Major Project Sponsor at Southern Water

Worthington, Minnesota, United States -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

07 Feb, 26

Salary

60000.0

Posted On

09 Nov, 25

Experience

5 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Project Governance, Financial Management, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Decision Making, Communication, Organizational Skills, Project Lifecycle Understanding, Asset Management, Strategic Risk Identification, Infrastructure Financing, Benefits Management, Value For Money Appraisals, Regulatory Assurance, Project Delivery Oversight, Interpersonal Skills

Industry

Utilities

Description

Closing Date 2025-11-28 Job Title: Major Project Sponsor Salary: up to £60,000 depending on experience Location: Base location flexible across multiple Southern Water sites. Hybrid working model (2 days in the office or on site) About Us: At Southern Water, we are committed to providing high-quality water and wastewater services across our regions. We are seeking a dynamic Major Project Sponsor to lead and support our strategic programmes, ensuring they are aligned with business goals to deliver the intended benefits. If you have experience in project and/or programme sponsorship, project governance, benefits and financial management within the infrastructure or utilities sector, this is an exciting opportunity for you. Role Overview: Reporting into the Strategic Programme Sponsor, the role holder will ensure the programme vision and programme level strategic objectives are translated to a project level. The Major Project Sponsor will be an advocate for the project he/she is assigned, ensuring delivery teams remain in governance, holding them to account on project financial and schedule performance whilst assisting with appropriate risk management to ensure projects deliver the intended benefits expected of the wider programme. Key Responsibilities: Project Outcome Alignment: Ensure project delivery requirements are set to align with strategic objectives with a clear expected timeline for benefits realisation. Viability: Create and ensure currency of project level Project business cases, escalating any risks or threats to the Strategic Programme Sponsor. Financial Management: Seek financial authority through governance forums, focusing on value for money and appropriate risk allowances. Ensure project costs are aligned with the Execution Plan, addressing any deviations in collaboration with the Strategic Programme Sponsor. Project Delivery Oversight: Maintain day-to-day oversight of project progress, ensuring milestones are met throughout the project lifecycle (whether via the internal R&V gates, or the Regulatory RAPID gated process). Stakeholder Management: Identify and engage with stakeholders, which may involve Regulators, ensuring their needs are met and they are informed of project progress. Risk & Opportunity Management: Identify project benefits, risks, and opportunities, driving value for money and mitigating risks where possible. Regulatory Assurance: Ensure the timely provision and quality of documentation required for regulatory submissions and external publications. Skills & Competencies: Strong decision-making ability, using evidence and experience to guide choices. Ability to focus on the bigger picture, ensuring customer benefits are prioritised in decision-making. Skilled at communicating complex information clearly and effectively to various stakeholders. Ability to resolve non-delivery issues, such as governance, financing, and project direction. Strong interpersonal skills to build rapport with the project delivery team, PMO, and external bodies (e.g., Regulators, other water companies). Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage a varied workload while maintaining focus on key priorities. Knowledge & Experience: In-depth understanding of the project lifecycle, cost principles, and investment appraisals, either directly as Project Sponsor or via project delivery experience. Familiarity with project management practices, gated process reviews, benefits management and value-for-money appraisals. Experience in asset management and strategic risk identification and management. Exposure to large-scale infrastructure projects, preferably in the water/utilities sector, with knowledge of Regulated industries. Understanding of financing models such as DPC/PFI. Qualifications: A degree or equivalent qualification in a numerate or technical discipline. Membership of a relevant professional body (e.g., Institute of Asset Management, Chartered Management Institute, RICS, Association of Project Management). Post-graduate experience in project or programme sponsorship ideally within the water or infrastructure sector. Exposure to the water/utilities sector, asset management principles, and large-scale infrastructure financing. Why Join Us? At Southern Water, you will play a key role in shaping the success of our strategic programmes, helping us to deliver benefits for our customers, communities, and the environment. We offer a competitive salary, excellent benefits, and the opportunity to work in a collaborative and innovative environment. Apply Today! If you are a strategic thinker with a proven track record in programme sponsorship and project governance, we would love to hear from you. Join our team and make a lasting impact on the future of water and infrastructure services. Top of Form #LI-Hybrid #LI-CH1 Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position. Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?

Responsibilities

The Major Project Sponsor will lead and support strategic programmes, ensuring alignment with business goals and delivery of intended benefits. Responsibilities include overseeing project progress, managing financial performance, and engaging with stakeholders.