing policy.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to understand and concisely explain complex issues in non-technical language.
• Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver multiple projects with conflicting deadlines.

Benefits

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 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.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.

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We have an opportunity for a Casework Senior Associate to join our Casework Team within Casework, Enforcement and Customers Directorate.

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.

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.

Job description

The team

This role is based in the Casework team within Ofwat's Casework, Enforcement & Customers Directorate.

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 (typically under the Water Industry Act 1991, or the Competition Act 1998), 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 also involves providing an important point of contact for customers seeking information about Ofwat's role and how we do our work as a regulator.

The Casework team also assesses applications from companies wanting to be granted a licence to serve customers in the water sector. In deciding on these applications, we aim to ensure that customers can benefit from having a choice of provider, whilst being sufficiently protected for the provision of their water and wastewater services.

The role

As a Senior Associate in the Casework team you will initially work on one of our workstreams. You will either respond to our more complex customer enquiries and complaints that Ofwat receives and lead and/or oversee investigations, where we have legal powers to determine a dispute between a customer and their water company. Or, you will lead the assessment of licence applications we receive from companies wishing to operate in the water sector. You may also have responsibility for line managing staff. As you settle into your role, you may rotate from one workstream to another or work across both workstreams.

The successful candidate will have strong customer service and planning skills; be able to identify and assess relevant information to make evidence-based recommendations; and be great at working with others to gather and share information clearly in writing or verbally.

You will be responsible for managing a varied caseload of customer enquiries and dispute cases and/or licence applications. Alongside leading the delivery of pieces of work yourself, you will provide guidance and support to others in the team as well as overseeing their work.

You will be expected to take strong ownership of the work you are responsible for, demonstrating Ofwat’s SAILOR values and ways of working.

Key deliverables:

Provide a high-quality service to customers and stakeholders contacting Ofwat. This will require you to:

• Use strong active listening skills to ensure you understand and effectively respond to questions and concerns raised with us by customers and stakeholders.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of customer contacts and stakeholder engagement you have responded to via our case management system.
• Work collaboratively with subject matter experts where needed to understand issues and prepare appropriate and timely responses.
• Prioritise and manage your work effectively and support colleagues in the team to do the same, to ensure that higher risk work is identified, prioritised and managed appropriately.

Lead the successful delivery of licence application assessments, complex complaints and investigations into customer disputes. This will require you to:

• Plan and prioritise your work to meet deadlines, work in line with our process and governance requirements, and maintain complete case files. Support colleagues in the team to do the same.
• Identify, gather and analyse a range of relevant data and information to ensure all relevant lines of enquiry have been undertaken and support robust decision-making.
• Clearly and concisely present objective, evidence-based conclusions and recommendations, and to convey complex information to a range of audiences both verbally and in writing.
• Engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders to identify and gather the inputs and information you require to ensure our decisions are well-considered, timely and reflect relevant links and impacts in Ofwat's wider work.
• Consider and manage options, costs, benefits and risks arising from your work, escalating these where appropriate.

Support continuous improvement in our ways of working. This will require you to:

• Actively participate in finding and delivering solutions to challenges that might arise in our work, and in enabling and encouraging better and more efficient ways to achieve our team's objectives.
• Identify and flag trends and insights from our work and reflecting on lessons learnt to inform future ways of working and our continuous improvement.
• Keep abreast of Ofwat’s key announcements and wider trends and developments that might impact on our team's work.
• Play a role in enabling the success and well-being of our whole team, by seeking out and sharing knowledge; taking account of different individuals' needs and views; supporting each other in managing and adapting to changing workloads and priorities; leading on the development of resources and training, celebrating success; and providing constructive feedback to support our learning and growth.

