Salary from £38,880 - £48,600 depending on experience

Location: Pity Me, Durham, County Durham

About the role

Stakeholder Engagement Lead

Working hours: Full time, 37 hours per week, with some weekend work required (flexible arrangements including part-time considered)

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £38,880 - £48,600 depending on experience

Location: Pity Me, Durham / Hybrid working

We’re open to discussing flexible working options.

Participation in the media out of hours standby rota is also required.

About the role

We have a new opportunity to join our team as a Stakeholder Engagement Lead. The successful candidate will build trusted relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. You’ll thrive on collaboration, influence, and making a tangible impact on communities and the environment.

In this role, you’ll guide engagement with regulators, local authorities, environmental groups, and communities to deliver our Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP). This is your chance to drive change, foster trust, and ensure we deliver a plan that benefits communities, the environment, and future generations.

You will identify and maintain a stakeholder register, lead engagement activities, and communicate through diverse channels to build partnerships and handle stakeholder queries.

You’ll prepare engagement materials for formal consultation and assurance reporting, demonstrating how stakeholder input influences the DWMP.

Collaboration with the customer research team is essential to ensure statutory compliance, and you will document feedback and its impact, providing regular updates to the Board for oversight and assurance.

About you

If you have experience in stakeholder management and delivering engagement strategies, we want to hear from you.

You should have experience leading consultations, coordinating engagement activities, and building effective partnerships across diverse stakeholder groups. Your ability to put customers and communities at the heart of planning is vital.

Strategic planning experience and strong communication skills are also key, as you’ll chair collaborative groups, ensure regulatory compliance, and serve as the main contact for stakeholder engagement.

Knowledge of statutory planning and regulatory frameworks in a regulated sector is a plus, but training can be provided.

This is an externally facing role requiring regular UK travel to build relationships and visit Head Office locations. Flexibility in working hours, including some weekends, and participation in the out-of-hours media standby rota are required.

First-stage interviews will be conducted via MS Teams on 21st or 22nd July. Successful candidates will be invited for in-person interviews on 31st July, 2nd, or 3rd August.

At Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace diversity, inclusion, and equity, encouraging all colleagues to bring their authentic selves to work.

Our colleague networks include Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM), and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity). These provide safe spaces for diverse backgrounds and foster organizational awareness and inclusivity.

We encourage applications from all backgrounds and are committed to being an equal opportunity employer.

A DBS check is required prior to employment. NWG supports offender rehabilitation but cannot consider candidates with certain unspent convictions to ensure a safe working environment.

About us

At NWG, we aim to make Northumbrian Water Group a great place to work. We value diversity, inclusion, and equity, encouraging you to bring your full self to work. We’re committed to a diverse community across our teams.

We recognize that not everyone will have every skill listed, but we encourage you to apply if you have some of the skills.

NWG at a glance

Our purpose: Caring for the essential needs of communities and the environment, now and for future generations.

We provide reliable, affordable water and wastewater services, operate efficiently, and invest prudently to maintain sustainability and resilience.

Our vision: To be the national leader in sustainable water and wastewater services.

Our core values guide us: Results Driven, Ethical, Customer Focused, Innovative, and One Team.

We offer a range of benefits, including generous holiday entitlement, pension scheme with employer contributions, discounts, wellbeing support, sustainable travel options, financial wellbeing support, development opportunities, and professional subscriptions.