Regulatory Operational Performance Manager

Job Description

Are you a people focused leader who thrives on building strong relationships, influencing outcomes and guiding teams through complex challenges? As a Regulatory Operational Performance Manager, you’ll be joining a team that is incredibly reliable, supportive and generous with their knowledge. They look out for each other, share expertise openly and create a culture where collaboration and trust come naturally. If you are someone who leads with empathy, communicates persuasively and enjoys bringing people together to drive performance, this could be the perfect fit.

This is your opportunity to step into a pivotal leadership role where your decisions will directly influence environmental protection, regulatory performance and operational success across Water and Wastewater services.

About The Role

As our Regulatory Operational Performance Manager, you will oversee the delivery of regulatory reporting across Wastewater Network based activities and support regulatory performance across both Water and Wastewater services. You will ensure compliance is strong, reporting is accurate and that the business is always clearly positioned on performance.

In this role, your leadership matters. You will lead a team of analysts who play a key role in regulatory reporting and performance insight, contributing to positive outcomes for our customers, our stakeholders and the wider environment. You’ll guide a skilled and knowledgeable team who work collaboratively, share information freely and provide ongoing support to one another. This is a great environment for someone who enjoys developing people, encouraging growth and creating a space where the team feels supported and empowered.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead and inspire the Regulatory Operational Performance team, helping to build a positive culture, uphold company values and strengthen the United Utilities vision
• Manage regulatory reporting for the Environment Agency and Ofwat, ensuring all submissions meet required quality standards
• Maintain a strong understanding of regulatory requirements from Ofwat and the Environment Agency and translate these into clear expectations for the business
• Identify regulatory performance risks and coordinate the development of targeted performance improvement plans
• Provide clear and accurate insight on progress against regulatory targets, ensuring the organisation remains focused on continuous improvement
• Support Wastewater Network teams with regulatory performance issues and provide expert guidance where needed
• Work with Water and Wastewater Services on pollution incident management and support engagement with the Environment Agency
• Build effective relationships with the Environment Agency to secure the best possible outcomes for United Utilities
• Ensure all activity within the team complies with company and legal standards, with a strong emphasis on creating a safe and compliant working environment

What You'll Bring

You will thrive in this role if you combine strong technical understanding with empathetic, confident and inspirational leadership. We are looking for someone who is:

• A strong leader with the ability to develop, support and motivate high performing teams
• Empathetic, persuasive and highly skilled in building positive working relationships
• Experienced in engaging people at all levels, including senior stakeholders and external partners
• Capable of presenting complex technical information in a way that is clear, meaningful and easy to act on
• Results focused, ensuring internal KPIs are consistently met or exceeded
• Able to anticipate issues, adapt to change and think creatively when solving problems
• Comfortable working with independence while knowing when issues should be escalated
• Committed to maintaining high standards of safety, compliance and professionalism within the team

• Clear understanding of environmental regulations and how they apply within operational settings

Desirable

• Experience in operational processes or network environments
• Previous experience working with the Environment Agency
• Prior experience leading a team within a regulatory or operational function
• Strong technical understanding of wastewater network processes, spill monitoring and pollution reporting
• Knowledge of the regulatory environment in which United Utilities operates

Why Join Us

You will join a team known for its reliability, warmth and willingness to support one another. You can lean on them, learn from them and grow alongside them. This is a role where your leadership style genuinely matters and where your ability to build strong relationships will have a direct impact on environmental outcomes, regulatory success and company performance.

Benefits:

• 26 days’ annual leave (rising to 30) plus bank holidays

• Competitive pension (up to 14% employer contribution)
• Performance‑related bonus
• Company‑funded healthcare plan
• Retail discounts, gym savings and wellbeing support
• EV salary sacrifice scheme
• ShareBuy scheme
• Enhanced parental leave
• Flexible benefits through MORE Choices

Ready to lead with purpose? If you are an engaging leader with a passion for regulatory performance, strong people skills and a desire to make a meaningful difference, we would love to hear from you. Apply today and join a supportive, talented and forward thinking team at United Utilities.