Person specification

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

Experience, skills and knowledge

• Significant experience of working under pressure in a regulatory environment, effectively planning, prioritising and managing a varied and changing workload to meet different, and often tight, deadlines, whilst ensuring quality standards are met.
• Significant experience of gathering and analysing complex information to make evidence-based recommendations and conclusions to decision makers.
• Experience of leading or supporting colleagues in demand-led casework, fostering a supportive and collaborative environment.
• Experience of using information and insights to consider and resolve risks and issues to support the effective delivery of work.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work with internal and external stakeholders to deliver a common objective.
• Experience of leading and implementing improved ways of working within Casework teams

Attributes

• Adaptable thinker
• Builds the team
• Delivers outcomes

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for the relevant salary grade. You can read more about Attributes here.

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us:

Our people are at the heart of Ofwat, and our People Strategy defines the goals that keep this focus central to everything we do. Our 2025 People Survey highlights several key strengths. Nine in ten colleagues say that they are treated with respect and that Ofwat values individual differences. The same proportion say that their work is meaningful and that they are being trusted to carry out their roles effectively. 79% of our people rated their manager highly, and 85% described their team environment as positive.

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
• 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
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

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We have an opportunity for a Company Engagement Specialist to join our Company Engagement Team within our Delivery Directorate.

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 Company Engagement team

The Company Engagement Team plays a central role in Ofwat's regulation of the water sector by leading and supporting coordinated, consistent, and strategic engagement with water companies. The team also brings together and maintains company insight and knowledge to support informed, aligned, and impactful oversight. As Ofwat continues to evolve its approach to supervision, the team is increasingly supporting more complex cross-organisational coordination and holistic company oversight.

The team:

• provides extensive internal and external stakeholder management activities, with a principle focus on the relationship between Ofwat and water companies;
• leads and supports the execution of strategic engagement between Ofwat and companies;
• brings together intelligence, evidence and insight from across Ofwat, water companies and external stakeholders to identify emerging risks, understand company performance and support informed regulatory decision-making in an increasingly supervisory context.

The role

We are seeking a Senior Associate who combines strong analytical, communication, organisational and relationship-management skills to support effective regulatory engagement and company-specific supervision.

You will play a substantive role in developing Ofwat’s understanding of individual water companies, bringing together intelligence from across the organisation to identify key issues, risks and priorities. You will support Ofwat’s relationships with water companies and, as your knowledge and experience develop, may take greater responsibility for engagement with allocated companies. You will also support Principals on companies requiring more intensive supervision.

Company Engagement is a central point of coordination for Ofwat’s relationships with water companies. As part of the role, you will help keep the team operating effectively by supporting the management of engagement, correspondence, meetings, company information, records and actions.

This role would suit someone who enjoys working collaboratively, analysing and distilling complex information, building effective relationships and turning evidence into clear insights. You will also be comfortable taking responsibility for the practical coordination needed to keep a busy team operating effectively.

You will need to be highly organised, comfortable managing a range of information and competing priorities, and willing to work flexibly across both substantive regulatory work and day-to-day team activities. You will be expected to take ownership of tasks through to completion and deliver high-quality work to agreed timescales.

Key deliverables

In this role you will be expected to:

• Support company relationships - Support day-to-day engagement with allocated water companies, building effective relationships and contributing to effective and constructive engagement.
• Support whole-company oversight and supervision - bring together intelligence on company performance, risks and regulatory activity; contribute to and maintain Regulatory Strategies; track actions and milestones; and identify emerging issues for further consideration or escalation.
• Analyse and communicate company issues - analyse information from multiple sources, identify key issues and implications, and produce clear briefings, correspondence, presentations and other regulatory products.
• Coordinate activity across Ofwat - work with policy and specialist teams to share intelligence, coordinate company-facing activity, follow through agreed actions and support major regulatory programmes support wider regulatory work.
• Support the effective operation of the team – support the management of the Company Engagement mailbox and correspondence; maintain accurate company records, trackers and systems; coordinate meetings, papers and actions; and undertake other coordination activity as required.
• Improve how we work - contribute to the development and effective operation of Company Engagement’s processes, tools, systems and ways of working.

