Control Centre Manage- Waste Water Operations

Closing Date

Job Title: Control Centre Manager- Waste Water Operations

Location: Durrington (onsite)

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37

Salary: Up to £68,000 per annum depending on skills and exp plus £400 p/m car allowance

About the role

Southern Water is embarking on an exciting evolution of how we deliver real-time operational control across our Wastewater network. We are recruiting for a Control Centre Manager- Waste Water Operations internally known as Waste Control Manager, to lead our Reactive Control function while shaping the shift toward a more proactive, insight-led, and resilient operational model.

This is a pivotal leadership role requiring sharp operational awareness, decisive management under pressure, and strategic vision to future-proof how we monitor and respond to events across our network.

You will lead and inspire a high-performing team within our 24/7/365 Control Centre environment. With 7 direct reports and indirect leadership of approximately 35 colleagues, you will manage real-time control operations to ensure a rapid, coordinated response to incidents, while driving the transformation to a proactive operational strategy.

What you will be responsible for:

• Managing and motivating reactive teams to deliver swift, effective decision-making during fast-paced operational situations.
• Setting clear direction and overseeing performance to ensure operational assets are monitored and managed proactively.
• Shaping future control centre capability, identifying opportunities to optimise processes, tools, and ways of working.
• Driving collaboration across operational, field and support teams to deliver seamless, end-to-end event prevention and response.
• Using data, insights, and industry best practice to improve performance, enhance operational resilience and anticipate resource challenges.
• Modelling operational scenarios and designing proactive intervention strategies, ensuring readiness and capability at all times.
• Delivering against strategic plans, influencing and reporting at senior management level.

Additional Requirements specific to the role

As part of this role, you will join Southern Water’s 24/7 Incident Management Standby Rota, ensuring leadership presence during major incidents and urgent operational situations.

Your role will be key in leading and developing Control Centre teams to foster a culture of accountability, high performance and continuous improvement, while maintaining strong oversight of reactive operational issues and balancing longer-term strategic planning. You will analyse performance trends and use insights to enhance proactive monitoring and incident prevention, benchmark processes against industry standards, and drive efficiency through improved rostering, workflow and decision pathways. The position also requires robust cross-team communication and coordination, alongside providing decisive leadership during high‑pressure situations to ensure swift and effective action.

What you’ll bring to the role

You will be a proactive, resilient and influential leader who thrives in a fast-paced, reactive operational environment. You bring clarity under pressure, are confident in making time-critical decisions, and naturally shift between operational oversight and strategic thinking.

Essential

• Strong experience leading teams in a control centre, operational, or utilities environment.
• Ability to drive team performance, coach leaders and build capability across a 24/7 operation.
• A strategic mindset that anticipates future challenges and identifies innovative solutions.
• Being able to organise priorities and resources effectively and use clear, structured thinking when working with different scenarios.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills at all levels.
• Experience using data and insights to improve operational performance.
• The ability to balance reactive response excellence with proactive operational improvement.

Desirable

• Experience in Utilities or data-led operational environments