Senior Technical Specialist - Environmental Regulatory Advisor
Scotland Wide (Geog)
Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.
As a publicly owned water company, it’s important that Scottish Water achieves long-term value and best-in-class levels of service for the people of Scotland – which is why our work is closely regulated. Our Waste Water Strategy & Environmental Team (WWS&ER) plays a pivotal role in building trust with our external stakeholders and regulators.
Want to join us? We are looking for an Environmental Regulatory Adviser to join WWS&ER helping transform wastewater services, make smarter investment choices and enable sustainable growth supporting a flourishing Scotland. This is a permanent position with preferred location across the central belt/ West area, noting that this is an agile role, but that routine travel to West assets will be expected.
What you’ll do
1. You’ll be part of the Wastewater Strategy & Environmental Regulation Team (WWS&ER), reporting directly to the Technical Team Manager (Area Support).
2. The remit will be primarily in supporting the West area Wastewater Operational teams and Capital Investment delivery teams with regulatory advice and environmental expertise, however mutual support to colleagues in the team is expected.
3. You will be responsible for providing regulatory support with all compliance and licence issues to other SW teams, involving regular engagement with our Environmental Regulator, SEPA. Building and maintaining good relationships will be key to the success of the role.
4. Your role will involve a variety of responsibilities, with a strong emphasis on building and maintaining great relationships. This includes working closely with teams like Wastewater Operations, Strategic Wastewater, Capital Investment, and Delivery, as well as with SEPA. You'll also be a go-to person for advice and leadership on regulatory matters, supporting teams like CSD, Capital Investment, and Risk and Lifecycle Planning.
5. You'll take the lead on specific regulatory projects, often collaborating with sub-teams within Wastewater Strategy and Environmental Regulation (WWS&ER) and working with colleagues and contractors across the organisation. Part of your work will also involve coordinating and communicating effectively with regulatory bodies such as SEPA, NatureScot, and local authorities.
6. It’s not just about maintaining positive relationships—you’ll also need to challenge others when necessary to ensure both environmental and business benefits are achieved. A key focus will be on regulatory compliance and authorisation issues in the West area, providing support to capital delivery and improvement programs with licence management and other regulatory needs.
7. Your input will also shape business reporting, particularly in areas like regulatory risk management and reporting to the Regulatory Management Group for the West area. Lastly, you’ll contribute to developing and rolling out regulatory guidance within the business, ensuring everyone stays informed and aligned.
What you'll need
1. You'll have a sound understanding of European and UK environmental legislation, particularly Scottish regulations, the regulatory framework within which Scottish Water operates and environmental regulatory reporting requirements.
2. A “can do” attitude and a practical knowledge of pollution control, wastewater collection and treatment and a qualification in a scientific discipline would be desirable.
3. You'll be confident in preparing papers and presenting to colleagues and the wider business covering regulatory guidance and/or policy, taking the lead on liaison with external parties including chairing meetings, and interpreting and relaying information.
4. Excellent meta skills including communication, collaboration, organisation, problem solving, and critical thinking are essential. It is also essential you have good IT capabilities across standard MS tools, with Power BI and GIS experience desirable.
5. The role is broad, so you will need to be adept at prioritisation of tasks and be resilient to an ever-changing workload - frequently shifting focus from future planning to a current need, or from asset to asset. You must be confident in building relationships with a multitude of stakeholders both within and outwith Scottish Water, at all levels.
6. Some travel will be required to attend face-to-face key meetings, so a full UK driving licence is essential.
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 7. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £41,000. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £51,970.
If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 12th of January 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. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party, and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer.
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 SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk
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