Person specification

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

1. Regulatory understanding (Lead criterion) - An understanding of regulation, public policy, utilities or a comparable environment, and the ability to apply that understanding to support effective regulatory work.
2. Analysis and judgement - Experience of bringing together information from different sources, identifying key issues and implications and communicating clear conclusions. Ability to develop an understanding of a new or complex area quickly.
3. Communication and relationships - Experience of building effective professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate confidently and explain information clearly and concisely for different audiences.
4. Organisation and coordination - Strong organisational skills, with experience of coordinating activity, managing information and competing priorities, maintaining accurate records and following actions through to completion.
5. Ownership and adaptability - Ability to take responsibility for allocated work, use judgement to solve problems and respond flexibly when priorities change, while delivering good-quality work to deadlines.

Benefits

• 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
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

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We have an opportunity for a Principal Water Resources Planning Lead to join our Water Supply Team within the RAPID & Environmental Planning Directorate.

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.

Job description

We're looking for a Water Resources Planning Lead to join our Water Supply team within the RAPID and Environmental Planning directorate at Principal level. The sector is facing unprecedented challenges, and we want someone who relishes the opportunity to apply their skills and experience to improve our water environment. Whilst there are specific policy areas you will lead on, you will also play an important role in driving the collaborative work programme across Governments and with other regulators to improve future water resources management.

The Water Resources Planning Lead role has an important and valuable contribution to enable us to deliver on our goals and regulatory commitments. You will lead our engagement with wider governments, regulators and a varied range of stakeholders on national water resources policy and investment policy, including delivery of current 2024 water resource management plans (WRMP24) and our preparations for WRMP29 and the 2029 price review (PR29). This includes bringing together partner regulators (Drinking Water Inspectorate, Environment Agency, Natural England and Natural Resources Wales) to agree on policy development and technical assessment outcomes. You will utilise forums such as the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to present, communicate and consult with the industry on Ofwat's water resources policy decisions and technical issues. You will also have the opportunity to steer the development of new planning frameworks developed under Defra's White Paper on a new vision for water.

You will lead a technical team to undertake water resources work and their engagement with the water companies. You will be responsible for designing and planning the team's approaches to meeting our statutory responsibilities, and aligning our work across related and dependant regulatory frameworks and processes. This includes our involvement in the government's Water Delivery Taskforce; Ofwat's PR24 and PR29 teams including delivery plans and price control deliverables (PCDs); and interfacing with principal leads for the strategic resource options (SROs) in the RAPID programme. Your work on this area will hold companies to account on their delivery on behalf of customers and the environment.

Key deliverables:

• Lead on our statutory duties in water resources planning, including delivery oversight of current WRMPs and planning for future WRMPs, giving technical steer and making decisions on complex supply-demand balance and supply security issues.
• Lead our strategy with our partner regulators and government on the evolving strategic planning frameworks, including WRMPs, business plan links, and new planning frameworks developed through Defra's White Paper on a new vision for water.
• Support wider water resources efficiency policy and regulator guidance development working with government, other regulators, water companies and wider stakeholders.
• Collaborate closely with other principals in the Water Supply team on cross-working issues and policies associated with WRMPs, demand management, and the positioning of the SROs within WRMPs.
• Manage a small water resources team, supporting workload prioritisation, as well as their growth and professional development.
• Contribute to the RAPID and Environmental Planning directorate strategy and the Price Review directorate more broadly 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

1. Relevant experience in water resources planning (including adhering to or designing planning frameworks, supply scheme development, water efficiency or environmental strategy). This can be regulatory, technical or policy experience gained within the water sector.
2. Academic or professional experience of wider environmental issues and good knowledge/understanding of those related to the water industry.
3. Significant experience of policy development and implementation, and/or designing and delivering programmes of work within a relevant field.
4. Significant experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, influencing decisions and delivering outcomes across organisational boundaries.
5. Highly numerate with significant experience of leading and completing complex technical analysis, critically evaluating the work of others and providing evidence-based recommendations.
6. Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex concepts to technical and non-technical audiences in order to inform policy making, decision making or recommendations.

