Senior Sponsor (Programme Lead)

At Thames Water, we make a daily difference to 16 million customers by supplying 2.6 billion litres of water through 32,000 km of pipes, keeping taps flowing and toilets flushing. We believe every drop counts—and so does every project. That’s why we’re hiring multiple Senior Sponsors (Programme Leads) to drive key water and wastewater infrastructure projects, ensuring they align with our long-term goals and deliver real benefits for customers, communities, and the environment. This role is Hybrid 2-3 days in the office, or on-site, depending on project requirements.

As a Senior Sponsor (Programme Lead), you’ll be key in delivering multiple water and wastewater projects, managing time, cost, quality, and performance commitments. Working alongside the Senior Principal Sponsor and engaging closely with internal and external stakeholders, you’ll provide end-to-end support for planning and execution, ensuring investment decisions align with long-term goals and business outcomes.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Accountability for the delivery of water and wastewater projects, ensuring alignment with time, cost, and quality.
• Working with teams to resolve risks and trade-offs in project execution.
• Contributing to business cases for investment and demonstrating alignment with Thames Water’s objectives.
• Assisting in governance and decision-making processes, ensuring projects progress smoothly through approval stages.
• Managing risks, tracking benefits, and ensuring projects contribute to regulatory and operational goals.
• Engaging with stakeholders to build alignment and drive successful project outcomes.

Base Location: Base location is flexible across multiple Thames Water sites. Hybrid 2-3 days in the office or on site, depending on projects.

Working pattern: Full-time, Monday–Friday. (36 hours per week)

What you should bring to the role:

• Experience in operations, asset management, or investment planning, ideally within the utilities sector.
• A collaborative approach, with strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• The ability to deliver clear direction and drive change.
• A commitment to putting customers, communities, and stakeholders first.
• Knowledge of best-practice asset management. (e.g., IAM qualifications or equivalent experience)
• A track record of successful project delivery.

What’s in it for you?

This is a great opportunity to be part of a high-impact team that shapes the future of water and wastewater infrastructure. You’ll be working in a dynamic environment where you can make a real difference in communities while building your career with Thames Water. Alongside this, you can expect:

• Offering a salary between £54,000 and £75,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience.
• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays)
• Car Allowance.
• Annual Bonus.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Private Medical Health Care.
• Access to many benefits to help you take care of your 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 the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is a great, diverse and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. We aim to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, we’re here to help and support.