Corporate Finance Principal Equity Specialist, OFWAT

Join Ofwat’s Casework and Enforcement Team as an Enforcement Principal.

We have 3 Permanent contracts available.

• Office
  
  Location:
  
  Birmingham (B5 4UA
  ) with hybrid working*

We’re Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority – a non‑ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

As the economic regulator of water and wastewater companies in England and Wales, our role is to enable, incentivise and hold companies to account for providing the very best for customers, communities and the environment. We also oversee the markets in the water sector to ensure they’re working for customers. 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.

As a Principal, you will provide expert management, support, and leadership in the delivery of Ofwat's statutory enforcement functions. This will include leading the effective and efficient delivery of enforcement investigations and compliance monitoring activities (under the Water Industry Act 1991 and/or Competition Act 1998). As required, you may also sponsor the delivery of smaller scale customer dispute cases and policy work delivered by colleagues in our wider team.

• Successfully manage the delivery of enforcement investigations (under the Water Industry Act 1991 and/or the Competition Act 1998), compliance monitoring activities, and/or policy projects. This requires:
  • Outstanding analytical and problem‑solving skills that enable you to understand and apply relevant legal and policy frameworks;
  • The ability to develop and deliver at pace against project plans to meet agreed deadlines;
  • Managing multi‑disciplinary teams;
  • Understanding and managing the interdependencies, strategic links and stakeholders relevant to your project delivery;
  • The ability to identify, mitigate and manage relevant issues and risks and to elevate these where appropriate;
  • Excellent writing and presenting skills to clearly and concisely present evidence‑based conclusions and recommendations to a range of audiences (ranging from individual customers to the Ofwat Board); and
  • Independently managing your own varied workload as well as making day‑to‑day operational decisions within our delegations and decision‑making framework.
• Provide visible leadership and guidance to members of the Casework and Enforcement team to help develop the skills and experience of its junior members and to support all team members’ professional development.
• Act as a People Leader and/or Project Manager, taking on budget management responsibilities and people management responsibilities where appropriate, in line with Ofwat’s Governance Framework.
• Create and champion an inclusive working environment that supports growth, well‑being, and continuous improvement in our delivery.
• Listen to, influence and work with complex, and sometimes difficult, external stakeholders to optimise the impact of our work, including water companies, other regulators, representative bodies, Government departments, and customers. You must be able to establish and maintain these relationships and operate independently of senior management where necessary and appropriate.
• Engage effectively with internal stakeholders to share insights and expertise from and for our casework and enforcement activities, so that we are managing interdependencies and effectively focusing our combined efforts to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.
• Role model our values and ways of working and be an active contributor to the corporate activities that make Ofwat a great place to work.

• Lead criterion:
  Proven track record of applying legal and analytical frameworks to deliver successful outcomes on large and/or complex regulatory investigations or compliance projects, under sector‑specific legislation and/or competition law.
• Lead criterion:
  Experience of effectively and efficiently planning, prioritising and managing the delivery of large…