Location
Hybrid - Slough, 9 Cambridge Avenue (WCSC), with monthly travel to sites across the Thames Water patch based on business requirements.

Hours
36 hours per week, Monday to Friday.

Salary
From £36,800 per annum depending on skills and experience.

About the Role
This is a fixed-term 12-month maternity cover contract opportunity. As the Planned Maintenance Optimisation Specialist for the Blockage Hotspot (BHS) programme, you will own all aspects of the programme, ensuring it is created, tendered, managed, and delivered within budget. You will track all costs and payments, ensuring they are signed off in line with current methodologies. You will build and maintain excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders including finance, field teams, and contractors, ensuring contractors adhere to Thames Water guidelines for Health and Safety, reporting, and behaviours.

Your responsibilities will include managing the BHS programme to deliver the correct surveys and cleaning, working closely with the Operations Data – Capacity and Insights team to create the annual work pack, engaging with Finance to secure funding and raise purchase orders, and collaborating with Commercial and Contracts teams to control costs. You will develop and maintain a quality management framework to report programme performance, identify trends, share best practices, and develop solutions to address poor performance.

Additionally, you will prepare weekly and monthly performance reports for senior management and ensure adherence to HR processes, supporting the team with regular performance and personal development meetings.

Thames Water is the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, serving over 16 million customers. We are committed to building a better future for our customers, communities, people, and the planet. Working at Thames Water offers meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements, and excellent benefits. Join us to make a real difference every day while helping to protect the world’s water for future generations.

Experience
- Planning and scheduling experience in a Waste Network environment.
- Excellent knowledge of purchasing and invoicing.
- Experience managing programmes of work.
- Proven track record of continuous improvement.
- Strong leadership skills.
- Good communication and stakeholder relationship-building skills.
- Good analytical, problem-solving, reasoning, and negotiating skills.
- High attention to detail and accuracy in data analysis.

About you
You are a proactive and organised individual with strong leadership capabilities. You communicate effectively and build strong relationships with stakeholders. You are committed to continuous improvement and have a keen eye for detail. You thrive in a dynamic environment and are motivated to deliver high-quality results while supporting your team.

Qualifications
Relevant qualifications or experience in planning, maintenance optimisation, or related fields would be advantageous but are not explicitly stated as mandatory.