Health & Safety Advisor (Operational Specialist)

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland. Construction & Contracting Health & Safety Advisor (Highland and North Grampian Area Office(s) covering North of Scotland, with occasional travel to other regions and the Central Belt).

At Scottish Water, we look after Scotland’s most precious natural resource. From source to tap, we’re safeguarding Scotland’s reputation for refreshingly pure water and caring for our environment at the same time. If making a positive difference to people, communities and the environment sounds like something you'd enjoy, we'd love to hear from you.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Health & Safety Advisor to join our Construction & Enablement (C&E) Team. You’ll work closely with internal stakeholders and construction partners to drive continuous improvement in health and safety performance and foster a positive safety culture across our Capital Investment Programme and operational activities. This is a hybrid role, predominantly site-based, with flexibility for home or hub working as required.

Why Join Us?

Join a high-performing team that is making a meaningful difference to Scotland’s communities and environment every day. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to an organisation that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement, while playing a key role in driving our ambitious Beyond Zero Harm vision. We are committed to supporting your professional growth through excellent training, development opportunities, and clear pathways for career progression. In return, you'll benefit from flexible hybrid working arrangements and a supportive, inclusive culture where your contribution is recognised, valued, and empowered to make a real impact.

What You’ll Do

In this influential role, you’ll provide expert health and safety advice and support across the business, helping to ensure compliance with legislation while aligning with Scottish Water’s strategic goals. You’ll identify, assess, and manage risks, driving the development and continuous improvement of safety standards, procedures, and controls. Working across a range of high-risk activities—including Excavations, Working at Height, Lifting Operations, COSHH, DSEAR, Confined Spaces, and Lone Working—you’ll champion safe working practices and support operational excellence. You’ll also lead and contribute to incident investigations, identifying root causes and implementing effective corrective actions to prevent recurrence. By designing and delivering engaging training, collaborating with managers on health and safety improvement plans, and auditing management systems across operations, suppliers, and contractors, you’ll play a key role in fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Building strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels, you’ll positively influence behaviours and help embed outstanding health and safety practices throughout Scottish Water.

What you'll need

We're looking for someone who enjoys getting out on site, spotting potential risks early and helping teams find practical solutions. You’ll hold a NEBOSH General Certificate as a minimum, with a NEBOSH Diploma (or working towards one) being advantageous. With operational health and safety experience—ideally gained within the construction or utilities sectors—you’ll bring a strong understanding of current legislation, industry standards, and best practice. Comfortable working independently across a large geographical area, you’ll have a practical, solutions-focused mindset and the confidence to engage with people at all levels, influencing positive behaviours and promoting a strong safety culture. You'll need a full GB-issued (DVLA) driving licence, as you'll be travelling regularly between sites across the North of Scotland.

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance. But you’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community. When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working. For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance. As for some nice extras? You will participate in a company bonus scheme. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

This role will be a Grade 6. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £37,815. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £48,395. If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 24th July 2026. Please note: We may close this vacancy before the advertised closing date if we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications. Early application is therefore encouraged.

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party, and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer.

A few final things worth knowing… Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out! Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask. As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months. Please note, Scottish Water takes the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, colleagues and customers very seriously and as such you may be subject to Drug & Alcohol testing in line with our policy.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted. We’re here to help. Ask us anything at SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk