Operations Team Leader

at  Scottish Water

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.
Imagine managing your own mini version of Scottish Water, overseeing a wide range of water and wastewater assets across the country. As an Operations Team Leader within Project Aquatrine, you’ll partner with Veolia to maintain these critical assets for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
This unique role offers hands-on experience in both the operation and maintenance of diverse infrastructure, along with valuable commercial insight as you navigate the complexities of a long-term contractual relationship.
As we enter the 19th year of a 25-year contract, you’ll play a pivotal role in guiding our partnership with Veolia through to its conclusion in 2030.
What You’ll Do
In this role, you’ll be responsible for managing contracts, ensuring daily compliance with all contractual obligations, and overseeing operations, planned maintenance activities, and client interactions, particularly with Veolia Water Nevis and MOD. Your goal will be to deliver cost-effective results.
You’ll also take the lead in health and safety, making sure that all work adheres to current legislation and Scottish Water policies. Additionally, you’ll identify and justify the need for capital expenditures by preparing strong business cases for CAPEX submissions.
Part of your job will involve engaging with stakeholders, where you’ll provide expert technical advice to colleagues, subcontractors, and clients on operational matters. This includes preparing and presenting detailed reports on contractual performance, both internally and externally, on a monthly and quarterly basis.
Your time will be divided between fieldwork and office duties, with travel across various sites in Scotland. There will be occasions when you’ll need to travel nationwide and stay overnight. Additionally, you’ll participate in an out-of-hours standby rota, which comes with a Team Leader supplement.
What You’ll Bring
You’ll bring with you a proven ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities in a fast-paced environment, delivering exceptional service through operational leadership. Your technical expertise should include a strong background in at least one of the following areas: Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Water/Wastewater Operations, or Civil Engineering.
Experience working in a team with a strong safety culture is essential, as is your ability to manage stakeholders effectively, backed by excellent communication skills and a solid understanding of financial management. Being tech-savvy is also important, particularly having high proficiency in Microsoft Office.
In everything you do, you’ll embody the Scottish Water Character—Bold, Responsible, Inspiring, and Caring—leading by example in your interactions with colleagues, clients, and external partners.
Finally, to be considered for this role, you will need a full driving license, and you should be able to undergo and pass MOD Security Check (SC) clearance. In terms of location, this is flexible and you can be based anywhere in mainland Scotland.
Looking out for you
While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.
You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy up to five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.
When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.
For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), and life assurance.
The not-so-small print
This role will be a Grade 7. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £41,000. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £51,970.
If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 26th of August 2024.
Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party, and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer.
A few final things worth knowing…
Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!
Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We’re also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.
As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you’ll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.
Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.
We’re here to help. Ask us anything at
SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.u

Please refer the Job description for details