Financial Resilience Principal

We’re Ofwat (The Water Services Regulation Authority) a non-ministerial government department, responsible for regulating water and wastewater services in England and Wales. Our role is to ensure reliable and safe water supplies, protect the environment, maintain affordable billing, and promote sustainable water usage. 

The Financial Resilience work-stream, within the Sector Performance directorate looks at the corporate and financial resilience of companies in the sector. We challenge companies where necessary to take steps to improve their financial resilience and we hold them to account where they are not delivering in line with expectations.  

Companies are responsible for ensuring that they are resilient, and we expect companies to be transparent in their reporting in relation to the risks that they face and their assessment of financial resilience. We expect the information published by the companies we regulate to provide us with confidence as to the quality of their assessment of their long-term viability.

As a Principal within the financial resilience team, you will use your skills to contribute to our work to monitor the financial performance of the companies which we regulate, to ensure that they are complying with the requirement of their licences and to challenge companies to ensure that they provide financial data in a clear and transparent way.

In leading an area of work in the financial resilience work stream, you’ll ensure that we’re delivering on our strategic objectives to time and to budget, and in line with our ways of working. You will make an important contribution to understanding and managing strategic risks and opportunities.

Internally, our principals will have a seat at the leadership table, forming part of our wider leadership team, and will take responsibility for cracking our toughest problems to deliver our objectives. You will have a broad portfolio of issues and will take ownership of a range of specific policies and procedures, taking responsibility and accountability for their success. You will be expected to have good judgement and to exercise it across complex issues responsibly in line with our strategy and ways of working.

Key deliverables:

• Successful candidates will be expected to work on different projects within the Financial Resilience work stream.
• The work may involve monitoring the financial performance and position of both the wholesale water and wastewater companies and the non-household retail companies and, considering whether there is a risk to their resilience and whether action needs to be taken to protect customers.
• You may also contribute to the development of our policy and processes in relation to how companies need to demonstrate resilience and the approach that Ofwat should take to regulation in this area.
• Within this work stream you may also be involved in looking at issues relating to the accuracy and transparency of financial reporting by companies, company compliance with relevant license requirements and may be involved in work to address concerns over the resilience of individual companies.
• The financial resilience team are also expected to support other workstreams and priority areas across Ofwat, such as the delivery of PR24 which is responsible for delivering price determinations for 2025-30. Work in this area may include contributing to the review of business plans submitted by companies and assessing the financial resilience of the companies under the plans they have submitted and following any interventions to those plans made by Ofwat.

Applicants do not need to have experience in a regulatory environment. This is a great opportunity for somebody from a traditional accounting or finance background seeking a fresh challenge and a chance to broaden their knowledge and skills. 

Essential Experience, Skills and Knowledge 

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
• Understanding of financial reporting and the application of relevant accounting standards.
• Understanding of company and group structures, how companies raise finance, the types of finance that are available to them and the relevant commercial issues.
• Experience of analysing and interpreting financial information presented by companies.
• Ability to draw conclusions from financial data and to present options and recommendations to senior management.
• Experience of building effective relationships with senior staff and external stakeholders and identifying and facilitating linkages between projects and work streams.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Including the ability to write high quality documents, and to communicate complex analysis and issues to non-technical audiences.
• Able to produce high quality analysis to tight timescales, while managing competing priorities.
• Experience of leading work streams or projects within a complex programme, including planning, prioritisation, tracking and reporting progress. 

Attributes

• Creates clarity
• Promotes collaboration
• Builds the team
• Deliver outcomes

You can read about our Framework for Success here

Why you should join Ofwat:

We are forward-thinking, creative, innovative and ambitious. We actively encourage autonomy, collaboration and innovation and we have a unique culture fostered by trust, flexibility and respect.

We strive to ensure our people feel connected and valued, where their voice matters. You will be provided with the space and support to shape your future while taking greater control of your own growth and development.

In 2023 we were awarded ‘Smarter Working Maturity’ recognition for the way that Ofwat has embraced new and modern ways of working, reflecting the spaces we provide, technology we have deployed and the culture and leadership we have embedded to empower choice and flexibility for our people

Please read the attached “Candidate Information Pack” to find more about Ofwat and our Values.

You will also benefit from:

• Generous Civil Service pension with a minimum employer contribution of around 27% (£14,218 per annum at the bottom of the band and £21,748 at the top);
• 25 days annual leave (increasing to max 30 with each year of service) plus bank holidays and 2.5 privilege leave days;
• access to exclusive discounts on a range of goods and services such as retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance and gym membership;
• cycle-to-work scheme;
• season ticket loan for travel between home and office;
• flexible working arrangements;
• fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies;
• up to 3 volunteering days per year;
• enhanced sick pay;
• generous shared parental leave and pay;
• regular professional development;
• health and wellbeing initiatives 

Job contact :

• Name : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk
• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk