Waste Business Planning Manager

We are looking for two Waste Business Planning Managers to join the Waste Integrated Business Planning Team at Thames Water on a permanent basis. 

The newly established Waste Integrated Business Planning Team will become a ‘Team Thames’ capability to own and maintain the business plan for the Waste business at Thames Water across the AMP, Annual and Quarterly planning horizons.  The overall purpose of this team is to enable optimisation of spend across the Waste business to maximise performance across operational, environmental, customer and financial domains; ensuring senior leaders across the Waste business have the resources they need to deliver exceptional outcomes.   

One Waste Business Planning Manager role will be focused on the Waste Treatment business area, and the other focused on Waste Networks & Waste Pumping.  That said, this will be a small but perfectly formed team, so all team members will have the opportunity to be involved in the full range of activities we undertake. 

The Waste Business Planning Manager provides strategic oversight of the Integrated Business Plan by delivering insights that drive sustainable investment decisions. 

These two roles will be responsible for setting and refreshing the overall Waste business plan, and regular performance evaluations of progress against the business plan.  This will lead to defining options for optimising the business plan, including potential investment scenarios, and working with stakeholders from all levels of the business to foster agreement and alignment. 

• Full time (36 hours per week) 

• Location – Hybrid Clearwater Court, RG2 6AD 

What you will be doing as a Waste Business Planning Manager 

• Insights: Deliver strategic insights and recommendations to inform investment decisions and performance commitments. 

• Defining the Waste Business Plan & Regular Updates: Drives and oversees the Waste IBP process, in collaboration with the strategy team and programme sponsors, ensuring that planning processes and annual updates reflect evolving operational needs and regulatory requirements.  

• Investment Scenarios & Trade-Offs: Analyse various investment scenarios, balancing trade-offs to optimise capital deployment and risk. Make recommendations for prioritising and optimising across the Waste IBP to get the best outcomes. 

• Quality Assurance: Implement quality assurance measures and ensure that Waste IBP updates are accurate, timely, and aligned with strategic goals. 

• Stakeholder & Communications: Lead on internal and external communications in relation to Waste IBP updates; enabling buy in and collaborative delivery to get the best outcomes.  

 
What should you bring to the role? 

• Regulated Business Planning Experience: Proven track record in managing business planning processes within regulated environments. 

• Water Industry/Regulatory Experience: In-depth understanding of the water industry and its regulatory framework. 

• Analytics/Statistics: Strong analytical/statistical skills to support evidence-based decision-making, including the ability to build and maintain models/management decision support tools within MS Excel. 

• Proposal/Recommendation Papers: Experience and proven ability in drafting ‘management ready’ papers (e.g. MS PowerPoint / MS Word) to clearly and simply articulate proposals and recommendations, enabling stakeholder engagement, alignment and agreement. 

• Stakeholder Engagement: Experience in building and sustaining relationships with internal and external partners and an ability to positively influence stakeholders. 

• Pragmatic Decision-Making and Value Optimisation: Proven ability to think pragmatically when evaluating trade-offs, ensuring that decisions are guided and prioritised by a clear understanding of value, feasibility, and impact. 

 What’s in it for you? 

• Offering a salary between £62,000 - £72,000 per annum depending on skills and experience 

• Car allowance 

• Annual bonus (based on corporate and personal performance) 

• Private medical health care 

• Generous pension scheme through AON 

• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)  

• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance 

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Whether you’re interested in a role in one of our call centres or science labs, we’re looking for people like you with real passion and a burning desire to make things better.

So, if you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Our aim is to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.