Wastewater Treatment Technical Manager in Olney

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced wastewater treatment professional to join us as a Treatment Technical Manager, playing a key role in improving the technical performance, resilience and compliance of our wastewater treatment assets. This isn’t a traditional operational management role. We’re looking for someone who can step beyond the day-to-day running of treatment works and take a broader view of performance: identifying emerging risks, understanding the root causes behind failures and turning technical insight into clear, structured and deliverable improvement plans.

You’ll combine strong wastewater treatment expertise with the ability to manage complex improvement activity, working across operational teams to raise technical standards, improve compliance and prevent problems before they happen. Much of your focus will be forward-looking: horizon scanning, analysing performance and risk, developing technical frameworks and standards, and ensuring lessons learned translate into meaningful improvements across our treatment operation. And when a complex operational or compliance issue does arise, you’ll have the technical credibility to get close to the problem, support investigations and help teams identify the right solution.

What you'll be doing:

• You’ll provide technical leadership across wastewater treatment, working closely with Production Managers, Treatment Delivery Managers, Technical Officers and wider operational and environmental teams.
• Lead and support root cause failure analysis (RCFA), ensuring we understand not simply what happened, but why it happened and what needs to change to prevent recurrence.
• Analyse treatment performance and identify the key risks and opportunities affecting areas such as treatment works compliance, flow compliance, power and chemical performance.
• Translate complex technical information into clear, prioritised improvement plans, maintaining momentum and holding actions and stakeholders to account.
• Develop, implement and embed technical standards, guidance and technical bulletins across wastewater treatment.
• Lead and develop technical communities and forums, helping raise the capability and consistency of our Field Technical Officers.
• Provide technical assurance and challenge to operational teams, ensuring risks are identified, understood and appropriately managed.
• Support complex investigations into issues such as treatment works compliance and sample failures, including attending operational sites where your technical expertise is required.
• Capture and embed lessons learned following incidents and failures, ensuring improvements are applied more widely across the organisation.
• Work collaboratively across operational, environmental and technical teams, influencing stakeholders at multiple levels.
• Horizon scan for emerging risks, regulatory requirements, technologies and treatment practices, translating these into practical improvements for our operation.
• Over time, develop specialist ownership of key areas of treatment performance while maintaining broad technical competence across wastewater treatment.

What we're looking for:

• Strong, practical technical competence within wastewater treatment.
• Significant practical experience and technical knowledge of wastewater treatment processes and assets.
• A full UK driving license and the flexibility to travel across our operational areas.
• Strong knowledge of wastewater treatment performance and compliance.
• Experience investigating operational or process failures and completing root cause analysis / root cause failure analysis.
• The ability to turn technical findings into structured, prioritised and measurable improvement plans.
• A good understanding of the regulatory and environmental framework within which wastewater treatment operates, including Environment Performance Assessment requirements and relevant industry/pollution guidance.
• Experience developing, applying or assuring technical standards and best practice.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify trends, risks and underlying causes.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills, including the confidence to constructively challenge and hold others to account.
• Strong organisational and self-management skills.
• The ability to communicate complex technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Benefits:

• A generous annual leave package of 26 days, which increases to 30 days after four years of service (increases one day per year), in addition to 8 bank holidays.
• A competitive pension scheme with up to 14% employer contribution, 21% combined, and life cover.
• Up to 10.5% performance-related bonus scheme, as well as recognition awards for outstanding achievements.
• A comprehensive healthcare plan through our company-funded scheme.
• MyGymDiscounts - gym and wellness benefit that offers up to 25% off on gym memberships and digital fitness subscriptions.
• Best Doctors.
• Salary Finance.
• Wealth at Work courses.
• Deals and discounts.
• EVolve Car Scheme.
• Employee Assistance Plan.
• Mental health first aiders.
• ShareBuy.
• MORE Choices flexible benefits.
• Enhanced parental leave schemes.

United Utilities’ (UU) purpose is to deliver great water for a stronger, greener and healthier North West of England. We are committed to providing our services in a way that respects the environment, supports the economy, and benefits society. We value diversity, inclusion and innovation in our workplace, and we foster a culture where our people can grow, excel, and be themselves. We uphold our ethics, values and business model to fulfil our mission and, by setting clear goals and objectives, we create sustainable long-term value for our colleagues, customers and communities.