Lead Data & Reporting Scientist, Water Resources in Exeter

Full‑time role offering a salary of £48,000 - £54,000, with hybrid working. The role is mostly remote, with one day a week in our Exeter office. You’ll be joining a dedicated team within the Data & Modelling department, focusing on water resources data management, analysis, visualisation and regulatory reporting.

Responsibilities

• Owning Annual Performance Report (APR) delivery for Water Resources (currently 50% of time, with intent to automate and reduce manual effort).
• Leading data science and scientific modelling work – applying statistical methods, forecasting techniques and machine learning to water resources problems.
• Setting team standards for analytical quality and resolving complex modelling problems others cannot (WRMP demand forecasting, supply‑demand balance, water resource zone modelling).
• Establishing auditable single source of truth – designing data governance, quality standards and stewardship processes for Water Resources reference data.
• Designing data pipelines to move from manual APR processes to automated workflows – specifying Bronze/Silver/Gold layer architecture requirements, defining transformation logic, working with data engineers to implement solutions.
• Managing stakeholder requests across the Water Resources Function.
• Supervising and mentoring Data & Reporting Scientists – providing technical guidance, modelling and visualisation approaches, building team capability.

Essential Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership in data science, setting standards for statistical methods, forecasting and machine learning, and solving complex analytical challenges.
• Proven ownership of regulatory BI delivery (e.g. Ofwat APR, ODI or similar), including forecasting, consumption methodology and water balance outputs.
• Strong scientific modelling capability across WRMP, demand forecasting, water resource modelling and supply‑demand analysis for strategic planning.
• Expertise in data management and governance, including single source of truth, data quality standards, lineage and reference data stewardship.
• Data engineering experience designing automated pipelines and implementing Bronze/Silver/Gold architectures.
• Skilled in data ownership, storytelling and communicating complex technical insights to non‑technical audiences.
• Extensive experience in data science, analytics or scientific modelling roles with leadership of technical delivery and regulatory accountability.
• Proficient in handling large structured and unstructured datasets using SQL and Python or R.
• Ability to balance immediate operational delivery with long‑term data infrastructure development.

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience in project/work management, coordinating stakeholders, scoping work and managing deadlines.
• Strong data visualisation skills (e.g. Power BI, matplotlib), translating technical insights into clear dashboards and enabling self‑serve reporting.
• Proven ability to document methodologies and build knowledge resources to support team independence.
• Experience in the water/utilities sector, particularly water resources, leakage, consumption or demand forecasting.

Benefits

• Flexible, hybrid working model.
• Generous annual leave allowance, plus Bank Holidays and the option to buy or sell holiday to increase your flexibility.
• Competitive company pension scheme.
• Access to thousands of discounts and savings through Pennon Perks.
• Cycle to Work Scheme – supporting you to access sustainable, healthy transport options.
• Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 access to support.
• Comprehensive family leave.
• Discretionary company bonus scheme.
• Much more.

Additional Information

Closing Date: 5th June 2026. We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. The successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.