Policy Lead - Business Retail Market

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for a Principal Policy Lead to join our Business Retail Market Team within the Markets and Changing Directorate.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. Following the Independent Water Commissions Final Report and subsequent White Paper - 'New Vision for Water', the UK government has set out a bold new direction - one that brings together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

Ofwat is working in collaboration with the government and other regulators to help establish a new body for England, combining our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, and Natural England. Were also continuing to engage with the Welsh Government to support future decisions for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If youre passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

We are looking for a Policy Lead to join our Business Retail Market Team at Principal level. The team has a multi-faceted programme of work aimed at improving the Business Retail Market so that it delivers better outcomes for customers, society and the environment. The team aims to do this through initiatives on regulatory customer protections, improving company performance, and monitoring and enforcement work. All our work here involves extensive engagement with external stakeholders.

Now is a particularly exciting time to join the team as we are at an important juncture in the development of the market we have recently established revised customer protections. Work is underway to improve supplier of last resort arrangements in the market and to review retail price caps for the Business Retail Market. We are also stepping up our market monitoring and work to ensure companies comply with their obligations with respect to customer protections.

As a Principal in the Business Retail Market team, you will lead and support a number of strategically important workstreams. These are likely to include leading Ofwat's role in understanding and monitoring and where relevant strengthening customer protections, improving trading parties' support for the market, and working with industry and stakeholders to deliver change. As you will be part of a small and dynamic team, you will also work flexibly across the team's various functions relating to the Business Retail Market. You will also represent Ofwat on industry Committees and Working Groups as appropriate.

We seek a Principal who can lead work from a policy perspective. Given the role is related to competitive retail markets, we would also particularly welcome candidates who have some knowledge or experience of economics or applying economic principles in a regulated context and/or regarding competitive markets.

Key deliverables:

In this role you will be expected to:

• Lead or contribute to the development of policy and process to support delivery by the Business Retail team and working across Ofwat as appropriate. This will include, for example, leading policy and analytical work regarding our approach and decisions on customer protections.
• Help deliver the portfolio of code modification decisions and/or policy projects. This may include managing processes and team members, and developing policy recommendations, with a view to ensuring Ofwat decisions on Code modifications are made and presented in a robust manner.
• Provide visible leadership and guidanceto members of the Business Retail team. You will be expected to support, empower and be a role model for junior members of the team, to help them develop skills and experience and to continue to support all members professional development. As a leader in Ofwat, you will also role model our values and ways of working and be an active contributor to the corporate activities that make Ofwat a great place to work.
• Act as a People Leader and/or Project Manager, taking on budget management responsibilities and, where appropriate, people management responsibilities in line with Ofwats Governance Framework.
• Create and champion an inclusive working environment that supports growth, well-being and continuous improvement in our delivery.
• Strongly contribute to Ofwats wider leadership, by engaging, contributing and supporting our work to make Ofwat a great place to work.

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

Experience, skills and knowledge

1. Lead criteria 1: Skills and experience in formulating, presenting, and writing clear and concise evidence-based advice to inform policy making, decision building and recommendations, for a range of audiences and to encourage and respond to constructive challenge to build confidence in decision-making. This would ideally be from a public policy or regulatory policy background.
2. Lead criteria 2: Knowledge or experience of markets, competition and regulation, and the benefits markets and competition can deliver for customers. This would ideally include the identification and application of relevant economic, legal and policy frameworks and requirements.
3. Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience of identifying, analysing and accurately interpreting a range of information and insights to inform evidence-based decisions and solutions for complex problems.
4. Ability to effectively plan, prioritise and deliver large projects and programmes of work both directly and by managing multi-disciplinary teams, and where necessary external advisors/consultants.
5. Experience of building and maintaining constructive working relationships with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to understand their needs, expectations, and priorities, and to influence and collaborate effectively to deliver desired outcomes.

Attributes

6. Delivers Outcomes

7. Champion and Leader of Change

8. Makes Relationships Count

9. Adaptable Thinker

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for the relevant salary grade. You can read more about Attributes here.