Head of Customer Metering

What you'll do

Welsh Water has defined a new customer metering strategy for AMP8 (2025 – 2030) – our Progressive Metering Strategy.  This strategy marks a significant change in our approach to customer metering. It will see us increase the level of metered properties to 76%, invest c.£85m over the 5-year period (compared to £15m in AMP7) and adopt a ‘SMART’ approach to metering (initially via AMR technology) across our customer base for the first time.  Additionally, this strategy is a key enabler for our plans to reduce Per Capita Consumption and Leakage.     

The Head of Customer Metering is a key leadership role, initially with the primary role of ensuring that the preparations for the implementation and delivery of this strategy are completed prior to the start of AMP8.  They will also be responsible for the delivery of the strategy and also the approach to meter installation / replacement work outside of the strategy (e.g. our meter option work) and the required meter reading and investigation activities.   This person will be a member of the Retail Leadership Team and the role will grow and be reviewed as the Progress Metering Strategy progresses over AMP8.

What you’ll be responsible for

Retail Leadership Team

•    Working with the Retail Leadership team and DCWW to set and achieve objectives within the strategic 5-year plan.
•    Leading the delivery of operations across the Customer Metering teams.
•    Delivery of cost, service and collections KPIs.
•    Provide leadership and direction to the department and developing the capabilities necessary to deliver the business’s short-, medium- and long-term objectives.
•    Creating and implementing performance strategies to achieve desired outcomes.
•    Driving performance and operational excellence initiatives to continually improve service quality and efficiency, and establishing a culture that improves customer experience.
•    Coaching and developing the performance of the Customer Metering teams; creating and maintaining an accountable and high performing team; and ensuring that there is a development framework that maximises talent from within and builds knowledge and confidence.
•    Champion and act as an example of Welsh Water’s core values and ethics.
•    Promoting a culture of continuous improvement and behaviours to create an empowered, positive and engaged workforce.
•    Sponsorship of key business and technology projects to improve customer experience and reduce costs

Customer Metering

•    Ensuring the business is ready to implement the Progressive Metering Strategy for the start of AMP8, ensuring excellent levels of customer service are maintained and that there is the appropriate governance in place.
•    The development and implementation of the customer engagement strategy to improve awareness of water usage, scarcity and the needs to conserve.
•    Overseeing the Customer Metering budget, ensuring that variances are thoroughly investigated with the responsible business owners and, where necessary, plans for mitigating overspend are discussed and agreed with the Meter Strategy Steering Group.
•    Reviewing the development of new technologies, as they emerge, and recommending their use where appropriate (e.g. the move to AMI etc)
•    Leading on the effective and timely mobilisation of new contract awards for both the purchase of meters and their implementation in line with the metering strategy.
•    Managing contract performance by the Water Network Alliance, working with the Head of Operations Water Network Alliance, to ensure that our progressive metering, meter options and non-option/replacement work is delivered to our specified requirements.
•    Promoting a culture of continuous improvement through detailed service delivery analysis, focusing on enhanced quality delivery and appropriate cost reductions: reviewing all the metering services provided, and looking for ways to deliver increased levels of value to all stakeholders.
•    Providing regular updates on progress to the Metering Strategy Group, Asset Investment Group, Dwr Cymru Executive and Glas Board, and ensuring that programme risks to delivery are managed appropriately.

Who you’ll work with

Internal
•    Executive Management Team
•    Water, Waste and Retail Senior Leadership Teams
•    Water Services Distribution and Engineering Teams 
•    The Water Network Alliance and the various Alliance Partners
•    Procurement
•    Communications
•    ITS

External
•    Customers and customer representatives (e.g. Consumer Council for Water CCW)
•    Other water company representatives

About you

Knowledge, Skills & Experience 

• Degree level or equivalent appropriate professional body                
• Minimum of 5 years’ experience of operational and leadership management, ideally within the water sector        
• Experience of managing and building relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, such as board directors, regulators and suppliers 
• Implementing business improvement initiatives, using established project management methodologies, and working across multi-disciplinary teams        
• Budget management and forecasting           
• Delivering SLAs with a focus on continuously improving existing processes               
• Enthusiastic about putting our customers first every day        
• Excellent verbal and written communication         
• Good understanding of water industry regulatory bodies and standards        
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to manage effective relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders    
• Ability to produce clear, well-structured reports that facilitate effective decision making        
• Excellent people management and motivational leadership, with a track record of delivering outcomes and achievements of key targets

Benefits

As well as a market competitive salary, 33 days annual leave (pro rata, including public holidays), we offer a range of employee benefits and rewards including:

•    Variable pay schemes ((your salary band will remain the same, but performance depending, you could receive an incremental within-band increase and a yearly incentive)
•    Option to buy additional annual leave up to 5 days per year
•    Enhanced employer pension contributions – Up to 11% employer contributions
•    Enhanced family friendly policies
•    Progression opportunities, including the ability to apply for funded training and coaching and mentoring programmes
•    Reduction on gym memberships and high street shopping
•    Cycle to work scheme
•    Free on-site parking at all our sites
•    Discount off all Welsh Water visitor attraction centres and gift shops
•    Car-leasing scheme
•    Health CashBack scheme
•    An employee assistance programme for employees and their immediate family

Whilst also working for a not-for profit company that truly cares about earning the trust of customers everyday, and about looking after our beautiful environment

Please note, we may close this role sooner if required. We may also extend the original closing date depending on interest.

Who we are

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water keep 3 million people healthy each day with safe, reliable water, and take away wastewater to clean, before returning it safely to our beautiful rivers and seas.

To be able to deliver high quality, essential services which help to protect the health of our customers, colleagues and our environment, we need the right people to deliver on our vision.  This is achieved by living our core values and demonstrating the core behaviours that underpin them.  The security of our people, assets and information is key to us, so we are looking for people who understand and comply with the company’s required security objectives.

We know that the most successful teams are the most diverse teams. Equality, diversity and inclusion provide the very foundation to our culture at Welsh Water. We want every individual to feel confident, proud and able to bring their whole selves to work. 

To ensure an improved representation in our workforce, applications are particularly welcome from minority groups including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, Females, LGBT+, Non-binary and people with disabilities. Together we continue to build a workplace that not only celebrates the diverse voices of our colleagues but also represents each customer we serve.

In essence, ours is a company based on trust, openness, respect, commitment and honesty. A company that our colleagues are proud to work for.
 

INDMP