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Highlights
Age inclusive
Benefits
Career progression
United Utilities
Providing great water for a stronger, greener and healthier North West 💧
Every day, we deliver one of life's most essential services to millions of people across the North West. From providing safe, high-quality drinking water to protecting the environment and supporting thriving communities, the work we do matters. We're investing £16.5 billion over the next five years in one of the biggest transformation programmes in our history. It's an exciting time to join us as we improve our services, enhance environmental performance, embrace innovation and create a more sustainable future for generations to come.
Whether you're just starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll have the opportunity to make a real impact, develop your skills and be part of something bigger.
There's more to us than just water. We're where purpose flows.
Some key facts about us:
🌳We own 56,000 hectares of land
🚰We have 86 water treatment works
🤩We deliver 1.8 billion litres water, every single day
🚾We treat 3.1 million litres wastewater, every single day
🫶 We employ over 7,500 brilliant & committed colleagues
What United Utilities offers their employees
Flexibility
We're waiting for United Utilities's employees to verify how flexible they are.
Hybrid working (with some weekly office time)
A little flexibility in start and finish times
3 office days / week
Career pathways at United Utilities
We offer a wide range of career pathways designed to support long-term growth. Whether you’re starting out, developing specialist skills or progressing into leadership, careers at United Utilities are built around learning, opportunity and progression across different roles and teams. 1 in 5 of our colleagues has either been promoted or changed roles in the last 12 months (January 2025 - December 2025).
We pride ourselves on providing structured early careers pathways through graduate programmes and apprenticeships. These roles offer hands-on experience, training and support to help early-career talent build skills, confidence and meaningful careers from the outset.
Our graduate schemes cover a range of areas from future leadership programmes to commercial, engineering and finance. You can find out more about our graduate schemes here.
Our apprenticeship programmes have something for everyone. Find out more about how to apply here.
Flexible working at United Utilities
We are committed to supporting flexible working across our organisation. Our approach is rooted in trust, empowering colleagues to work in ways that help them perform at their best while maintaining a healthy balance between work and life.
Because the nature of our work varies across teams, the type and extent of flexibility available may differ depending on the business area. We encourage open conversations so that colleagues and managers can agree arrangements that meet individual needs while ensuring we continue to deliver effectively for our customers and stakeholders.
Inclusion & Belonging at United Utilities
No matter your background, religious beliefs, gender or sexual orientation, you can bring your whole self to work here at United Utilities, because we believe in Opportunity for All. We want to support every member of our workforce to do the best job they can do, and we're going to do that by creating and maintaining a working environment where we value and respect one another's unique contributions. It's not just about the 1.8 billion litres of water we deliver every day to homes and business across our five counties; it's not just about the thousands of kilometres of water pipes, sewers, reservoirs and wastewater treatment works we service every day – it’s also about our people, what they bring to our company, and what our company can do for them.
We have a number of colleague networks and support groups right across our organisation, who are championed by one of our senior leaders showcasing commitment from the very top. Our networks help give colleagues a strong sense of connection, offering an opportunity to meet with other like-minded people, both internally and externally. Our network groups include (but not limited to):
👉Gender Equality
👉Armed Forces
👉LGBTQ+
👉 Multi Cultural & Faith
👉 Ability & Neurodiversity
What it's like to work at United Utilities: employee stories & experiences
Working at United Utilities means being part of a purpose-driven organisation where people take pride in making a real difference. Teams work collaboratively to deliver essential services, with a strong focus on shared values, support and doing the right thing for customers and communities.
Hearing directly from people across the business helps you understand how careers grow, how our teams work together and what makes our culture unique.
View our employee stories here.
Accreditations
The UK's 4th most inclusive employer, 2024/25 & 2025/26
2026
Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Gold Award
2026
Social Recruitment Advocacy Group - Silver accreditation
2026
Disability Confident Level 2
2024
WiW (women in work) Gender Equity Measures
2025
Top 10 (REDI) Index employer
2024
Social Recruitment Covenant signatory
2026
Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers - UK Government
2026Awards & Achievements
Outstanding employer of the year - Water industry awards
2025
The Sunday Times top 100 apprenticeship employers
2025
Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the year - Water industry awards
2025
Member of BITC's opening doors campaign
2025
Cornerstone employer on regional careers hubs
2025Anything else you want to know?
Ask United Utilitiesa question about their ways of working, benefits, or anything else on their profile, and we'll pass it on for them to answer. (Just a heads up, we can't respond to questions about specific roles or applications)
Working at United Utilities
Hybrid - 3 days in the office, 2 days from home
A little flex time
Company employees:
Gender diversity (m:f):
Hiring in countries
United Kingdom
Office Locations
Anything else you want to know?
Ask United Utilitiesa question about their ways of working, benefits, or anything else on their profile, and we'll pass it on for them to answer. (Just a heads up, we can't respond to questions about specific roles or applications)
Related blog posts
Employee benefits
Please note that some of these benefits may vary depending on the grade of the role. Also some benefits highlighted are available on an annual subscription only.
Annual Leave
- 26 days annual leave + bank holidays
- Buy or sell annual leave – Buy or sell up to 5 days per year
- Reservist leave
Health & Wellbeing
- Compassionate leave
- Dental coverage
- Enhanced sick daysPopular
- Family health insurance
- Gym membership – On-site gym at our head office & discounts on local gyms for those not based there
- Health cash plan
- Health insurancePopular
- Mental health days – 1 wellbeing day per year (on top of annual leave entitlement)
- Mental health first aiders
- Mental health platform access
- Private GP service
Learning & Development
- Further education support
- Professional subscriptions
Office Based
- Collaboration spaces
- Cycle to work scheme
- Ergonomic workstations
- Faith rooms
- On-site childcare
- On-site gym
- Secure on-site parking
- Sensory-Friendly Setup
Parents & Caregivers
- Adoption leave
- Carer’s leave
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Neonatal leave
- Pregnancy support
- Shared parental leave
Salary Based
- Annual bonus
- Electric Car Salary Sacrifice
- Enhanced pension match/contribution – Up to 21% combined contributions
- Income protection
- Referral bonus
Travel & Leisure
- Cinema discounts
- Restaurant discounts
Work Environment
- Employee recognition scheme – Colleague led recognition scheme with monthly winners
- In house training
Work Week
- Open to compressed hoursPopular
- Open to part time work for some rolesPopular
Other
- Death in service – covered for 4 times pensionable earnings
- Employee assistance programme
- Will writing
United Utilities's careers
