Head of leakage

Powered by Water, Driven by Purpose

South West Water keeps the South West flowing with safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services across some of the UK’s most stunning landscapes.

We’re proud to be part of Pennon Group, a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

Ready to make a splash? Join our team today.

We’re looking for an experienced and strategic leader to join us as Head of Leakage, a critical role responsible for shaping and delivering our end-to-end approach to water loss reduction. The role will be based in either Surrey, Exeter or Bristol, with an expectation of regular travel across our operational areas.

About The Role

You will own the organisation’s leakage strategy and performance, ensuring we meet ambitious regulatory commitments while driving efficiency, innovation and value for customers and the environment. Acting as the single point of accountability for leakage performance, you’ll bring together strategy, operations, data and regulatory insight to deliver sustainable outcomes across our network.

What You'll Be Doing

• Defining and leading our long-term leakage strategy, aligning with water resource planning and regulatory cycles
• Owning performance against regulatory commitments and ODIs, ensuring delivery is robust, measurable and continuously improving
• Leading the development of leakage components within Price Reviews (PR) and Water Resource Management Plans (WRMP)
• Acting as the senior representative for leakage, engaging with regulators and industry bodies
• Setting clear expectations for operational teams and ensuring delivery against stretching targets
• Overseeing water balance, leakage reporting, data quality and assurance frameworks
• Driving innovation in leakage management, including smart networks, analytics and new technologies
• Establishing effective governance, operating models and cross-functional collaboration
• Leading and developing a high-performing team of specialists

Essential Experience

What we're looking for:

• Significant experience in leakage, water loss or network performance within a regulated utility
• Strong understanding of regulatory frameworks, including PR and WRMP processes
• Proven ability to lead strategy development and performance management at scale
• Experience contributing to or leading regulatory submissions and business cases
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to use data to drive decisions
• Ability to influence and challenge across a matrix organisation
• Excellent stakeholder management, including senior leadership and regulators

Desirable

• Experience with smart water networks, digital transformation or advanced analytics
• Knowledge of water balance methodology and assurance frameworks
• Commercial awareness, including investment optimisation and cost-benefit analysis
• Experience delivering cross-functional transformation programmes

What's In It For You

We know our people drive our success — so we’re committed to offering an excellent range of benefits, including:

• 30 days annual leave + bank holidays
• Bonus Plan
• Private Healthcare
• Company car or cash for car allowance
• Competitive contributory pension
• Share-save scheme
• Health benefits & wellbeing support programmes
• Group discountsCycle to Work scheme
• Financial support services
• Development and training opportunities … and much more!

This is a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping how we manage one of our most valuable resources. You’ll work at the intersection of strategy, operations and innovation, helping to deliver real environmental impact while ensuring value for customers.

Closing Date: 26th June 2026

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.

Be yourself, we like it that way. Together, we will build a culture of belonging, where inclusion is instinctive. Diversity is our strength and a reflection of our communities. We care, we value everyone, we celebrate uniqueness.

Our core values, which are essential to our success, are:

Be Rock Solid - Build trust and be trusted. Be the one we all look to and can depend on.

Be You - We want you to bring your best everyday. Be yourself and make your mark in your individual way.

Be the Future - Embrace change. Drive Progress. Own the challenge.

We look after the water and wastewater services for 1.8 million customers across Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Dorset and Somerset.

From treatment and maintenance, to innovation and improvements, we're busy every day finding and fixing leaks, unblocking sewers and going bigger and further in our environmental work to be a company you can be proud of.