Water Risk Operations Team Leader

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

As the guardian of Scotland’s water supply, Scottish Water actively tracks and monitors potential risks that could disrupt Scotland’s water network.

To help us with that, Scottish Water operates an approved Water Supply Risk Management System that adopts the principles of BS EN 15975-2 : 2013.

The Risk Operations team within Water Risk ensure that this management system works well across the water service.

What you’ll do

As a Technical Team Manager, leading the Risk Operations team you will shape the approach to how we communicate and engage colleagues across Scottish Water in the management of water supply risks, and support & monitor ongoing compliance with the management system.

At the heart of our approach, is the Interdisciplinary Group for Risk Management. This is the diverse community of expert practitioners across Environment, Planning and Assurance, Customer Service Delivery, and Capital Investment directorates who have shaped it to date. You and your team will support and nurture this group, growing it into a flourishing community of practice that is self-sustaining, embedded across the water service, and supported through clear objectives agreed in My Story conversations.

Beyond this, you will design, develop and implement a communications and engagement approach, collaborating across the organisation with colleagues in related areas. You will build relationships that give you influence in the right places to ensure there is awareness of the management system, and gain momentum to bring other teams on the journey. You will also design learning approaches by developing, updating, and promoting key reference and learning material – integrated with existing tools and programmes.

All of this will continue to raise awareness and educate colleagues in tangible terms on the principles of the management system to ensure that it continues to be well evidenced, collaboratively developed, implemented with discipline, and responsive to learning. Of course, our management system is supported by a comprehensive suite of processes, procedures, and work instructions as part of Scottish Water’s ISO 9001 certification, and underpinned by a formally documented framework for governance & decision making. You will ensure that these structures remain up-to-date and fit for purpose, embracing the ethos of continual improvement and ensuring that the process of change is well managed and understood. You will provide reporting and insight to senior managers on management system compliance, and lead the annual Management Review.

Leading and offering day-to-day supervision to a team of 4 service planners and senior service planners, you will set clear, measurable, and stretching objectives, find opportunities to promote their health and wellbeing, and encourage them to learn and grow in their roles.

What you’ll need

You’ll need a friendly and positive attitude and be a natural collaborator, working across internal colleagues and external stakeholders. You’ll also need to be a confident and articulate communicator and able to break down complex information into clear and concise language for different audiences.

You’ll bring an understanding of good communication practices, and how to pitch your message to any level within or outside of our organisation. An understanding of learning priorities would be a plus. You’ll be motivated by delivering meaningful and impactful communications and learning experiences for our people.

It’s important that you understand what it takes to operate an effective management system in practice, so relevant experience working in a process driven environment is essential. Even better if you’ve taken a leading role in driving its improvement.

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community.

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.

For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

This role will be a Grade 8. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £48,900. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £68,510.

This role can be based in any of our Scotland offices. Interviews will be held in Central Belt.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until the updated closing date of the 27th May 2025.

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. These checks are conducted on our behalf by a third party. Don’t worry - we’ll ask your permission before starting these checks.

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at

R10243