Attributes

1. Delivers Outcomes
2. Adaptable Thinker
3. Champion and leader of change
4. Promotes Collaboration

Benefits

• Good 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
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

Job Data by YubHub.

We have an opportunity for a Cost Change Process and PR29 Principal to join our Price Review Directorate.

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.

Job description

The Cost Change Process and PR29 Principal role has an important and valuable contribution to enable us to deliver on our goals and regulatory commitments. The cost change is an annual process that runs for most of the year and, in 2026 alone, is likely to provide around £3.5bn of additional investment to help maintain and enhance the customer service and the environment now and for future generations. This role is central to the successful coordination and delivery of the cost change process both in the remainder of 2026 and in 2027 and 2028. The team works with colleagues from across both the price review directorate and wider Ofwat covering key issues such as supporting economic growth, asset health and delivering major projects.

You will influence how the process is designed, the policy we follow and ultimately its delivery. The role will work closely with senior colleagues to ensure that all stakeholders understand the cost change process and the decisions that we make. The role will work flexibly with the team to provide support and resilience for our annual in period determinations of outcome delivery incentive payments. You will work closely within the price review directorate, taking the lessons learnt to help shape how we might incorporate in period determinations into the 2029 price review for price controls applying from April 2030.

Key deliverables

• Lead the planning and delivery of the annual cost change process, managing consultants, planning and organising relevant plenaries, board and governance papers, liaising with comms as required for publications and wider queries.
• Coordinate modelling and delivery of any documents to be produced to support decision making on the cost change process.
• Develop relevant policy and update existing policy related to the cost change process. This may include decision making on modelling issues as required working with appropriate teams and individuals.
• If required, deliver any relevant changes to company licences through consultation.
• Working closely with directors across the cost change process to ensure that responsibilities and deliverables are clear and managed on time and to high quality, challenging and discussing needs as required.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including other regulators, the UK and Welsh government and company representatives at all levels to ensure transparency and a no surprises approach to the cost change process.
• Deputising for the director both internally and externally as required, including with government, companies and other stakeholders.
• Understanding, and providing support, for the in period outcome delivery incentive determination process as required.
• Shaping future process and approach, drawing on identified areas for improvements and lessons learnt. Contributing to emerging policy development for the 2029 price review, with particular focus on how and if the cost change and in period outcome delivery incentive determination processes will be implemented in the future.
• The role may require line management responsibilities and managing external contractors.

Person specification

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

Experience, skills and knowledge

1. Lead criterion: Experience of coordinating and delivering a regulatory price setting process, including planning and co-ordination of projects.
2. Proven ability to develop and apply policy using qualitative and quantitative analysis to assess evidence and develop well supported policy options and recommendations, with a particular focus on regulation and utility sectors.
3. Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to influence and build relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders to a very senior level.
4. Extensive experience working in the regulatory and utility sectors, ideally with a focus on price determinations and regulatory reporting.
5. Proven ability to lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary teams to deliver projects to tight timescales and to a high standard. Proven ability to think strategically and identify and act upon the key issues within detailed and complex programmes of work.
6. Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to produce clear, concise, and well-structured reports and briefings, with the ability to present complex information effectively to a variety of audiences.
7. Excellent analytical and decision making skills, including understanding engineering, legal, financial and economic implications of decisions.

Attributes

1. Promotes collaboration
2. Adaptable thinker
3. Delivers outcomes

Benefits

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 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.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.

Job Data by YubHub.

We have an opportunity for a Senior Corporate Finance Analyst to join our Major Projects Team within the Delivery Directorate. The Major Projects team is responsible for the policy and market development for the Major Water Infrastructure Programme, a pipeline of major infrastructure projects in the water sector in England and Wales, as well as Ofwat's role in the oversight of the development, procurement, and delivery of these critical projects.

The water sector is now 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 Senior Corporate Finance Analyst role is a unique and exciting opportunity for someone with experience of infrastructure, project or corporate finance to work on the most important capital projects in the water sector, while gaining exposure to innovative private finance and delivery models.

