Root Cause Improvement Manager- Water Recycling

Salary: £ 65,000 circa dependant on skills & experience & Car allowance

We offer a wide range of benefits including private health care, virtual GP service for you and your household, and a generous pension scheme – we double-match your contributions, up to 6%, giving you an 18% combined contribution

. 

Location: Based within the Anglian Water Region, covering areas such as Northampton, Basildon, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Grimsby, Lincoln, Huntingdon & Cambridge  

Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time, with flexibility for part-time working

Important — We’d really love to hear your story and what excites you about this role, so please include a cover letter with your application. This helps us understand your motivation and what draws you to join us. Applications without a cover letter may not be progressed

For a great career just add water! 

The Role

The Root Cause & Improvement Manager is a strategic and operational leadership role, responsible for embedding a strong and sustainable culture of continuous improvement across Water Recycling.

You will own and lead our Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and continuous improvement frameworks, ensuring learning from incidents, performance issues and operational challenges translates into real, lasting change.

A critical accountability of this role is to ensure that insights and improvements identified through RCA and improvement activity directly inform TOTEX planning and are clearly reflected within our Pollution Incident Reduction Plan (PIRP). This ensures that operational learning drives long‑term investment, performance improvement, and pollution reduction outcomes.

This is a highly visible role requiring a passionate, people‑focused leader with strong expertise in RCA methodologies, Lean and continuous improvement, and change leadership. You will work closely with senior leaders, operational teams and transformation partners to improve performance, efficiency, safety and behaviour across the business.

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead and continuously improve the RCA framework, ensuring consistent, high‑quality investigations and actionable outcomes across Water Recycling.
• Embed a continuous improvement mindset, coaching leaders and teams to identify root causes and deliver sustainable solutions.
• Drive delivery of measurable outcomes, ensuring improvements are monitored, reviewed and sustained over time.
• Support and challenge teams to deliver improved performance, efficiency and compliance, with a strong focus on pollution prevention and operational resilience.
• Build strong relationships with senior leaders, operational managers and central functions, acting as a trusted improvement partner.
• Champion “Safer Every Day”, embedding safety, risk reduction and learning into all improvement activity.
• Act as a key enabler of transformation, supporting the business to meet regulatory, environmental and customer commitments.

What We’re Looking For 

• Proven experience leading Root Cause Analysis and continuous improvement within a complex operational or regulated environment.
• Strong knowledge of Lean, problem‑solving, and performance improvement methodologies.
• Experience of translating operational learning into investment, planning or risk mitigation strategies (TOTEX experience desirable).
• A confident, engaging leader with the ability to influence at all levels, from front‑line teams to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to drive behavioural change, embed new ways of working and sustain improvements.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to challenge constructively and collaborate effectively.
• A passion for safety, environmental protection and continuous learning.
• A full UK Driving licence

Why Join Us?   

Join us and make a difference. Our customers come from a wide range of backgrounds, and we think our workplace should reflect that. We are committed to making sure all our colleagues feel they belong and are supported to succeed. Together with our fellow water companies, we are committed to the Social Mobility Pledge; we are also a signatory to Business in the Community’s Race at Work charter; we hold the Armed Forces Gold Covenant for Employers; we are an accredited Disability Confident employer, and we play a leading part in the Women’s Utility Network.     

Ready to help us?

Apply now and show us how your ideas can make a lasting impact.
Don’t forget to include your cover letter — we want to hear your story, your passion for improvement, and how you’ll help us deliver positive change.

Closing date – Thursday 30th April

Interviews – Wednesday 13th May & Friday 15th May

#loveeverydrop