We’re looking for talented Economics graduates to join our Graduate Development Programme 2022
About the Programme
Our dynamic and packed 2- year programme will enable you to use the economic tools developed in your degree to help us solve problems in the water industry. Our graduate programme will offer a truly versatile role, a huge amount of insight into how a regulator works with excellent training enabling you to create a solid foundation for your economic career. This is an opportunity to utilise your skills and knowledge developed during your degree in your day-to-day work and fulfil your future career potential.
Rotating across different areas of work (clusters), you will also be able to develop a broad skillset, important to many roles in the world of regulation. You’ll be part of a multi-disciplinary team and apply the principles of regulatory economics, competition economics, industrial organisation, and financial economics in the real world. We are also offering roles which include working in one area of work (cluster) you be provided the same learning and development and support across all programmes.
Regulatory economics is an area with strong career potential and a lot of demand from the regulatory community, so we would encourage potential candidates to consider this programme as an investment in this context. We are looking for colleagues who have a true interest in economics and want to continue to develop their skills, knowledge and career in this area.
The work we do is complex and has direct implications for the customers and the environment. You’ll be given the opportunity to demonstrate your potential from the outset and your passion for economics will see you relish the opportunity!
Learning & Development
Our programme provides you range of learning and development and support, including Ofwat Essentials a learning programme delivered by dedicated in house experts. The graduate development programme is developed and supported by Senior Leads, and you will have opportunity to lead and support exciting internal and external and projects Including the Chief Executive Officer challenge, this is an opportunity to make a real difference from the outset. To support you during the programme you will have an allocated People leader (Line Manager) and Buddy, Mentor, and Programme Manager. As well as on the job learning you have access to specific technical training, to meet your specific learning needs which can be tailored to help you fulfil your potential. You will be provided with all the tools and support to help you flourish in your profession and will be supported by central events including various site visits. You will be working with other graduates and colleagues and working with early career professionals across the regulatory industry to support your development and enhance the skills you have developed during your studies. This is an exciting time to join our programme.
About Ofwat
Ofwat (the Water Services Regulation Authority) is the economic regulator of the water and wastewater sectors in England and Wales.
Safe, reliable and sustainable water and wastewater services are essential for our day-to-day lives, our wellbeing, and our natural world.
The water sector faces significant challenges including population growth, changing customer expectations and climate change. Customers are increasingly concerned about environmental harm, including carbon emissions, pollution, and the need to use water wisely. At the same time, the impact of Covid-19 has amplified concerns about affordability, with one-third of households in England and Wales sometimes struggling to pay household bills.
Our role is to enable, incentivise and hold water companies to account for providing the very best for customers, society, and the environment, both now and into the future. We also oversee the markets that exist in the water sector to make sure they are working for customers. Our ambition is for water companies to provide outstanding customer service; to improve the environment and to enhance life through water, both now and into the future. We use all our existing regulatory tools, and develop new ones, including building our influence, data and insight to achieve these goals.
Our vision is to improve life through water. We plan to deliver this through
Our strategic goals, Time to act, together, focuses on bringing our vision to life
Delivering these goals will help to meet customers’ needs: ensure reliable and safe water supplies today with a better environment, affordable bills, and a resilient and sustainable future for water. As we do this, we will be working to fulfil the UK and Welsh Governments’ strategic priorities for Ofwat; and UK and Welsh Government policy. This is an exciting time to join and ride the wave!
Our People, Culture
Our people are the heart and soul of Ofwat, and our People Strategy is ambitious and well-embedded. We have a well-developed social mission. We are forward-thinking, creative, innovative and ambitious. We constantly push the boundaries and embrace new ways of working. We actively encourage autonomy, collaboration and innovation and there’s a real culture fostered by trust, flexibility and respect. As a learning organisation we actively embrace new ways of working and provide the freedom to our people to work smarter achieving a work life balance. We strive to ensure our people feel connected and valued, where your voice matters.
You will be provided with the space and support to shape your future while taking greater control of your own growth and development. Our work is high-profile and fast-moving, within a dynamic and agile environment. The work that you’ll be involved in every day will be about helping us to deliver our strategy, helping to us to be the regulator we want to be and helping the sector to deliver outcomes that matter to customers and society
We outperform the Civil Service People Survey benchmarks in 9 out of 10 areas and have an engagement score of 72%, placing us as one of the Civil Service's highest performing organisations.
Driven by our SAILOR values, we are committed to developing an inclusive culture where our people can bring their whole selves to work, where everyone is treated equally and empowered to thrive and were we reflective of the customers and communities we serve. We encourage applications from all walks of life, so that together we can achieve our vision of improving life through water.
Who are we looking for?
Qualifications
We are looking for colleagues with a strong academic foundation in economics. You will need to have (or be on target to achieve) at least a 2:2 degree in a subject with a significant focus on microeconomics, industrial organisation or financial economics. We’re particularly keen to hear from you if you have a relevant post-graduate degree. As this is a graduate programme, you must have graduated/be due to graduate in 2022, and have no more than three years’ work experience following your graduation.
What’s on offer?
As a Graduate Associate on our programme, you’ll be employed on a 2-year fixed term contract with a starting salary of £28,000 plus a substantial benefits package including 25 days holiday plus 10 ½ bank holiday and privilege leave days per annum. In addition, you will receive an excellent benefits package including exclusive discounts on a range of good and services (retail, theatre, gym membership etc), professional development opportunities, health and wellbeing initiatives and an excellent civil service pension.
We have offices in Birmingham and London (you’ll be able to express a preference for which) employees have the opportunity for hybrid working so you will have the chance to work both at home and in the office. Ofwat is an inclusive employer and agile working is an important part of our culture with all the IT/infrastructure (including a Surface Pro and iPhone) to enable you to work efficiently where and when needed. We know that agile working empowers you to manage your own time, fostering a healthy work-life balance and boosting health and wellbeing while maintaining productivity.
Here at Ofwat we believe spending regular time together in person will help and is important to support collaboration and development, build and sustain relationships with others, and supports the delivery of Ofwat's business outcomes. Working from the office will provide opportunities for development, support, face-to-face interaction and connection, training, in-person meetings, and networking. We’ve made space provision for on average two days per person spread across the week in our offices for all colleagues. Each of teams have developed a Team Charter which agrees who they will work in a hybrid environment. You will agree the balance of home/office-based working with your People Leader.
Sounds good? We’re looking to appoint this year with an assessment centre which will take place w/c 28 March and a start date in September 2022. The closing date for applications is 23.55 on Sunday 13th March 2022 so don’t miss out!
To find out more and to apply, click here
Further Information
Disability Confident Scheme
As part of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria
Investors in People (IIP) – Silver
Ofwat has IIP accreditation which reflects good management practices throughout our organisation, including in business planning, individual objective setting, learning and development opportunities, as well as continuous constructive feedback through our delivery and development conversations approach to performance management.
Civil Service Commission - Complaint's procedure
The process of recruitment and assessment embraces the principles of fair and open competition and best practice. The first is to maintain the principle of selection for appointment to the Civil Service on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The second is to promote an understanding of the Civil Service Code which sets out the constitutional framework in which all civil servants work and the values they are expected to uphold, and to hear and determine appeals made under it.
f you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact Jasbir Bilen, Director, Corporate Enablers (People), Ofwat, Centre City Tower, 7 Hill Street, Birmingham, B5 4UA in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk.
