Principal Drinking Water Scientist

Salary: Circa £85,000 per annum dependent on skills and experience
Hours: 37 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Location: Across the Anglian Water Region, covering areas such as Ipswich, Norwich, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Grantham, Lincoln
Are you ready to lead scientific excellence in drinking water quality and make a real impact on public health and environmental compliance for our customers?
We are looking for a Principal Drinking Water Scientist to lead our technical Drinking Water Process and Network Science team. Your team will ensure the safety and quality of our drinking water, drives innovation, and enables our operational colleagues to deliver safe, wholesome water to our customers. This is a pivotal leadership role within our Quality, Environment and Assurance business unit, reporting directly to the Head of Science.
At Anglian Water our Scientific Department are combined to create a centre of Scientific Excellence. Where our operational scientists, laboratory function and strategic science come together. This role provides a fantastic opportunity to exploit the Scientific knowledge within our Department, as you focus your team on value-adding interventions and risk mitigation. Collaboration with the Science Leadership team and wider leadership teams, as well as external engagement, will be essential to ensure learning and actions benefit both our customers and the business. Whilst, your close working relationship with our Operational colleagues will ensure we embed interventions across our Operations.
You will lead the team in maintaining scientific rigor, assurance, and innovation to provide wholesome water to our customers 24/7 efficiently. The development, engagement, safety, and well-being of your team are crucial to making Science a fantastic place to work and progress. This role will require significant travel leading a field team based across the Anglian Water region.
In this role, you will:
Enable the team to effectively lead investigations into water quality incidents, providing root cause analysis and implementing learning to ensure future mitigation
Drive the safety of the team forwards, putting safety at the heart of what we do
Drive proactive intervention strategies across the team, enabling team members to focus on value-add activities driven by data
Develop a team that provides scientific input across Capital Delivery, Procurement, and Innovation teams
Collaborate and positively challenge to deliver desired business outcomes and meet customer demands now and in the future
Build trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including the DWI and public health agencies
Own and audit technical procedures to ensure regulatory alignment
Champion training, development, and competency across scientific and operational teams
We invest in our people - as a valued employee, you’ll be entitled to:
Personal private health care
Generous double match pension – contribute 7% and Anglian Water will contribute 14%, giving a total contribution of 21%
24-hour Virtual GP service for you and your household
26 days annual leave – rising with length of service and the ability to buy more
Life assurance (up to 8 x salary)
Personal accident cover (up to 5 x salary)
Excellent family friendly policies, such as 26 weeks full pay for maternity / adoption leave, as well as 4 weeks paid paternity / partner leave. Opportunity for shared parental pay
Bonus scheme
Flexible benefits and working culture to support your wellbeing and lifestyle.
We’re looking for someone with:
Inspirational leadership and team development experience
Strategic thinking and stakeholder engagement
Excellent communication and reporting
Proficiency in Microsoft 365 tools (Excel, PowerBI, Teams)
Customer-focused mindset and adaptability
Degree in a scientific or environmental discipline
A background in operational and environmental science
Understanding of health, safety, and wellbeing systems
Inclusion at Anglian Water
At Anglian Water, we are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone feels they belong. We proudly hold the Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award, are a Disability Confident employer, and champion initiatives to support diversity, equity and inclusion.
Why join us?
You’ll be joining a team where leadership, collaboration, and service excellence are at the heart of everything we do. We’re passionate about developing our people and helping them thrive. If you're looking for a role where your leadership can make a real impact—on our teams and every new joiner—this could be your next move.
Closing date: 5th November
Telephone interviews may be requested: 5th and 6th November.
Interviews will be held 9th and 10th November
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