In this role, you will:

• Lead defined tasks and smaller workstreams within the regulation and financing of new infrastructure projects, managing inputs, milestones and outputs to agreed standards and timescales.
• Assess project financing and delivery proposals, including financing plans, funding structures, procurement approaches and commercial arrangements, identifying key issues, risks and implications for customers.
• Undertake financial and commercial analysis using quantitative and qualitative information to develop clear insights, test assumptions and support evidence-based advice and regulatory decisions.
• Support investor and market engagement for the Major Water Infrastructure Programme by helping to prepare materials, respond to issues and gather evidence on market appetite, and investability.
• Build effective working relationships with water companies, investors, advisers, and colleagues across Ofwat, constructively challenging information and coordinating contributions where required.
• Prepare high-quality briefings, papers and presentations for senior colleagues, decision-makers, investors and regulated companies, translating complex financial and commercial matters into clear conclusions and recommendations.
• Contribute to policy, guidance and continuous improvement relating to the financing and delivery of major projects, sharing knowledge across the team and taking on greater ownership and leadership as your experience develops.

To be successful in this role you will need:

• At least two years’ experience in financing infrastructure or other large-scale projects, gained in one or more of the following environments: banking, consultancy, investment, corporate or government.
• An in-depth understanding of any of the following areas: financing of regulated utilities; private credit; project finance; credit ratings; infrastructure investment; corporate finance.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to interpret data and information to support evidence-based advice and decision-making.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex issues to non-technical audiences.
• Ability to build and maintain positive working relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 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.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.

Job Data by YubHub.

We have an opportunity for two Financial Resilience Analysts to join our Financial Resilience Team within the Delivery Directorate.

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.

Job description

We have 2 excellent opportunities for Financial Analysts to join our Financial Resilience Team at Senior Associate level. Resilience is crucial in the water sector – and we define this as including corporate, financial, and operational resilience.

The Financial Resilience work-stream looks at the corporate and financial resilience of companies in the water sector.

We monitor the performance and resilience of the companies we regulate, exploring all sources of information available to us, including Annual Performance Reports and statutory accounts, looking in detail at corporate structures and financing and governance arrangements. We challenge companies where necessary to take steps to improve their financial resilience and we hold companies to account where they are not delivering in line with expectations.

Our aim is to ensure the interests of customers are protected in the event of risks to financial resilience and as such we continuously review our procedures and processes to determine whether there is more we can and should do to hold companies to account for maintaining their financial resilience.

As a Senior Associate within the Financial Resilience team, you will use your accountancy experience and knowledge of corporate finance to monitor the financial performance of the companies which we regulate. You will undertake financial analysis to support our wider policy and monitoring work including supporting other workstreams across Ofwat. You will be expected to proactively share skills and knowledge and equally will be supported by coaching and mentoring.

You will thrive in a varied environment, managing a wide range of financial and compliance issues. A flexible and adaptable approach is essential, as priorities can change and the team is often required to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.

Key deliverables:

• Work on varied projects within the Financial Resilience work stream.
• Monitor the financial performance and position of companies and consider whether there is a risk to their resilience and whether action needs to be taken to protect customers.
• Contribute to the development of our policy and processes in relation to how companies need to demonstrate resilience and the approach that Ofwat should take to regulation in this area.
• Identify potential issues relating to the accuracy and transparency of financial reporting by companies, as well as company compliance with relevant license requirements.
• Support other workstreams and priority areas across Ofwat, such as the delivery the price review process.

Person specification

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

• Qualification or part-qualification in accountancy, corporate finance or other financial disciplines (e.g. ACA, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA, CFA) or equivalent experience in a similar role.
• Experience of analysing, interpreting and challenging financial information relevant to determining a company's financial position.
• Experience of developing and using financial indicators and other information to monitor the performance and financial stability of companies.
• Understanding of financial reporting and the application of relevant accounting standards.
• Understanding of company and group structures, how companies raise finance and the types of finance that are available to them.
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to draw well-reasoned conclusions from your analysis.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to write high-quality documents and to communicate complex analysis and issues to non-technical audiences.
• Ability to work flexibly to tight timescales, while managing competing priorities.

