Senior Process Scientist - Hampton, Greater London

Thames Water is looking for an experienced and motivated Senior Process Scientist to join our fast-paced West London team. In this pivotal role, you will have a positive and tangible impact on the water quality for the Capital's drinking water. You will play a central role in ensuring positive improvements, resilience planning, improvements for the future protection of public health and ensuring water treatment operations are efficient and effective.

The purpose of this role is to ensure that water quality is efficiently maintained from the source to service reservoirs and incidents, events and performance shortfalls are responded to in a timely and effective manner. You will be working within a small team of Process Scientists, who provide technical support to ensure compliance as well as championing optimisation initiatives to reduce cost or improve quality at no additional cost.

What you’ll be doing as a Senior Process Scientist:

• Water quality monitoring from the source to the service reservoir.
• Investigating water quality failures/events at company assets and raising to the Drinking Water Safety Plan (DWSP).
• Provide recommendations to both internal and external departments on how events/failures can be prevented.
• Providing technical support to Production and Capital Delivery schemes to ensure that water quality requirements are met.
• Supporting internal water treatment works audit process (DWSP) and conducting Treatment reviews.
• Represent the company in meetings with stakeholders to build awareness both internally and externally.
• Undertaking out-of-hours technical support on a one-in-six rota, for which appropriate training will be given.

Base location: South West London - Ashford Common (TW15 1RU), Hampton (TW12 2ES) & Walton-on-Thames (KT12 2EG)

Working pattern or hours: 36 hours per week (Mon-Fri), plus inclusion on an out-of-hours rota for which you will receive additional payment.

What should you bring to the role? To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need are:

• Qualified to Degree level in an appropriate discipline with postgraduate experience or equivalent industrial experience within a related field.
• An enthusiastic self-starter with an inquisitive mindset who enjoys investigative work.
• Good organisational, communication and interpersonal skills are key as the role involves liaising with internal stakeholders on a day-to-day basis.
• Travel to numerous sites is a requirement of this role, so transport will be provided, and a valid UK driving license is therefore essential.
• Be able to work logically and analytically, and be able to maintain a positive and professional approach when dealing with customers.

Additional skills and experiences would be great to have/bring:

• A background in water science or process engineering operating within a regulatory framework would be advantageous.
• An awareness of Industry Best Operating Practice as applicable to potable water treatment and transmission would be beneficial.

What’s in it for you? Offering a salary between £46,000 to £58,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience. Annual Leave: 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays) Generous Pension Scheme through AON. Pension: Maximum of 12% = 2x employee contribution. Performance Related Pay Plan (PRPP): Max (of salary) = 10%. On Target (of salary) = 5%. Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you 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.

Who are we? 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.

Learn more about our purpose and values. Working at 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 meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else, just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.