Senior Associate Enforcement

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for four Senior Associates Enforcement to join our Casework and Enforcement Team within the Casework, Enforcement & Customers Directorate.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. The government has set out a bold new direction, bringing together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment. We are collaborating with fellow regulators to respond to recommendations in The Independent Water Commission Report, the Welsh Government’s response to the Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Water Governance in Wales, and the Government’s White Paper, A new vision for water.

Ofwat is working with the government and other regulators to help create a new body for England, bringing together our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. We are also continuing to work with the Welsh Government to support decisions on the future arrangements for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

These four roles are based in the Casework and Enforcement Team, within Ofwat's Casework, Enforcement & Customers Directorate. The Casework and Enforcement team is the "front door" for many of the customers and stakeholders who contact Ofwat with enquiries or complaints about the sector or their water company. Where we have the legal powers to do so (typically under the Water Industry Act 1991, or the Competition Act 1998), we investigate and resolve customer disputes or water company failures, to ensure that water and wastewater companies meet their legal obligations to their customers, society, and the environment. Our work helps individual customers resolve disputes with their water company, to investigating water company failures, which can result in imposing multi-million-pound fines where a water company has failed to meet its legal obligations.

These Senior Associate roles have an important and valuable contribution to enable us to delivery on our goals and regulatory commitments.

The roles will particularly focus on the delivery of the team's enforcement activities. This will include supporting the effective and efficient delivery of enforcement investigations and action, to hold water companies to account where they have failed on obligations Ofwat is responsible for enforcing. Successful candidates will lead the delivery of small-scale investigations delivered by our team, including where we have legal powers to determine a dispute between a customer and their water company.

The successful candidates will have strong analytical skills, being able to collate and assess large volumes of complex information and data to identify what is relevant to our investigation and why. They will be able to quickly get to grips with new and varied subject areas, including the relevant legal obligations, policy expectations, data sources and the strategic context in which they sit. They will be proactive in asking questions of other team members, subject matter experts and the companies we investigate, to build the case team's understanding of what has happened and why; how that fits with the legal obligations water companies have; and the steps companies must take to put things right.

The successful candidates will have strong organisational skills that enable them to plan, prioritise and deliver their work effectively to enable the swift progress of investigations. Being able to collaborate effectively will be essential, as you will work as part of multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together case leads, lawyers, technical and communications specialists and where appropriate external consultants.

It will be essential that candidates can clearly structure and present their analysis to demonstrate evidence-based conclusions and recommendations. This will include preparing materials appropriate for senior management, board members, and non-technical and public audiences.

The successful candidates will be expected to take strong ownership of the work they are responsible for, demonstrating Ofwat’s SAILOR values and ways of working. Ofwat is a learning organisation, and there will be opportunities to further develop your knowledge and experience. We have a well-supported, agile working environment, and a trust-based culture intended to help empower you and enable and support you to succeed within Ofwat.

Key deliverables:

The successful candidates for this role will be expected to:

1. Support the delivery of enforcement investigations (under the Water Industry Act 1991 and the Competition Act 1998). This will require you to:

• Identify, gather and systematically assess large amounts of qualitative and quantitative information relevant to our investigations.
• Confidently engage with complex legal and technical information to understand if and how they are relevant the matters under investigation.
• Convey complex information and evidenced-based conclusions and recommendations in a clear, concise and objective way, both verbally and in writing, suitable for a range of audiences (ranging from customers to Ofwat's senior managers and Board members).
• Plan and prioritise your work effectively to meet deadlines and in line with our process and governance requirements.
• Manage case files and evidence effectively and efficiently.

2. Lead the successful delivery of small-scale investigations, including customer disputes. This will require you to:

• Provide a high-quality service to customers, including meeting our service level timescales and ensuring you can understand and respond to the issues of dispute in your investigation.
• Engage effectively with internal and external stakeholders to identify and gather the inputs and information you require to ensure our decisions are well-considered, and reflect relevant links to Ofwat's wider work.
• Identify and manage issues and risks arising from your work, escalating these to managers where appropriate.

3. Support continuous improvement in our ways of working. This will require you to:

• Actively participate in finding solutions to challenges that might arise in our work, and in enabling and encouraging better and more efficient ways to achieve our team's objectives.
• Keep abreast of Ofwat’s key announcements and wider trends and developments that might impact our team's work.
• Play a role in enabling the success and well-being of our whole team, by seeking out and sharing knowledge; taking account of different individuals' needs and views; supporting each other in managing and adapting to changing workloads and priorities; celebrating success; and providing constructive feedback to support our learning and growth.
• Take ownership of your personal development and well-being.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an electronic application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk and we will support you in completing your application.

Please see the candidate guidance on our website for more detail and tips on how to best make your application and prepare for interview.

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date: 23:55 on 22 September 2026
• Sifting: 23 – 29 September 2026
• Interview date(s): 07, 08, 09 October 2026

Assessment process

Sift Stage - Blind Sifting

We operate a blind sifting model to eliminate bias. All candidate identifying information will be removed from applications.

At sift stage we assess your application (CV and personal statement) against essential criteria 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 listed above. Please ensure you provide enough evidence in your application form to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.

• Please note that in the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the lead criterion. The lead criterion for this role is as follows:
• Proven track record of applying legal and analytical frameworks to deliver successful outcomes on regulatory investigations or compliance projects, under sector-specific legislation and/or competition law.
• * If a high volume of candidates meet the minimum pass mark at sift stage, we will only progress the highest scoring candidates to interview. Candidates not invited to interview, who have achieved the minimum pass mark, will be placed 'on hold' until the final stage of the assessment process is completed. Should the role/s remain unfilled, candidates placed 'on hold' may be invited to interview in merit order.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Interview Stage - Transparent Interviews and Presentation

At interview stage we will test against essential skills, experience, knowledge and attributes set out above.

Our transparent interview process involves candidates receiving a selection of attribute-based questions in advance. This has been proven to help neurodiverse candidates and others to perform better at interview and is part of our inclusive culture.

You can read more about attributes and our Framework for success here.

Please note that the interviews will be conducted via video conferencing software (Microsoft Teams).

As part of the interview process, we will require a short written task to be completed in advance of the interview. Details will be provided to candidates upon invitation to interview.

Please ensure anything you present in your interview answers is factually accurate, and you are not presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by AI, as your own. You may expect follow up questions.

It may be necessary for a second stage interview, which will be communicated to the successful candidates, if required.

If the assessment process identifies more appointable candidates than roles available, a reserve list will be created for 12 months from which further appointments in merit order can be made.

'Near-miss' candidates (candidates who have performed well at interview stage but haven’t scored high enough for the advertised Senior Associate band) may be considered (in merit order) for an Associate grade post – a band lower than Senior Associate. Further details will be provided to candidates as needed.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.