Stakeholder Engagement Lead

Job summary

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for three Senior Associate Stakeholder Engagement Leads to join our Communications and Engagement Team within the Office of the Chief Executive Directorate.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. The government has set out a bold new direction, bringing together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. We are collaborating with fellow regulators to respond to recommendations in The Independent Water Commission Report , the Welsh Government’s response to the Green Paper , Shaping the Future of Water Governance in Wales , and the Government’s White Paper, A new vision for water .

Ofwat is working with the government and other regulators to help create a new body for England, bringing together our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. We are also continuing to work with the Welsh Government to support decisions on the future arrangements for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

Job description

At this crucial time for the water sector, we are recruiting to three Stakeholder Engagement Lead roles to ensure we plan and deliver effective external engagement and communications to ensure the success of key strategic programmes.

Each Stakeholder Engagement Lead role will be assigned to one of the following three priority areas for Ofwat:

1. Water efficiency campaign

• One of the available roles will be focused on our water efficiency campaign, Let's Save Water . Let's Save Water is a cross-regulatory behaviour change initiative co-owned by Ofwat, DEFRA, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Natural Resources Wales, and water companies. This is a high-profile campaign addressing one of England and Wales's most pressing environmental challenges, and you'll be at the heart of making it happen.

2 . RAPID (Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development)

• We're also looking for an experienced engagement professional to promote and explain the work of RAPID to a variety of stakeholders. RAPID is a partnership between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, established in 2019 to accelerate the development of major water supply infrastructure. Through the Major Water Infrastructure Programme we are overseeing a pipeline of around 30 projects set out at Price Review 2024 and recently consulted on expanding RAPID's role to include the development of large-scale wastewater and other strategically important infrastructure projects.

3. Cross-cutting

• We also have one cross-cutting role, which will lead work within our central Stakeholder Engagement team across a range of priority programmes and activities.

Key deliverables:

In this role you will be expected to:

• Develop, coordinate and deliver stakeholder engagement plans ensuring stakeholder views and insight are known and considered as part of key projects and programmes.
• Advise Ofwat's senior leaders on their engagement with key stakeholders, including in bilateral meetings, speaking engagements and visits.
• Work effectively and build strong relationships with key stakeholders and partners, ensuring high-quality standards of engagement are consistently delivered across projects and supporting effective and efficient coordination of our work plans.
• Deliver proactive external monitoring, capturing key insights and sharing these effectively to inform future engagement and internal decision-making. Oversee sentiment tracking and wider evaluation measures to ensure the successful delivery of engagement activity and continuous improvement of our approach.
• Work proactively with the wider Communications and Engagement team, sharing appropriate insights and working collaboratively across audiences and channels will support shared objectives.
• Manage and design speaking engagements, events and visits, working in partnership with stakeholders to design engaging and purposeful activities that build relationships, support effective communication of key messages, and support two-way engagement.
• Produce high-quality written and verbal communications to support stakeholder engagement, including briefing materials, key messages, speeches and presentations.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need the below essential attributes, experience, skills and knowledge:

Experience, skills and knowledge

• Lead criterion: Strong experience in designing and delivering strategic stakeholder engagement plans to support corporate priorities, including objective setting, strategy design and evaluation.
• Experience in building and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders, both internally and externally and including senior leaders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and attention to detail including the ability to write clearly and in a tailored way for a range of audiences.
• The ability to work collaboratively with people across teams and levels, ensuring the effective involvement of a range of partners in the development and delivery of engagement plans. Including experience working with external stakeholders, agencies or contractors to deliver campaigns, projects or events.
• Experience in monitoring of external landscape and stakeholders, analysing key developments and communicating insights internally to inform policy development and decision making.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-profile environment, and able to confidently adapt to changing priorities.
• Experience of management and design of speaking engagements, events and visits, including managing the involvement of high-profile and senior colleagues and stakeholders in these activities.

Attributes

8. You are focussed on delivering outcomes in a dynamic environment.

9. You promote collaboration.

10. You champion change.

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for the relevant salary grade. You can read more about Attributes here .

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us:

Our people are at the heart of Ofwat, and our People Strategy defines the goals that keep this focus central to everything we do. Our 2025 People Survey highlights several key strengths. Nine in ten colleagues say that they are treated with respect and that Ofwat values individual differences. The same proportion say that their work is meaningful and that they are being trusted to carry out their roles effectively. 79% of our people rated their manager highly, and 85% described their team environment as positive.

You will also benefit from:

• Good employer pension contributions.
• 25 days’ annual leave (increasing to 30 with each year of service) plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

Moving to Ofwat from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Find out more at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ .

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an electronic application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk and we will support you in completing your application.

Please see the candidate guidance on our website for more detail and tips on how to best make your application and prepare for interview.

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date : 23.55 on Sunday 11 October 2026
• Sifting : Week commencing 12 October 2026
• Interview date(s) : 20 & 26 October 2026

Assessment process

Sift Stage - Blind Sifting

We operate a blind sifting model to eliminate bias. All candidate identifying information will be removed from applications.

At sift stage we will assess your application (CV and personal statement) against essential criteria 1-4 listed above. Please ensure you provide enough evidence in your application form to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.

Use your personal statement to address the below criteria and tell us how your experience, skills and knowledge meet them:

• Lead criterion: Strong experience in designing and delivering strategic stakeholder engagement plans to support corporate priorities, including objective setting, strategy design and evaluation.
• Experience in building and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders, both internally and externally and including senior leaders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and attention to detail including the ability to write clearly and in a tailored way for a range of audiences.
• The ability to work collaboratively with people across teams and levels, ensuring the effective involvement of a range of partners in the development and delivery of engagement plans. It is desirable but not essential to have experience working with external stakeholders, agencies or contractors to deliver campaigns, projects or events.

*Please note that in the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the lead criterion.

** If a high volume of candidates meet the minimum pass mark at sift stage, we will only progress the highest scoring candidates to interview. Candidates not invited to interview, who have achieved the minimum pass mark, will be placed 'on hold' until the final stage of the assessment process is completed. Should the role/s remain unfilled, candidates placed 'on hold' may be invited to interview in merit order.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Interview Stage - Transparent Interviews and Presentation

At interview stage we will test against essential skills, experience, knowledge and attributes set out above.

Our transparent inter