Principal Water Supply Technical Specialist

Job title: Principal Water Supply Technical Specialist

Position type: Fixed Term

Job reference: 481268

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

Salary: £59,660 - £70,000

Closing date: Sunday 4th October 2026

Join Ofwat’s Water Supply Team as a Principal Water Supply Technical Specialist

* Office

Location:

Birmingham (B5 4UA
) or London (E14 4HD
) with hybrid working*

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. 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.

We are seeking a Principal Water Supply Technical Specialist to join our Water Quality, Resilience and Security sub‑team, part of the Water Supply team within the RAPID and Environmental Planning Directorate. The team works closely with the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), Defra, Environment Agency (EA), and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on water supply issues from source to tap, while also collaborating with colleagues from the Price Review Directorate.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a background in engineering, water or environmental science, or operational/asset management, looking to work within a regulatory environment.

You will have the opportunity to work across several key areas, which may include:

• Directing the analysis of Company Delivery Plans, Price Control Deliverables (PCDs) and Annual Performance Review (APR) data to provide effective oversight of company performance.
• Ensuring the team liaise effectively with water companies through the large scheme process, to capture uncertainty, risks and support the cost‑effective delivery of schemes to time and budget.
• Reviewing information submitted as part of the cost change process and assessments completed on behalf of the team, ensuring consistency, accuracy and the robustness of evidence case and resulting decisions.
• Directing the development of benchmarking models and taking ownership of their population and associated governance, as required.
• Inputting into the development of the next price review framework and answering ad‑hoc queries on the costing of different options relating to water quality and treatment, resilience and/or security.

The successful candidate may come from a variety of professional backgrounds and is likely to have experience in water supply process management, design, or delivery, water resilience scheme investment planning, design or delivery (e.g. network reinforcement, interconnectivity and water treatment works investment), or water production…