Job description:
Improvement Leader (CI) Graduate
Salary & Benefits
* Starting salary:
£32,000, rising to £37,000 by end of year 2
* Extras: £2,000 signing bonus, annual bonus, 25 days holiday + bank holidays + wellness day
* Pension: Up to 12% company contribution
* Life assurance: 4x pensionable salary
* Permanant substantive role offer upon completion of programme subject to performance
* Flexible Benefits Package
* Includes health cash plan, critical illness and dental insurance, life assurance flex (with partner cover), retail discounts, online GP access, cycle-to-work scheme, gym membership savings, and more.
Location: West Yorkshire with requirement for flexible travel across Yorkshire & Humber.
Work type: 37 hours per week between a working window of 8:00am-6:00pm Monday – Friday
Why Yorkshire Water?
Yorkshire Water delivers essential water and wastewater services to over 5.4 million people. But we're more than taps and toilets—we protect the environment, support communities, and help shape Yorkshire's future.
From tackling climate change to planning for droughts and floods, we're solving some of the biggest challenges facing our region and we need talented graduates to help us do it.
Your Graduate Programme
Our two-year programme offers you five placements across your allocated business area, complemented by a choice of placements to suit your personal development needs in core functions such as Finance, Health & Safety, People, and Procurement, enabling you to have a balanced understanding of the business. You'll gain hands-on experience, technical and leadership training, and support from mentors, managers, graduate alumni, and our Early in Careers team to support you from the day you make the decision to join us.
By the end of the scheme, you'll be ready to step into a permanent role and make a lasting impact.
Your Team
Customer Experience is at the very heart of how we develop a business that serves a thriving Yorkshire, right for customers, right for the environment.
Your Role:
As a Improvement Leader (CI) Graduate, you will:
* Join our existing Business Insights and Service Planning team, within Customer Experience.
* Develop and maintain Continuous Improvement plans aligned with organisational goals.
* Identify development opportunities and initiatives underpinned by quantitative and qualitative data.
* Influence the performance of the Customer Experience team, by Implementing and monitoring performance metrics to track improvement success.
* For your duration in the role, you will be assigned a line manager and a mentor from within the Business Insights and Planning Service community.
What you'll need to be successful
* A minimum 2:1 Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject.
* An individual with a strong knowledge of process improvement methodologies.
* Ability to work to manage change and influence stakeholders across the business
* Excellent communication, facilitation and leadership abilities.
* UK Drivers License and Access to own vehicle
Desirable previous experience
* Degree in Business or Certified in Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher) or Agile practices are important to the role.
Key Dates
* Closing date: 9th November 2025
* Assessment Centres: between 17th November 2025 to 5th December 2025
* Start date: 14th September 2026
We're proud to serve Yorkshire and are committed to building a diverse, inclusive workforce that reflects our communities. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Successful candidates will undergo pre-employment checks, including a Basic Disclosure via a third-party provider. Some roles may also require Counter Terrorist or Security Check clearance.
Kelda Group reserve the right to close applications early, so we recommend applying as soon as possible