Water operations manager - Clean water network

This occupation is found in the water industry. Water operations managers typically work for water companies regulated by the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat). They may also work for companies that subcontract to regulated water companies. These organisations range in size from small to large and are responsible for providing water and sewerage services to homes and businesses in their area. Water operations managers may find themselves working in a range of facilities across different process areas and with a diverse range of assets, covering responsibility for an aspect of water treatment and distribution from source to recycling. For example, they may work on assets or processes in clean water treatment plants or water recycling (waste water) treatment plants alternatively, they may work on the clean water or sewerage network, or assets located on the network. This is a highly regulated industry so water operations managers need manage the processes, systems or assets they are responsible for in line with health and safety legislation and regulatory requirements. Failure to do so could lead to health or environmental concerns that affect their colleagues, customers or the wider community. This is a core and options apprenticeship proposal. An apprentice must be trained in the core and one option. The options are: Clean water network, water collection network, clean water treatment and waste water recycling.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to manage all aspects of their area of responsibility, ensuring efficient and effective operation to meet business needs and targets. Optimising processes and assets to achieve efficiencies or improve safety and reliability. Water operations managers normally line manage a team working in their area of responsibility and provide operational support and response to routine operational issues and non-routine emergencies or incidents. They carry out operational planning to ensure required people and resources are available where they are required. The water industry requires continued operation 24 hours a day, 365 days a year so water operations managers work shifts and an on-call rota to ensure that emergencies and incidents have an effective, efficient response whenever they occur. That could involve helping to maintain a supply for customers or mitigating the impact of a pollution or leakage incident. The assets and processes themselves are diverse so the role could involve working at height or working in a confined space depending on where the assets are located. Water operations managers usually require a driving licence to enable them to travel between sites and provide a rapid response to out of hours incidents.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with their direct reports and wider colleagues, including senior leaders, health and safety advisors, scientists, corporate IT and procurement teams. Water operations managers also engage with external stakeholders such as supply chain partners, contractors, regulators and auditors. They would typically report to a senior manager and usually work with minimal supervision to ensure targets that have been set and regulatory requirements for their area of responsibility are achieved.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for ensuring health and safety, environmental and regulatory compliance for their area of responsibility. They will use data to optimise operations, and are responsible for ordering equipment and managing a budget to meet key business targets. Water operations managers are critical to UK infrastructure in that they: contribute towards the green agenda through efficient management of natural water resources and manage the impact of climate change on supply; address leakage through effective management of network and treatment assets, employ innovative new smart network technologies; contribute to the reduction of pollution incidents through addressing aging assets and effective training and management.