Circa £75k, salary is dependent on skills and experience
Peterborough – Flexibility of Home working
Permanent, 37 Hours a week
Benefits: 26 days annual leave, double match pension (up to 6%), annual bonus, private healthcare
Anglian Water offers a flexible approach, this role provides you the flexibility to work from home and from an Anglian Water office. Your base location will be in World Wide House in Peterborough, and you would be expected to work in the office a minimum of 3 days a week.
Are you ready to make a lasting impact on the future of water supply in the East of England? Anglian Water is seeking two experienced Consents Leads to join our Strategic Resource Option (SRO) Programme, focused on delivering the largest and most complex infrastructure projects in our history: two new reservoirs, one in the Fens and one in Lincolnshire.
This multi-billion-pound programme is essential to ensuring a reliable water supply for future generations. The Consents Lead will play a critical leadership role in securing Development Consent Orders (DCOs) for these Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), navigating complex regulatory pathways, and paving the way for the project’s transition to construction.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Leadership: lead the Fens and Lincolnshire Reservoir projects through the pre-application and examination phases, providing the key interface between all technical disciplines and ensuring regulatory and planning requirements are met.
• Strategy Development: manage the strategy for consenting the reservoir projects ensuring alignment with programme to DCO application submission and ensuring consenting risks and issues are mitigated and resolved.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders to ensure accordance with key legal and regulatory requirements across both reservoir projects.
• Development enablement: Secure Development Consent that meet the project(s) objectives, enable the successful onward project delivery and the establishment of Infrastructure Providers (IPs) for financing and construction.

We’re looking for individuals with a background in large-scale infrastructure projects and regulatory processes, with direct experience of the Development Consent Order process. You’ll be an adept project leader and collaborative communicator, you’ll thrive in complex environments with multiple stakeholders.
What You’ll Be Doing:

As the Consents Lead for the Strategic Resource Option Programme, you’ll take on a pivotal role ensuring the success of these landmark reservoir projects by:

• Implementing the Consenting Strategy: Oversee the reservoir project’s consenting strategy, coordinating across Design, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Planning, Land, and Consultation to secure both consent and land rights, enabling project progression through each stage.
• Leading the Consents Team: Drive success during the pre-application and examination phases, ensuring key deliverables are identified, tracked, and executed within the project timeline by collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ensuring Compliance and Stakeholder Coordination: Maintain compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks and actively engage with both internal teams and external stakeholders to meet project milestones.
• Utilise experience of other DCO projects to advise on consenting risks and ensures ensuring the programme is defined to deliver resolution and mitigation.
• Acting strategically, you will consider the different legislative pathways available and work closely with the project managers ensure the schedule and work being undertaken will fulfil the requirements to obtain consent.
• Oversee the risk register for the consenting process and ensure such risks are controlled, mitigated and reviewed.
• Advise on engagement and negotiation tactics with stakeholders during the application process seeking to reduce risks to the delivery of the projects.
• Establish a register of commitments and assurances given through the process that will be used during the procurement and management of the construction contractors.

Reporting to the DCO Development Director, your experience of DCO development and multi-disciplinary project management will serve as a vital resource, providing technical guidance and leadership to project teams in planning and securing the Development Consent Order to achieve timely project delivery.
Additionally, you will support Project Managers and planning/technical work streams in organising, planning, and controlling the reservoir programme through best-practice project planning techniques and processes.

As a valued employee, you’ll be entitled to:

• 26 days annual leave – rising with length of service
• Flexible working
• Competitive pension scheme – Anglian Water double-matches your contributions up to 6%
• Bonus scheme
• Flexible benefits to support your wellbeing and lifestyle.

What does it take to be successful?

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience
• Experience of working within and leading a multi-disciplinary team on large infrastructure, DCO projects
• Able to work in a fast paced and demanding environment to meet project timescales
• Demonstration of relevant experience in consenting for major infrastructure projects, environmental assessment (including EIA)
• Experience of managing and coordinating the activities of a consenting team in a major project environment.
• Robust risk management experience and understanding of what it takes to ensure an audit trail that stand up to external scrutiny
• Experience of and the ability to represent the interests of the reservoir project with senior external stakeholders including statutory bodies, consenting authorities, local authorities.
• A strong understanding of the relevant policy and regulatory environment for infrastructure projects and an up to date knowledge of recent planning policy developments relevant to the project.
• Ability to manage consultants to ensure timely delivery of high quality materials and reports.
• Experience of interpreting consenting and environmental reports and advice from consultants and stakeholders. Thereafter, preparing internal reports and presenting summaries of key risks and mitigation recommendations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to present the project to a wide range of stakeholders to develop relationships and promote the project.
• Formal project/programme management training and qualifications would be an advantage.
• Previous experience of project/programme management preferably in water industry environment.

Why Anglian Water?
This is a rare opportunity to lead critical projects that will help safeguard water supply for the East of England. Join Anglian Water and be a part of a transformative journey in water resource management
Closing date: 17th November 2025
Interviews: 28th November & 2nd December

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Key Responsibilities

• Project Leadership: lead the Fens and Lincolnshire Reservoir projects through the pre-application and examination phases, providing the key interface between all technical disciplines and ensuring regulatory and planning requirements are met.
• Strategy Development: manage the strategy for consenting the reservoir projects ensuring alignment with programme to DCO application submission and ensuring consenting risks and issues are mitigated and resolved.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with Anglian Water, Cambridge Water, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders to ensure accordance with key legal and regulatory requirements across both reservoir projects.
• Development enablement: Secure Development Consent that meet the project(s) objectives, enable the successful onward project delivery and the establishment of Infrastructure Providers (IPs) for financing and construction

As the Consents Lead for the Strategic Resource Option Programme, you’ll take on a pivotal role ensuring the success of these landmark reservoir projects by:

• Implementing the Consenting Strategy: Oversee the reservoir project’s consenting strategy, coordinating across Design, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Planning, Land, and Consultation to secure both consent and land rights, enabling project progression through each stage.
• Leading the Consents Team: Drive success during the pre-application and examination phases, ensuring key deliverables are identified, tracked, and executed within the project timeline by collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Ensuring Compliance and Stakeholder Coordination: Maintain compliance with legal and regulatory frameworks and actively engage with both internal teams and external stakeholders to meet project milestones.
• Utilise experience of other DCO projects to advise on consenting risks and ensures ensuring the programme is defined to deliver resolution and mitigation.
• Acting strategically, you will consider the different legislative pathways available and work closely with the project managers ensure the schedule and work being undertaken will fulfil the requirements to obtain consent.
• Oversee the risk register for the consenting process and ensure such risks are controlled, mitigated and reviewed.
• Advise on engagement and negotiation tactics with stakeholders during the application process seeking to reduce risks to the delivery of the projects.
• Establish a register of commitments and assurances given through the process that will be used during the procurement and management of the construction contractors