Enforcement Senior Associate

Requirements of the role

We have five opportunities for Enforcement Senior Associates to join our Casework & Enforcement team.

These roles are based in the Casework and Enforcement Team within Ofwat’s Casework, Enforcement & Customers Directorate.

The Casework and Enforcement Team is the “front door” for many of the customers and stakeholders who contact Ofwat with enquiries or complaints about the sector or their water company. Where we have the legal powers to do so (typically under the Water Industry Act 1991, or the Competition Act 1998), we investigate and resolve customer disputes or water company failures, to ensure that water and wastewater companies meet their legal obligations to their customers, society, and the environment. Our work can range from helping an individual customer resolve a dispute with their water company, to imposing multi-million-pound fines on a water company where it has failed to meet its legal obligations.

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

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

These Senior Associate roles will particularly focus on the delivery of the team’s enforcement activities. This will include supporting the effective and efficient delivery of enforcement investigations and action, to hold water companies to account where they have failed on obligations Ofwat is responsible for enforcing. Successful candidates will lead the delivery of small-scale investigations delivered by our team, where we have legal powers to determine a dispute between a customer and their water company.

The successful candidates will have strong analytical skills, being able to collate and assess large volumes of complex information and data to identify what is relevant to our investigation and why. They will be able to quickly get to grips with new and varied subject areas, including the relevant legal obligations, policy expectations, data sources and the strategic context in which they sit. They will be proactive in asking questions of other team members, subject matter experts and the companies we investigate, to build the case team’s understanding of what has happened and why; how that fits with the legal obligations water companies have; and the steps companies must take to put things right.

The successful candidates will have strong organisational skills that enable them to plan, prioritise and deliver your work effectively to enable the swift progress of complex investigations. Being able to collaborate effectively will be essential, as you will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, bringing together case leads, lawyers, technical and communications specialists and where appropriate external consultants.

Key Deliverables

In this role you will be expected to:

1. Support the delivery of enforcement investigations (under the Water Industry Act 1991 and the Competition Act 1998). This will require you to:

Identify, gather and systematically assess large amounts of data and information relevant to our investigations.
Confidently engage with complex legal and technical information to understand if and how they are relevant the matters under investigation.
Convey complex information and evidenced-based conclusions and recommendations in a clear, concise and objective way both verbally and in writing, suitable for a range of audiences (ranging from customers to Ofwat’s senior managers and Board members).
Plan and prioritise your work effectively to meet deadlines and in line with our process and governance requirements.
Manage case files and evidence effectively and efficiently.
2. Lead the successful delivery of small-scale investigations into customer disputes. This will require you to:

Provide a high-quality service to customers, including meeting our service level timescales and ensuring you can understand and respond to the issues of dispute in your investigation.
Engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders to identify and gather the inputs and information you require to ensure our decisions are well-considered, and reflect relevant links to Ofwat’s wider work.
Identify and manage issues and risks arising from your work, escalating these to managers where appropriate.
3. Support continuous improvement in our ways of working. This will require you to:

Help in identifying and flagging trends and insights from our work and to reflect on lessons learnt to inform future ways of working and our continuous improvement.
Keep abreast of Ofwat’s key announcements and wider trends and developments that might impact our team’s work.
Play a role in enabling the success and well-being of our whole team, by seeking out and sharing knowledge; taking account of different individuals’ needs and views; supporting each other in managing and adapting to changing workloads and priorities; celebrating success; and providing constructive feedback to support our learning and growth.
Actively participate in finding solutions to challenges that might arise in our work, and in enabling and encouraging better and more efficient ways to achieve our team’s objectives.
Take ownership of your personal development and well-being.

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