Benefits

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 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.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.

Job Data by YubHub.

We have an opportunity for a Principal Economist - Business Retail Market to join our Business Retail Market Team within the Markets and Changing Directorate.

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.

Job description

We are seeking a Principal Economist to join our Business Retail Market team. The team has a multi-faceted programme of work aimed at improving the Business Retail Market so that it delivers better outcomes for customers, society and the environment. The team aims to do this through initiatives on regulatory customer protections, improving company performance, and monitoring and enforcement work. All our work here involves extensive engagement with external stakeholders.

Now is a particularly exciting time to join the team as we are at an important juncture in the development of the market. We have recently established revised customer protections, and we are currently reviewing price and non-price protections for customers in the business retail market. We are stepping up our market monitoring and work to ensure companies comply with their obligations with respect to customer protections. Water scarcity and resilience is becoming increasingly important for the sector, and the team is working with industry to understand how the business retail market can contribute to improved water efficiency. In addition to this, we are also working with Government (Defra) on water sector reform, new legislation, and what this may mean for the business retail market.

This role has an important and valuable contribution to enable us to deliver on our goals and regulatory commitments. As a Principal Economist in the Business Retail Market team, you will lead and support a number of strategically important workstreams. These are likely to include leading Ofwat's role in analysing and understanding market evolution and the development of competitive dynamics, understanding, monitoring and, where relevant, strengthening customer protections, improving trading parties' support for the market, and working with industry and stakeholders – including Defra - to understand, prepare for and deliver change. As you will be part of a small and dynamic team, you will also work flexibly across the team's various functions relating to the Business Retail Market. You will also represent Ofwat on industry Committees and Working Groups as appropriate.

Key deliverables:

• Lead analytical and policy development work to deliver, among other things, ongoing understanding of retail market developments and competitive dynamics, and work underpinning the revision of retail price caps.
• Lead or contribute to the development of policy and process to support delivery by the Business Retail team and working across Ofwat as appropriate. This will include, for example, leading policy and analytical work regarding our approach and decisions on customer protections, and on issues raised as a part of sectoral reform.
• Help deliver the portfolio of code modification decisions and/or policy projects. This may include managing processes and team members, and developing policy recommendations, with a view to ensuring Ofwat decisions on Code modifications are made and presented in a robust manner.
• Provide visible leadership and guidance to members of the Business Retail team. You will be expected to support, empower and be a role model for junior members of the team, to help them develop skills and experience and to continue to support all members’ professional development. As a leader in Ofwat, you will also role model our values and ways of working and be an active contributor to the corporate activities that make Ofwat a great place to work.
• Act as a People Leader and/or Project Manager, taking on budget management responsibilities and, where appropriate, people management responsibilities in line with Ofwat’s Governance Framework.
• Create and champion an inclusive working environment that supports growth, well-being and continuous improvement in our delivery.
• Strongly contribute to Ofwat’s wider leadership, by engaging, contributing and supporting our work to make Ofwat a great place to work.

Person specification

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

• Degree level qualification in economics and/or a discipline with significant economic content.
• Demonstrable experience and knowledge of microeconomic analysis and markets, competition and regulation, and the benefits they can deliver for customers. This includes the identification and application of relevant economic, legal and policy frameworks and requirements.
• Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
• Skills and experience in formulating, presenting, and writing clear and concise evidence-based advice to inform policy making, decision building and recommendations, for a range of audiences and to encourage and respond to constructive challenge to build confidence in decision-making.
• Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver large projects and programmes of work both directly and by managing multi-disciplinary teams, and where necessary external advisors/consultants.
• Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.

Benefits

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.
• 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.
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay.
• Enhanced sick pay.
• Regular development opportunities.
• Health and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle-to-work scheme.
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel.
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users.

Job Data by YubHub.