WINEP Lead

We are looking for a WINEP Lead to join our Strategy & Regulation team at Wessex Water!

The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) sets out the environmental investigations and improvement work that we must carry out during each regulatory 5-year period.

Managing this process is vital to our business. It ensures regulatory compliance, builds relationships with our regulators, and most importantly delivers investigations and improvements that our customers and the environment require.

We adopt an integrated ‘one team' approach for our WINEP, with input from departments within our wider company. The WINEP Lead is responsible for this process, helping maintain Wessex Water's position as the best-performing water and sewerage company in the UK.

Principally covering our WINEP, your responsibilities are to:

• manage the development of the WINEP for the forthcoming price review period, ensuring it meets our environmental and financial regulatory responsibilities, and is aligned with our business strategy
• coordinate the process for disseminating new WINEP guidance to the relevant internal teams and coordinating responses to proposed guidance, when invited to do so by our regulators
• manage the delivery of our (in-period) WINEP, ensuring that we fulfil the needs of all our drivers and statutory obligations
• lead the business on how the solutions/investigations in our WINEP achieve these drivers/obligations
• guide the wider business on any necessary swaps and changes to our WINEP for these solutions/interventions
• manage any changes to our WINEP during delivery, including any engagement with Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and Defra on the delivery of these solutions/interventions
• maintain oversight of our WINEP tracker for internal information, regulatory reporting, and sign-off purposes
• manage how our solutions/investigations are delivered, and how they interact with our existing operations and other investments
• inform relevant company strategies, including our 5-year Business Plan, Long-Term Delivery Strategy (LTDS), Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), and Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan (DWMP), so that our WINEP meets our long-term objectives, statutory obligations, and includes cost-beneficial investments
• lead the evaluation of our strategic investment WINEP options in the Business Planning process, including the development of whole-life cost (WLC) and life cycle assessment (LCA)
• inform relevant company delivery plans, including our Business Plan and subsequent internal delivery processes
• manage internal communication on our WINEP to the wider business teams to facilitate implementation
• liaise with and influence regulators, such as Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Natural England, and Defra, for their support on company strategies and mutually beneficial projects
• collaborate with other water companies and Water UK to develop strategies, plans, and initiatives to tackle industry-wide challenges
• collaborate with other stakeholders to develop and deliver strategies, plans, and initiatives to tackle our obligations and consider partnership funding to help finance any mutually beneficial projects
• support Water UK in engaging regulators and stakeholders to steer regulatory reform and inform policy direction
• line management, if appropriate, within the team, including management of professional development.

• Degree qualified or equivalent.
• Excellent analytical and influential oral and written communication skills, with good attention to detail.
• Excellent knowledge of the WINEP approach and methodology.
• Good working knowledge of the interfaces with the relevant strategic planning frameworks.
• Good knowledge of the environmental and financial regulatory frameworks affecting planning and investment in water company assets.
• Good knowledge of the planning and legal environment as it affects investment planning and implementation.
• Knowledge of the operational environments, operator skill levels, and operating and maintenance cost implications of proposed investments.
• Knowledge of asset management principles and practice.
• Good interpersonal skills to enable effective working…