Head of Reliability & Performance Strategy & Methods

Powered by Water, Driven by Purpose

At Pennon Group, we’re proud to serve communities while protecting the environment. Together with our subsidiaries, South West Water, Bristol Water, Bournemouth Water, SES Water, Pennon Water Services and Pennon Power, we’re leading the way in water and renewables.

We’re proud to be recognised as a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

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Join our team today.

We're looking for an exceptional leader to establish and lead our Group-wide Reliability & Performance Strategy & Methods capability. This is a rare opportunity to shape how reliability, performance and operational excellence are delivered across Pennon Group, setting the standards, methodologies and technical direction that support resilient, efficient and sustainable operations.

Working at the heart of our Asset Reliability & Performance function, you'll combine technical expertise with strategic leadership to create a centre of excellence that enables our operating businesses to achieve outstanding performance while delivering long-term value for customers, communities and the environment.

As Head of Reliability & Performance Strategy & Methods, you'll lead the development of Group-wide approaches to maintenance reliability, process performance and operational excellence.

You will:

• Lead the Group's central technical capability for reliability, performance and operational excellence.

• Develop and embed standards, methodologies and governance frameworks that drive consistency across our operating companies.

• Translate asset management strategy, business risk and operational priorities into practical, deployable approaches.

• Own methodologies for asset criticality, FMECA/RCM, risk-based maintenance, defect elimination and process performance optimisation.

• Ensure maintenance and performance strategies are evidence-led and aligned to operational outcomes.

• Build strong feedback loops with operational teams, using field learning to continuously improve Group standards.

• Provide technical leadership, coaching and development for reliability and performance specialists.

• Partner with colleagues across Asset Management, Operations, Engineering, Digital, Transformation and Delivery functions.

• Stay at the forefront of industry best practice, innovation and emerging technologies, incorporating proven improvements into our approach.

We're seeking a strategic and influential leader with deep expertise in reliability, asset management or operational performance within a complex, asset-intensive environment.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience leading reliability, asset performance, operational excellence or technical strategy programmes.

• Strong practical knowledge of reliability-centred maintenance, asset criticality, FMECA/RCM, defect elimination and whole-life asset decision making.

• Experience developing technical standards, governance frameworks and methodologies within large operational organisations.

• A strong understanding of process performance, continuous improvement and operational excellence principles.

• The ability to translate complex technical concepts and business risks into practical solutions.

• Proven leadership experience, including developing technical specialists and building high-performing teams.

• Excellent stakeholder engagement…