Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for two enthusiastic and highly motivated individuals to join the Water Resource Planning team as Water Resource Planning specialists.
These Senior Service Planner roles sit within the Environment, Planning & Assurance Directorate (EPA) and play a key role in delivering a consistently excellent water supply and enabling sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
The Water Resource Planning Team is a pan Scotland team responsible for setting out how we will balance available water resources with demands, ensuring a sufficient and resilient water supply for the public and the economy, adapting to climate change challenges, while protecting the environment.
We also play a vital role in managing Scottish Water’s activities for abstractions and impoundments, to ensure the protection and improvement of Scotland’s water environment.
The team provides a centre of technical excellence for matters relating to water resource planning, water abstraction licensing and compliance as well as meeting regulatory environmental objectives.
We’re a friendly, welcoming, and supportive team of specialists who share a commitment to managing Scotland’s most precious resource.
What you’ll do
Water resource planning is an established process, following industry best practice and guiding principles, adapted for Scotland. This long-term strategic approach identifies the complex challenges and opportunities for resilient water supplies, with social, economic, and environmental needs in the face of a changing climate. Using adaptive planning techniques, we need to make timely investment decisions, such as developing new sources, expanding treatment capacity and strengthening interconnectivity between systems, as well as a strong focus on managing demand and network leakage.
Scottish Water is proud of our commitment to reach Net Zero by 2040. You will play a key role, through water resource planning, in working to develop best value resilient water supplies, aligned to climate change adaptation plans.
What you’ll need
The two roles will have a different focus:
Role 1: Co-ordinate activities and strategies to underpin the Water Resource Plan.
The main responsibilities will be to lead the development of the water resource planning framework in Scotland, in line with Government ambitions in this field. This will involve collaboration with key stakeholders and our Regulators, reviewing and influencing company policy, and informing the business long term strategy.
Role 2: Maintain and develop the corporate supply demand balance.
The main responsibilities will be to use industry standard methodologies to clearly set out how our supplies will meet demand, through data tables and analytical tools. The 25-year forecast is the investment evidence base for the Water Resource Plan, and a key part of this role is setting out the long-term risks for water availability.
Experience of working with strategic plans in the water industry would be a strong advantage, as would knowledge of one or more of:
- Water Resource Planning
- Developing Water Strategies
- Water industry policy or legislation
- Data strategies and analysis
Applicants will be considered from non-water related backgrounds if able to demonstrate experience and understanding and similar skillsets.
The roles incorporate report writing and/or a high degree of data modelling. You’ll need good writing skills with the ability to gather, interpret, and analyse complex information to drive informed decision-making, including the ability to interpret industry policy and legislation. People-wise, you’ll need a friendly and positive attitude and the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and external stakeholders.
You’ll also need to be a confident communicator and able to break down complex information into clear and concise language for different audiences and in different formats, including workshops and formal reports.
Looking out for you
While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.
You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy up to five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.
When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.
For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), and life assurance.
As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.
The not-so-small print
This role will be a Grade 7. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £41,000. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £51,970.
If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be – we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 27th of September 2024.
Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. These checks are conducted on our behalf by a third party. Don’t worry – we’ll ask your permission before starting these checks.
A few final things worth knowing…
Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!
Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We’re also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.
As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you’ll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.
Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.
We’re here to help. Ask us anything at SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk
