Closing Date 2025-06-30 Job Title: Head of Leakage Reporting & Governance Location: We offer a hybrid approach to working and typically this is a 2:3 ratio. Base location can be from any of our core regional offices: Chatham, Otterbourne, Worthing or Falmer. Contract Type: Permanent Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday - Friday Salary: We are offering a competitive salary commensurate to experience, alongside a £500 monthly car allowance, up to 20% bonus and single cover private medical insurance. Job Overview With AMP8 now in full swing – our 2025–2030 regulatory cycle – Southern Water is embarking on an exciting phase of growth and transformation. To support this journey, we’re delighted to announce the creation of a brand-new leadership role: Head of Leakage Reporting & Governance. This is a unique opportunity to shape how we understand, report, and act on one of the most critical challenges in the water industry: leakage. Reporting directly to the Director of Water Operations, you’ll play a pivotal role in turning our theoretical models of leakage into practical, deliverable operational plans that support regulatory targets and deliver better service to our customers. Our Head of Leakage Reporting & Governance will lead a specialist team focused on producing robust, cost-effective plans and high-quality data to help Southern Water achieve our leakage performance targets and improve the condition of our water network whilst maintaining supply for our customers. Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to: Leading the development of annual activity plans that align with strategic objectives, collaborating across departments including Water Networks, Asset Management, Capital Delivery, and Finance. Overseeing the maintenance and improvement of District Meter Area (DMA) performance to support regulatory compliance and efficient leakage detection. Managing internal and external leakage reporting, including submissions to regulators. Enhancing the accuracy of our regulatory water balance process and driving KPI performance. Using historical network performance to inform future strategies and drive operational efficiency. Supporting long-term planning and regulatory submissions such as the Water Resource Management Plan and our Business Plan. Designing and delivering programmes for the AMP8 period. Working closely with operational teams to ensure the successful execution of leakage and network strategies. About You We’re keen to hear from applicants who have in-depth knowledge of water networks, both theoretical and hands-on, with a clear understanding of operational challenges and opportunities. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical insight into leakage drivers, including how these can be modelled to forecast outcomes and optimise performance and an expert understanding of the regulatory landscape, particularly in relation to leakage, water demand, and compliance reporting. Proven experience in developing and optimising delivery plans that balance cost efficiency with operational effectiveness as well as a good grasp of regulatory and operational risk, and how to integrate this into robust, long-term planning processes would be particularly advantageous. If you're ready to lead a high-impact function that will shape the future of water network performance at Southern Water, we want to hear from you! Package This role will be full time Monday to Friday with a hybrid approach to working. The base location could be any of our key regional offices: Chatham, Otterbourne, Falmer or Worthing. We are offering a salary as well as a monthly car allowance, single cover PMI and other benefits including: Company and performance-related bonus Generous pension with up to 11% company contribution Life assurance payment equal to four times your annual salary Health benefits through a Cash Plan Two paid community volunteering days a year 25 days annual holiday Occupational health service Perkbox benefits offering discounts and savings on several products and experiences Study support may be available for job-related qualifications We offer competitive maternity leave and flexible return to work options Join Southern Water and see how far your career could progress with a company committed to career progression, training and development opportunities, our customers and the environment. Why Southern Water? Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed. You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where senior professionals can make a meaningful impact, influence major strategic decisions, and drive long-term value creation. At Southern Water, diversity and inclusion are core values. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an environment where every individual is empowered to succeed. This is more than a role; it’s an opportunity to lead, innovate, and make a lasting impact. Apply now to be part of our transformational journey. Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position. Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?
