Water Resources Specialist

Job title: Water Resources Specialist

Position type: Fixed Term

Job reference: 451324

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

Salary: £40,024 - £50,000

Closing date: Wednesday 18 March 2026 at 23:55

Join Ofwat’s Water Supply Team as a Water Resources Specialist 

*Office Location: London (E14 4HD) or Birmingham (B5 4UA) 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.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. Following the Independent Water Commission’s Final Report and subsequent White Paper - 'New Vision for Water', the UK government has set out a bold new direction - one that brings together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

Ofwat is working in collaboration with the government and other regulators to help establish a new body for England, combining our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, and Natural England. We’re also continuing to engage with the Welsh Government to support future decisions 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 Role

We are looking for a Water Resources Specialist to join our Water Supply Team at Senior Associate level. The Water Supply team is dedicated to improving investment planning and tracking delivery of source to tap activities. This includes supporting the delivery of best-value water resources solutions, co-ordinating smart meter rollout, tracking leakage and water efficiency whilst advocating for innovation solutions, addressing policy gaps in resilience investment, and supporting the large scheme gate and delivery plan assessments.

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.

This is an exciting role in an expanding team. You will have the opportunity to support with the development of new planning frameworks developed under Defra's White Paper on a new vision for water. You will work with wider governments, regulators and a varied range of stakeholders on national water resources policy and investment policy, including our preparations for water resources manage plans for 2029 (WRMP29) and the 2029 price review (PR29). This includes utilising forums such as the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), bringing together partner regulators (Drinking Water Inspectorate, Environment Agency, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales).

You will also work to assess and monitor delivery of supply schemes through current WRMP24 and PR24 price control deliverables (PCD's), and support the progression of 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.

About You

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

1. Experience in water resources planning (including supply schemes, efficiency or environmental strategy). This can be regulatory, technical or policy experience gained within the water sector.
2. A graduate-level qualification in a relevant field (e.g. environmental science, public policy, environmental management, water resources, engineering, geography, or a closely related discipline).
3. Academic or professional experience of wider environmental issues and good knowledge/understanding of those related to the water industry.
4. Highly numerate with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of analysing and accurately interpreting a range of data and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
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. Excellent communication (oral and written) skills, including the ability to communicate complex concepts to technical and non-technical audiences in order to inform policy making, decision making or recommendations.

Why You Should Join Us

• People Centric: Our people are at the heart of Ofwat and everything we do - we ensure all voices are heard and treat each other with respect; you'll be given the autonomy and the support to do your role in the best way.
• 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 Birmingham and London offices.
• 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.
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies.
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year.
• Recognition vouchers scheme rewarding your hard work.
• Generous shared parental leave and pay supporting your family life.

Follow the link to apply for full details about the role. Please ensure you have submitted your application in full before the below deadline.

Closing date: 23.55 on 18 March 2026