Head of the Water Industry Forum (WIF)

Responsibilities

The Head of WIF will be responsible for:

• Leading WIF as a neutral and trusted forum within British Water, working with the Chief Executive, WIF Chair and Advisory Board on long-term, system-level challenges facing the UK water sector.
• Developing and delivering WIF’s annual programme of events, roundtables and collaborative initiatives, including the WIF Team Challenge, Academic Event and WIF Dinner.
• Line management of WIF’s Operations Manager.Convening and building relationships with members, regulators, government, water companies, academia, NGOs, investors and wider stakeholders to support evidence-based thought leadership.
• Safeguarding WIF’s neutrality and credibility while ensuring it delivers British Water member value and visible sector impact.

Part A: Main Tasks of the Job

1. Forum strategy and planning

• Work with the British Water Chief Executive, WIF Chair, Advisory Board and Operations Manager to develop WIF’s annual plan, priority themes and delivery programme, aligned with British Water’s events calendar and strategic objectives.
• Focus activity on issues where WIF can add distinctive value, reflecting long-term sector challenges including policy, regulation, infrastructure resilience, sustainability, innovation, skills and cross-sector collaboration.

2. Delivery of WIF events, programmes and initiatives

• Lead the planning and delivery of WIF’s events, roundtables, facilitated discussions and collaborative initiatives, covering both commercial and non-commercial activity, evaluated against agreed objectives including member value, stakeholder reach and sector influence.
• Oversee signature activities, including the WIF Team Challenge, Academic Event and WIF Dinner, ensuring they are professionally delivered and aligned with WIF’s purpose.
• Develop agendas, speaker propositions and briefing materials, working with British Water’s events, marketing, communications and operations teams to deliver to a high standard, contribute to overarching income targets, and follow up actions and opportunities.

3. Stakeholder engagement and relationship management

• Establish and strengthen relationships with existing and new stakeholders across the UK water sector and adjacent sectors, including both British Water members and non-members.
• Engage water companies, supply chain members, regulators, government, academia, NGOs, investors and wider partners through priority stakeholder engagement plans, acting as a credible external representative of WIF.
• Bring new voices into WIF discussions where they improve the quality, diversity and credibility of debate, supporting the Chair and Advisory Board in widening the cohort of contributors.

4. Thought leadership, insight and sector influence

• Facilitate the development and dissemination of shared, evidence-based thought leadership, in writing and in person, grounded in diverse stakeholder input that preserves WIF’s neutral position.
• Work with contributors, speakers, Advisory Board members and British Water colleagues to identify themes, evidence and case studies, and produce event summaries, insight reports and briefings that shape sector debate.Monitor developments in policy, regulation, legislation and sector reform, with British Water team support, and identify opportunities for WIF to inform British Water’s own strategic thinking.

5. Advisory Board support and governance

• Support the WIF Chair and Advisory Board by preparing agendas, papers, minutes, reports and action logs, keeping records of decisions and outputs, and ensuring discussions are well structured and linked to the delivery plan.
• Support the Chair in reporting to British Water governance processes, including annual reporting, and provide proportionate delivery reporting to the Chief Executive and Advisory Board on progress, risks and resources.
• Help ensure conflicts of interest are identified, recorded and managed in line with the Advisory Board’s responsibility to protect neutrality and trust.

6. Collaboration with British Water

• Work as part of the British Water team, contributing to its wider strategy and forum services, and coordinating WIF activity with the UK, Technical, International and Industrial Forums where interests or audiences are shared.
• Work with British Water’s marketing and communications team to promote WIF activity, and support British Water engagement events and wider thought leadership where WIF insight and convening strength add value.

7. Programme management, administration and reporting

• Develop and maintain a forward plan for WIF events, meetings, engagement, outputs and reporting deadlines, tracking actions, risks, dependencies and progress.
• Maintain stakeholder records, engagement data and outputs from WIF meetings and events, and respond to enquiries professionally and promptly.
• Support budget planning and financial control with the Chief Executive and relevant colleagues, ensuring delivery within agreed scope, budget and resources.

Part B: Subsidiary Requirements

This role includes other duties associated with leading a specialist forum within a membership organisation. As British Water is an evolving organisation, the postholder may be asked to undertake other reasonable tasks supporting WIF, the wider forums, events, communications or strategic priorities. If these become a regular part of the role, the job description will be reviewed with the postholder and line manager.

Qualifications

About You:

The successful candidate will be:

Purpose-driven and motivated by making a positive contribution to the UK water sector, and collaborative, authentic, trusted and approachable, reflecting British Water’s values.

A self-starter who is action-oriented and delivery-focused, comfortable with ambiguity and able to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on delivery.

Credible with senior stakeholders while also able to engage early‑career professionals and wider sector participants.

Calm, professional and diplomatic when dealing with competing views or sensitive topics, and skilled at building constructive working relationships.

Committed to high-quality work and good governance, and able to protect WIF’s neutrality while operating effectively as part of British Water.

Candidates should have:

A degree or equivalent experience in a relevant area such as water, environment, engineering, policy, sustainability, regulation, business or communications.

Strong written and spoken English.

Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and the ability to work across digital collaboration and communications platforms.

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