Join Ofwat’s RAPID Team as a Infrastructure Development & Delivery Lead

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

About Us

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales. Our work has genuine significance – no other organisation does the work we do. It’s unique and meaningful: keeping our water flowing; ensuring water bills don’t cost a penny more than needed; holding water companies to account. Come and work at the source of everyday life.

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity for anInfrastructure Development & Delivery Leadto join our RAPID team. This role is at Principal level and the successful candidate will act as the main point of contact for a group of Strategic Resource Options (SROs) in the RAPID programme. The RAPID SROs are now maturing and working towards their gate three milestones and 10 new SROs are joining the RAPID programme following Ofwat's final determinations.

As the lead on a subset of water supply infrastructure projects, you will focus on ensuring their smooth and efficient delivery. This includes identifying regulatory blockers and working to find resolutions, managing of our expert advisors, and advising companies and regulators on how to continue to move projects forward to planning.

You will engage with a wide range of stakeholders including government bodies, regulators, and water companies, as well as other relevant sectors and interested parties. You will also have a role in shaping the gated process and you will lead the gate assessment of your portfolio of SROs. You will play a vital role in the successful delivery of new water supply infrastructure which is essential to improving the resilience of water supplies and reducing unsustainable abstraction from the environment.

More generally, our Principals play a key role in driving delivery through effective project and resource planning, as well as through line management. You will be expected to support, empower and act as a role model for junior members of the team, while actively contributing to the corporate initiatives that make Ofwat a great place to work. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across Ofwat, raising understanding of the RAPID programme, sharing your expertise, as well as regularly working closely with the Major Projects, Water Resources and Price Review teams to ensure successful project delivery.

About You

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

1. Lead Criterion: Experience of leading or supporting large infrastructure projects - particularly in a commercial, technical, or strategic planning capacity - ideally within a regulated sector. This could have been achieved via working within or alongside a regulated business, water sector supply chain organisation, consultancy, other regulators, Government, or in another similarly relevant position.
2. Lead criterion:Strong understanding of the environmental and regulatory requirements around large infrastructure projects.
3. Excellent leadership skills, including the ability to foster a supportive and high-performing team culture, including coaching others, encouraging knowledge-sharing, and building connections across teams to maximise impact.
4. Proven ability to plan, prioritise, and deliver complex programmes of work or projects - both directly and by leading multi-disciplinary teams - while managing competing demands, supporting team wellbeing, and aligning delivery with strategic objectives.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Excellent presentation and communication (oral and written) skills, including the ability to communicate complex concepts to non-technical audiences.

Why You Should Join Us:

• Meaningful Impact:You will be joining a team with a sense of mission at its core aiming to build a lasting legacy for future generations by securing our long-term water resilience.
• Innovative Work Environment:We embrace agile and new ways of working and have a culture build on trust, flexibility, and collaboration.
• Development Opportunities:Gain valuable experience and develop your skills in a supportive and dynamic setting.
• Work-Life Balance:Enjoy the flexibility of working from home combined with the benefits of in person collaboration in our London or Birmingham offices.
• Fantastic employer pension contributionof nearly 30%.
• 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 discountson a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership.
• Fees paid for membershipof relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering daysper year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme rewarding your hard work.
• Generous shared parental leave and paysupporting your family life.

Follow the link to Apply for full details about the role, please ensure you have submitted your Applications in full before the below deadline.

Closing date:23.55 on 03 August 2025