Programme Delivery Manager

Thames Water has an exciting opportunity for a Programme Delivery Manager to join our forward-thinking Developer Services Major Projects team. This is a pivotal leadership role, driving the delivery of customer-inspired water and wastewater infrastructure projects across our region.

As part of our Developer Services team, you’ll be at the heart of enabling sustainable growth. We work closely with a wide range of stakeholders including developers, NAVs, SLPs, homeowners, and local authorities to deliver critical infrastructure that supports thriving communities. In 2024 alone, we delivered 22,000 new water connections, laid 18km of new mains, connected 33,000 customers to our sewer network and supported 11,000 build-over projects.

Our Major Projects team also led significant capital investment programmes, enhancing resilience and driving innovation across our assets.

What you will be doing as the Programme Delivery Manager: you’ll oversee the successful delivery of large-scale water and wastewater projects, typically ranging from £1 million to £10 million, ensuring they are completed on time, within budget, and to the highest standards. You’ll be a key member of the Developer Services Leadership Team, shaping strategy and fostering collaboration across Thames Valley, the Home Counties, and London.

Key accountabilities:

• Health, Safety, and Environment Responsible for the safe working practises of our colleagues both desk side and field team, directly employed and contractor. You will maintain a safety-first approach and foster a safety culture by your actions and direct interventions such as safety briefings, audits, site tours. You will ensure compliance with our statutory obligations, including CDM 2015 Regulations
• Programme Management Designing and implementing an optimized programme to meet all regulatory, statutory, and internal requirements, ensuring deadlines and targets are consistently achieved. This includes overseeing the Network Reinforcement programme while proactively managing risks to minimize impact and maintain operational efficiency.
• Commercial Managing all procurement and contract matters to achieve the optimal outcome for the Customer & Thames Water.
• Supplier Management Driving effective supplier management by fostering strong partnerships, ensuring compliance with standards, and optimizing performance. Collaborating closely to deliver high-quality solutions safely, efficiently, and at the best value, while maintaining a customer-focused approach
• Leadership Providing leadership to a large, multi-disciplined team of professionals by offering clear direction and guidance. Ensuring priorities are well understood, and tasks and goals are delivered to the highest standard, driving a high-performing Developer Services operation. Continually developing our people to provide capability today and tomorrow.
• Customer Culture Cultivating a customer-focused culture with an unwavering commitment to excellence in service delivery for both internal and external customers.

Base Location: Hybrid - Clearwater Court - RG1 8DB
Hours: 36 hours per week Monday to Friday

What you should bring to the role:
To thrive in this role, you’ll bring a blend of strategic leadership, operational expertise, and a passion for delivering customer-focused infrastructure. Specifically, we’re looking for someone who can:

• Champion a strong safety-first culture across field-based construction environments.
• Lead large, multidisciplinary teams across multiple sites with confidence and clarity.
• Demonstrate proven experience in delivering infrastructure programmes within a regulated environment.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with delivery partners to ensure seamless project execution.
• Navigate the full construction commercial lifecycle, from planning through to completion.
• Deliver programmes that are inspired by and responsive to customer needs.
• Manage contracts with precision, ensuring compliance and value for money.
• Oversee supplier performance, driving accountability and continuous improvement.

Additional skills and experiences would be great to have:

• Experience of delivering infrastructure programme in the water sector
• Facing into B2
• Experience improving operational performance
• NEBOSH (or equivalent HSE qualification)
• Engineering Degree (or equivalent qualification)
• Engineering Chartership

What’s in it for you? 

• Competitive salary from £75,000 and up to £85,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience
• 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Annual Bonus
• Car Allowance
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Private Medical Health Care

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.
If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.