Innovation Officer

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.

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.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Innovation Officer to join our small but expanding team responsible for the design and delivery of Ofwat's Innovation Fund. The Innovation Fund has been supporting water companies to develop new solutions and approaches to tackle the unprecedented challenges facing the sector.

You will play a key role in supporting the development and delivery of the next stage of the Innovation Fund, including the design of innovation competitions and the development of strategic policy areas to maximise the outcomes of innovation in the water sector. This is a high-priority workstream and is a fundamental component of Ofwat’s strategy and approach to improving outcomes for customers.

Experience of building effective relationships is a must, as you will be engaging extensively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders such as, colleagues at Ofwat, our delivery partners and with many facets of the water sector, including the water companies. Overall this is a challenging yet rewarding opportunity, where you can truly make a difference by embedding new ways of working to improve the performance of the sector now and in the future.

About You 

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

• Experience of working and engaging with internal and external stakeholders, including multiple organisations to gather and share information to deliver a common objective. This could be from within a regulatory setting, the water sector or any other relevant sector.
• Ability to work independently, and as part of a team, using creativity and innovative approaches.
• Experience of working under pressure, effectively planning, prioritising and managing a varied and changing workload to meet different, and often tight, deadlines.
• Analytical and decision-making skills, including understanding strategic implications of decisions and making connections between different work areas.
• Good written and oral communication skills, including the ability to present complex information to non-technical audiences.
• Ability to think strategically and use creative problem-solving including experience of identifying and managing risks and opportunities.

Why Join Ofwat? 

We’re forward-thinking, creative, innovative, and ambitious. We constantly push the boundaries and embrace new ways of working.

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.

Ofwat is a learning organisation, so you will have opportunities to develop your knowledge and experience, and to consolidate your skill set. We have a well-supported, agile working environment, and have a trust-based culture intended to help empower you and support you to succeed within Ofwat.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of 28.97% (£10,695 to £14,485 per annum).
• 27.5 days leave (25 days annual leave + 2.5 days privilege 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.

To find out more about the role, team and selection process, please follow the link to apply.

Application Deadline: 23:55 on Sun 30 June 2024