Company Engagement Specialist

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

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