Innovation Lead - Biological

Our people are what makes Severn Trent a truly exciting and inclusive place to work. We’re a team of over 7,000 people with a purpose to deliver one of life’s essentials. We do it all while thriving in our unique culture and making a lasting difference to our planet, society, and careers. We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Innovation Technical Team Lead to join our team. This role is integral to our Asset Intelligence and Innovation capability, which is crucial for identifying root causes and solutions to challenges that are critical to achieving our strategic objectives. The successful candidate will play a key role in shaping the future direction of the water sector through innovation and technology.

Everything You Need to Know

As the Innovation Technical Team Lead, you will be responsible for the strategic and tactical day-to-day management of a team of Innovation Technical Experts across various operational technology and engineering technologies portfolios, including Biological, Carbon, Physical and Digital (Water and Waste, Treatment, and Networks). You will oversee the implementation of technologies linked to core innovation strategies to address both national and global challenges within the water and wastewater utility sector. Ensuring that all trials meet feasibility, viability, and desirability assumptions, you will communicate the business benefits to stakeholders at various levels. In this role, you will develop capabilities for the successful embedding of trials into business as usual (BAU) and evaluate success against strategic aims. You will provide thought leadership on emerging technology business models and articulate the benefits to senior leaders. Additionally, you will facilitate and recommend Go/No Go decisions on embedding innovation trials and represent the technical team to senior stakeholders both internally and externally. Ensuring thorough technical design and management of projects for accuracy and quality of data will be a key part of your responsibilities. You will champion the implementation of new technologies and techniques, provide strategic advice through engagement and communication with key stakeholders, and plan strategically for future technical experts, architects, and scientists, enabling knowledge transfer across departments. Promoting effective collaboration across departments to ensure the smooth running of the innovation process will also be essential.

What You’ll Bring to the Role

The ideal candidate will have engineering, technical, and process expertise in both waste and water disciplines. A deep knowledge of scientific experimentation development is crucial, along with experience in data analysis, problem-solving, and technical report writing. Proven stakeholder management and influencing capabilities are essential, as is the ability to drive the implementation of new tools, techniques, and technology. Strong networking skills with external organisations, industries, and universities are also important. The candidate should have experience in prioritising, planning, and delivering outputs to timescales, as well as excellent knowledge of engineering programmes and process-related activities. In terms of people leadership, the candidate must demonstrate proven leadership skills with experience in managing and developing teams. This includes the ability to lead, engage, and inspire team members, manage change effectively, and deliver excellent value. The candidate should have a track record of setting high performance goals, driving team performance, recognising potential, and addressing poor performance. Experience in developing Personal Development Plans (PDPs) and ensuring successful succession planning is also important. The candidate should be adept at managing difficult conversations and performance management, and have a strong focus on health, safety, and wellbeing. Additionally, the ability to attract, nurture, and retain talent, and manage a diverse and inclusive team of technical people is essential. Desirable attributes include comprehensive knowledge of the regulatory regime and relevant accounting practices, Mental Health First Aid and IOSH training, a second degree in a specialist water/wastewater area, and extensive water sector experience. Candidates should hold a degree in a relevant Engineering, Scientific, or Environmental discipline and possess a full UK recognised driving licence. Membership or working towards membership of an appropriate professional body (e.g., IChemE, CIWEM, IAM, ICE, IMechE) is also required.

If you are passionate about innovation and have the skills and experience to lead a team of technical experts, we would love to hear from you!

What’s in it for You

Working here isn’t just a job. You can build a career at Severn Trent. We’ll reward you for it, too. We have a range of benefits that recognise great work, and award-winning training to help you reach your potential. And we’ll also help you play your part in looking after the environment and the communities where we live. With that in mind, here are just some of our favourite perks that you’ll get being part of the Seven Trent family:

• 28 days holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/sell up to 5 days per year)
• Annual bonus scheme (of up to £2,250 of base salary per annum based on company performance)
• Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)
• Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent Plc shares at a discounted rate
• Dedicated training and development with our ‘Academy’
• Electric vehicle scheme and retail offers
• Family friendly policies
• Two volunteering days per year

What’s Next?

We can’t wait to hear from you. Before you apply, you’ll need an updated copy of your CV and about five minutes to spare. We’ll always let you know the outcome of your application after the closing date too - so keep an eye on your phone and emails. And, if your curiosity has peaked and you want to find out even more, search #LifeAtSevernTrent on social media.