Water Treatment Engineer Chargehand | RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk

VIVO provides facilities management and accommodation maintenance for the UK military and its partners. VIVO embodies both experience and innovation.

We put our Customers and Families First. They are the driving force behind everything we do. We drive forward improvements for them to ensure the service they receive, whether reactive repairs or a major project, is completed safely and on time. In order to achieve this, we have 4 core values: open, caring, agile and collaborative. These are at the heart of everything we do.

Contract: Full Time, Permanent

Location: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall & RAF Feltwell

Working Hours: 40 Hours per Week

Are you an experienced Water Treatment professional ready to step into a leadership role? Do you enjoy leading teams, driving high standards and ensuring essential systems remain safe, compliant and operational? At VIVO Defence Services, we're looking for a Mechanical Operative – Water Treatment Chargehand to join our engineering team supporting RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. This is an exciting opportunity to take ownership of water treatment operations across a unique Defence estate, leading a small team while using your technical expertise to deliver an exceptional service to our customer. You'll be provided with a fully equipped work van and fuel card, along with the tools and support you need to succeed in this varied and rewarding role.

As the Water Treatment Chargehand, you'll be responsible for the day-to-day supervision and coordination of water treatment operations across RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. Reporting to the Technical Services Manager, you'll ensure all planned and reactive work is completed safely, efficiently and in full compliance with statutory requirements, company procedures and contractual obligations. Leading a team of four Water Treatment Engineers, you'll plan and schedule daily workloads, ensuring work is allocated effectively, completed within agreed timescales and delivered to the highest quality standards. You'll monitor performance, support and mentor your team, carry out quality checks and ensure all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are consistently achieved.

Using a PDA-based scheduling system, you'll receive and manage work activities, ensuring all maintenance records, compliance documentation and asset information are accurately completed and updated. Strong IT skills, including confidence using Microsoft Excel and other digital systems, will be essential as you'll regularly collate performance information, analyse data and produce reports. You'll play a key role in maintaining compliance across all water systems by carrying out statutory, mandatory and planned preventative maintenance, including cleaning, monitoring and disinfection activities. Working in accordance with ACOP L8, HSG274 and JSP375, you'll ensure water hygiene standards are maintained at all times while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

The role also includes attending industrial water treatment meetings, preparing and presenting performance reports, highlighting compliance trends and ensuring actions are tracked through to completion. Acting as the link between operational teams and management, you'll proactively identify issues, resolve workflow challenges and ensure all activities are accurately recorded and approved. Alongside your supervisory responsibilities, you'll continue to provide technical support, review Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMS), identify equipment defects and make informed decisions regarding repairs and maintenance. You'll build strong working relationships with military personnel, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), subcontractors and the wider VIVO team, always delivering outstanding customer service.

We're looking for someone with proven experience in water treatment and water hygiene who is ready to lead by example. You'll have a recognised Legionella qualification and a strong understanding of ACOP L8, HSG274 and water hygiene legislation. Experience of chemical dosing and maintaining industrial water treatment systems is essential. You'll already have experience supervising or leading an engineering team and be confident managing workloads, monitoring performance and ensuring KPIs and SLAs are consistently achieved. You'll be highly organised, able to prioritise multiple tasks and comfortable making technical decisions with minimal supervision. You'll have excellent communication skills, strong IT capability and be confident using Microsoft Excel, digital reporting systems and handheld PDA devices to manage work schedules and compliance records. A sound understanding of Health and Safety legislation, including COSHH and RIDDOR, is essential, together with a proactive approach to maintaining safe systems of work. You'll hold a full UK driving licence and be eligible to obtain Security Clearance (SC). Reliability, professionalism and a commitment to delivering high-quality work are qualities that will help you succeed in this role. Previous experience working within the MOD or Defence environment, current or previous SC clearance, First Aid or Health & Safety qualifications, or experience working on mechanical building services assets would be advantageous but are not essential.

Joining VIVO means becoming part of a business that values expertise, teamwork and continuous development. You'll enjoy a varied role with real responsibility, leading a dedicated team across multiple Defence sites while contributing to the safe operation of critical infrastructure. With ongoing training, opportunities to develop your leadership skills and the support of an experienced engineering team, you'll have everything you need to build a rewarding long-term career.

If you're an experienced Water Treatment professional with strong leadership skills and you're looking for your next challenge in a unique Defence environment, we'd love to hear from you. Join VIVO and help us deliver safe, compliant and reliable engineering services that support the UK's Defence capability every day.

At VIVO, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. Therefore, we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working and operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly a Disability Confident Leader. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.