We are seeking an exceptional Head of Investment Programme Management to lead the management and optimisation of Affinity Water’s multi‑million-pound capital investment portfolio. This portfolio is central to delivering our regulatory commitments set out in our Business Plan and statutory Water Resources Management Plan.
With an AMP7 (2020–2025) investment of £714m and AMP8 (2025–2030) expected to reach circa £1bn, this is a critical leadership role responsible for ensuring investments are strategically prioritised, risk-balanced, and deliver maximum value.
You will play a pivotal role in shaping current and future programmes by balancing regulatory requirements, performance, costs, risks, and benefits, while ensuring successful delivery of outcomes and identifying opportunities for efficiency and improvement.
What You’ll Be Responsible For:
Strategic Programme Leadership
Lead the management and optimisation of the five-year capital investment programme.
Ensure investment plans achieve the optimal balance of cost, risk, and performance within regulatory allowances.
Deliver significant efficiencies—targeting over £100m per AMP period.
Work across directorates to challenge, influence and support senior stakeholders.
Portfolio & PMO Management
Provide robust Programme Management Office (PMO) governance, ensuring control over time, cost, and benefits realisation.
Set annual CAPEX budgets and maintain accurate forecasting, including quarterly and year-end projections.
Lead monthly CAPEX reporting, working closely with Finance.
Manage programme re-profiling while safeguarding regulatory commitments and performance targets.
Investment Optimisation & Insight
Lead the use of Copperleaf portfolio optimisation software to shape business plans and future investment scenarios.
Maintain and enhance cost intelligence and cost of failure frameworks.
Advise the Investment Committee with data-led insights, recommendations, and scenario analysis.
Establish and manage a pipeline of efficiency opportunities to create portfolio headroom.
Benefits & Performance Delivery
Oversee benefits management across all capital projects, including tracking and realisation.
Ensure PMO services are right-sized, effective, and aligned to business needs.
Drive continuous improvement and maturity in PMO processes.
Stakeholder Engagement & Representation
Provide expert input to the Investment Committee to support balanced decision-making.
Represent Affinity Water at industry forums, regulatory discussions, and external events.
Confidently engage with senior stakeholders including regulators, government officials, and media.
Leadership & Team Management
Lead and inspire a high-performing team of approximately 12 professionals across PMO, portfolio management, and cost intelligence.
Foster a culture of collaboration, challenge, curiosity, and continuous improvement.
Drive talent management, including succession planning, capability development, and retention strategies.
Lead change initiatives across the directorate and wider business.
About You
We’re looking for a strategic, data-driven leader with:
Proven senior leadership and people management experience
A strong numerical and analytical background, with a relevant technical degree (essential)
Ideally a postgraduate qualification or professional membership
Significant experience delivering large-scale capital programmes, preferably within the water sector or regulated industries
Strong understanding of PMO principles and portfolio performance management
Experience driving value engineering, cost efficiency, and risk-based decision making
(Preferred) Knowledge of the UK water regulatory framework and periodic review process
Why Join Us?
This is an opportunity to play a defining role in shaping how Affinity Water invests in the future—ensuring sustainable, efficient, and high-performing outcomes for our customers and the environment.
Benefits:
Salary circa £100,000 (Dependant on skills and experience)
Car allowance
Learning and development opportunities, including mentoring and a range of formal courses and open learning resources.
Entry into the company annual bonus scheme.
Annual leave from 26-30 rising with length of service, and the option to purchase up to 5 extra days.
A ‘Celebration Day’ in addition to public holidays that people can use to celebrate a religious festival or other occasion that is important to them.
A generous 'double match pension scheme' that doubles the contributions you make (company contribution capped at 12%)
We offer a range of family benefits including enhanced Maternity, Adoption, Paternity, Shared Parental Leave, Fertility Support Leave and up to 5 full or 10 half days of paid Carers Leave.
Menopause policy and Reasonable Adjustment policy to help everyone perform at their best.
Access to our Wellbeing Centre with support for looking after your physical and mental health.
Discounts at a Range of Retail Outlets through our Tap4Perks scheme
Discounts on Dental and Medical Insurance through our Tap4Perks scheme through salary sacrifice
Up to 4 Affinity days a year to volunteer in the community.
Life Assurance.
As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to offering interviews to disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria and opt in on the application form. Ask the Talent Acquisition lead for the full job description to see all the criteria. If we have a very high volume of applicants and we’re not able to offer interviews to all, we’ll take a fair and proportionate number of disabled candidates through.
Affinity Water recognises the benefits of greater diversity in our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. We are committed to building a more inclusive culture where every member of our workforce can thrive.
You can find out what it’s like to work at Affinity Water through our career site https://www.affinitywatercareers.co.uk/ where our colleagues share their career development stories and you can get a feel for our company culture.
