Insights Specialist

We’re Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, responsible for regulating water and wastewater services in England and Wales. Our role is to help the sector build trust and confidence with customers, the environment and wider society: keeping water flowing, bills affordable and helping ensure the health of our rivers and waterways. We push hard to improve day-to-day water company performance for customers, including on leakage, sewer flooding and customer service.

We drive the sector to take a longer-term view and to take steps now to protect and enhance the environment, using digital and data innovations and making sure our water supplies are secure for future generations. 

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

The Sector Performance Directorate

The Performance Insights Specialist role sits within our ‘Insights & Impact’ team in Sector Performance Directorate. The directorate is responsible for driving transformation in water companies’ performance using actionable insight derived from our operational and financial monitoring.

The Insights & Impact team plays an integral role in the work of the Directorate. Its vision is ‘Delivering innovative solutions and insights through collaboration and teamwork, to support Ofwat’s strategic goals and improve our understanding of company performance’. We aim to provide high quality insights into sector and company performance and create a holistic view of sector and company performance through better use of data and wider intelligence sources. These insights inform our approach to driving improvements in performance and shape our policy priorities, engagement with stakeholders, and focus areas for regulation of the industry. The role of the team also includes delivering our operational resilience and asset management policy approaches; key aspects of performance insights.

***Internal Job Title – Principal Performance Insights***

We are seeking an experienced Performance Insights specialist to join our Insights and Impact team. The successful candidate will play a key role in the newly established directorate by supporting our goal to transform company performance. This is a key work area for Ofwat and will touch upon every part of our work.

A key aspect of the team’s work is the publication of our annual Water Company Performance Report (WCPR). This role will interact with and influence the WCPR through the performance insight the team generates and evaluates. Other key publications relevant to the role include  our Asset Management Maturity Assessment and Operational Resilience Discussion Paper.

We will consider applications from a variety of water sector backgrounds (eg water, wastewater, operations, asset management, capital delivery, engineering etc)., but water sector expertise is essential.

You will work closely with colleagues within the directorate and across Ofwat, identifying areas where analysis and insight is needed, developing approaches to extract insights, understanding the application of that insight to the sector, and communicating your findings, influencing how we deliver our strategic goals.

You will be comfortable adapting to different working styles, working collaboratively across different teams and disciplines. Building trusted and collaborative relationships, will be essential to success.

Key objectives:

In this role you will be expected to:

• Lead the delivery of key packages of performance insights ranging from problem solving projects, analytical projects to policy development projects. In each of these instances generating insight from performance information will be key alongside identifying and evaluating further information that may be required and the benefits of capturing additional data.
• Lead and project manage high profile activities that feed directly into key policy areas against challenging timescales utilising data from multiple policy areas. This may involve leading the work of consultants or delivering key outputs and publications to challenging timetables for a variety of audiences.
• Lead and develop clear, well researched policy options for Directors and Senior Directors based on the insight and evaluation generated from yourself and the wider team.
• Lead, deliver and manage, complex, stakeholder interactions to ensure opportunities for internal and external collaboration are fully utilised.
• Understand the different priorities for policy teams across Ofwat and how performance insight can support, enhance, and challenge these.
• Present insights/policy proposals to internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide coaching and support to colleagues, proactively sharing skills and knowledge.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of data and insights within the organisation, proactively sharing skills and knowledge.
• Develop your skills through continued learning and development within your profession and within the wider directorate you work in.

Ofwat is an agile working environment, so you can expect opportunities to support other directorates and to move around the organisation as work priorities shift.

To be successful in this role you will have the below essential attributes, skills, experience and knowledge:

Experience, Skills and Knowledge:

• Lead Criterion: Excellent level of sector knowledge, including operational and asset management practices, and ability to effectively challenge company and sector performance across a range of themes and focus areas.
• Degree level or equivalent qualification or equivalent knowledge / experience in a technical field.
• Excellent understanding of, investment planning, operational resilience and asset health approaches including how these areas can be measured and applied.
• Ability to effectively lead, plan and manage projects underchallenging circumstances with a proven record of delivering clear insight, options and recommendations from complex data.
• Experience of using data, both quantitative and qualitative to draw out key actionable insights and present conclusions, to influence thinking and policy.
• Experience of working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams (including with external organisations) to deliver high quality insights.
• Experience of leading others and managing multiple priorities to meet deadlines – including an ability to work independently, and as part of a team using creativity and innovative approaches.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to interpret and communicate complex information for a range of internal and external stakeholders.

Attributes:

• You are a champion and leader of change
• You deliver outcomes
• You are an adaptable thinker

You can read more about Attributes in Ofwat’s Framework for Success

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.

You will also benefit from:

• • • 25 days annual leave (increasing to max 30 with each year of service) in addition to 10.5 bank holiday and 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;
    • fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies;
    • up to 3 volunteering days per year;
    • recognition vouchers;
    • enhanced shared parental leave and pay;
    • enhanced sick pay;
    • cycle-to-work scheme;
    • season ticket loan for travel between home and office;
    • health and well-being initiatives

Job contact :

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

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk