Innovation Principal

Requirements of the role

We have an opportunity for a Innovation Principal to join our Innovation Team within Sector Performance Directorate.

The Sector Performance Directorate is responsible for driving a step change in water company and sector performance through effective and intelligent oversight and action. Our mission is to regularly, visibly, and proactively challenge companies on their performance, using data driven insights and operational expertise.

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.

Job description
The Role

This is a rare and exciting opportunity for someone who wants to make meaningful change in a vitally important sector, working in an organisation that provides the conditions for its people to thrive.

Tackling problems no one has solved before can feel daunting to some, but for those with a bold vision for change and a dissatisfaction with the status quo, who can work in collaboration with a diverse range of people, finding solutions for the greater good – this role could definitely be for you.

This is a critical time in the water sector, a time to rethink how to deliver the best value outcomes for customers, communities, the economy and the environment. This will need a shift in mindset towards more cross-sector, place-based problem solving. It will need to maximise the use of data and analytics to ensure decision making is built on evidence and insight that uses all available information and technology, as well as collaboration and cooperation on a scale not yet seen.

The Ofwat Innovation Fund was launched in 2020, and over that time has invested £200m in over 190 projects involving nearly 300 partners across academia, charities, water companies and industry. Over this next 5 year AMP8 period, the Innovation Fund has doubled to £400m and our ambition for what the fund will achieve has increased many times more. Working closely with our delivery partners on the Fund, our focus is on collaboration and implementation of innovation across the sector at scale and at pace to deliver demonstrable, meaningful change.

In this role, you will work alongside two other Principals and together lead a small team of highly motivated, highly capable people in the design, implementation, evaluation and continuous improvement of the Ofwat Innovation Fund. This includes playing a key role in designing the approach we take to our new programmes of work, including the eligibility, application, assessment, monitoring and evaluation of projects and taking into account the potential wider policy implications of our work. This will require working collaboratively with colleagues across the organisation and building relationships with key external stakeholders within and outside the water sector.

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