Head of Regulatory Reporting in Reading

The Head of Regulatory Reporting leads Thames Water’s end‑to‑end regulatory reporting strategy (with a focus on non‑financial measures), ensuring that submissions to our regulators are clear, accurate, timely, and fully aligned with corporate objectives and regulatory obligations. The role is accountable for strengthening data quality, reporting processes and governance to support transparency, compliance and long‑term business planning. This senior leadership position plays a critical role in shaping the company’s regulatory narrative, driving improvements in reporting performance data, and ensuring that Thames Water meets its commitments to customers, environmental stakeholders and regulators.

What you’ll be doing as a Head of Regulatory Reporting:

• Develop and own the enterprise regulatory reporting framework and calendar, governing all regulator‑facing submissions, consultations and information requests.
• Maintain standards (templates, style, evidence rules) and ensure cross‑document narrative and data consistency – promoting a single source of truth reporting.
• Shape the external reporting landscape: Proactively engage with regulators and industry forums to streamline requirements, avoiding overlapping or contradictory frameworks, and to improve proportionality and clarity of expectations.
• Lead Thames Water’s approach to annual/periodic returns, including the Annual Performance Report (APR), Price Control Deliverable (PCD), Delivery Plan updates and other statutory/non‑statutory returns. This includes end‑to‑end scope, plan, compilation, challenge, executive sign‑off and publication.
• Ensure that the business is provided with accurate and timely MI, including oversight and production of monthly Performance Commitment Level (PCL) reporting.
• Oversee the tracking of all requests from and to regulators – capture and report on progress.
• Operate a structured triage, review and approval process for responses.
• Establish and maintain a robust internal assurance framework following corporate standards (three lines).
• Provide ongoing oversight and guidance on the External Regulatory Reporting Framework, working closely with key internal stakeholders.
• Provide interpretive guidance (explanatory notes, Q&A packs) that translate regulatory rules and underlying intent into practical business requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement in data quality, lineage and controls. Work with data owners to identify root causes and embed long‑term fixes.
• Ensure accurate and transparent reporting, including ODIs, Performance Commitments (PCs) and selected financial metrics, environmental indicators and customer service measures.
• Provide inputs to monthly business reviews and Board reporting, where these figures are also reported externally.
• Act as a senior point of contact with regulators; provide timely advice and regulatory insight to Executive Directors and Board Committees.
• Prepare high‑quality Board/Committee papers (Regulatory Strategy Committee, Audit Committee).
• Lead transformation initiatives to modernise reporting processes, reduce risk, and improve timeliness/quality.

Base Location: Hybrid – Reading

Working Pattern or hours: 36 hours

What you should bring to the role:

• Extensive experience in regulatory reporting, regulatory finance or assurance within the water sector or a similarly regulated industry.
• Deep understanding of Ofwat’s framework, including APR requirements, cost assessment, PCs/ODIs and assurance expectations.
• Proven leadership managing multidisciplinary teams and orchestrating complex reporting processes with immovable deadlines.
• Experience designing/operating governance frameworks, data controls and assurance suitable for external audit.
• Strong track record of senior stakeholder management, including Executive and Board engagement and regulator interactions.
• Strategic planning & delivery: builds and executes an enterprise reporting calendar; anticipates pinch points and dependencies.
• Editorial excellence & communication: clear, concise writing; able to translate complex requirements for non‑specialists; confident presenter.
• Influencing & collaboration: aligns cross‑functional teams; negotiates trade‑offs; resilient under pressure.
• Governance & integrity: champions accountability, transparency and evidence‑based decisions; models Thames Water values.

Additional skills and experiences would be great to have/bring:

• Prior engagement with regulators (Ofwat, DWI, EA, CCW) and handling formal queries and information requests.
• Experience across regulatory business planning cycles.
• Technical & analytical strength: strong knowledge of financial/operational metrics; advanced problem‑solving and data quality improvement skills.
• System proficiency: advanced Excel; familiarity with enterprise data systems, performance management tools and BI platforms (e.g., Power BI); M365 collaboration and controlled drafting (SharePoint/Teams).

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary circa £120,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays).
• Car allowance.
• Private medical healthcare.
• Performance‑related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else, just let us know. We’re here to help and support.