Shift Controller

This Shift Controller will work as part of the wastewater shift team overseeing the effective operation of 366 Sewage Treatment Works and over 7000 sewage pumping stations across London and the Thames Valley.

As a Shift Controller working in the Waste System Operations Control Room, you will be responsible for protecting our customers from flooding and the local environment from pollution, by ensuring both urgent and proactive field responses to issues identified on our wastewater systems. The increasing introduction of new smart tools will allow you to increase your proactive approach to your work in the future.

What you’ll be doing as a Shift Controller

• Working shifts in the Thames Waters Wastewater Control Room, which is co-located with the Clean Water Control Room and our Logistics Control Centre.
• Assessing and understanding information predominately from control room information and operational field staff to ensure operationally, safety and environmental risks are responded to in priority order and high-consequence risks are escalated to the correct teams and managers.
• Correctly respond to control room alarms to ensure our pumping stations, piped wastewater network and sewage treatment works, are operating safely and efficiently and environmental impact is avoided or minimised if it occurs.
• Typical shift controller-arranged responses including arranging urgent pump and plant checks and repairs, arranging checks on process performance, checking sewer levels, arranging for tinkering of sewage, and escalation to specialists and managers to ensure the right field response.
• Accurate logging of alarm responses, your decisions and actions taken.
• Accurate use of safety logging systems and emergency response procedures that are used to protect field staff.
• An easily understood shift handover at the start and end of your shift.

What you should bring to the role

• Proactive, organised, and methodical approach to allow you to effectively manage peaks in workload that typically occur during wet weather.
• Ability to accurately analyse information, make decisions and present conclusions in a time-pressured situation.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills for day-to-day liaison with colleagues, stakeholders and customers.
• Competent with IT systems, Excel, Word and email.
• Previous experience working in a controller role.
• Desire to learn and use new systems and technology and to support their implementation.
• Ideally a basic understanding of hydraulic systems.
• Ideally a basic understanding of process plant operation, particularly for sewage treatment works.
• Full UK Driving license to facilitate working from Disaster Recovery sites if required.
• Due to the nature of this role, you will be required to be in the office full-time.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary from £30,000 to £40,000 per annum depending on previous relevant experience.
• Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution.
• Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year.
• Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing.

Who are we?

Our business continues to operate as usual, delivering our essential services to around 16 million customers across London, Thames Valley and the Home Counties. 
At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive.

Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it for us all.

But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part?

Working at Thames Water

At Thames Water, we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business.

We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, backgrounds, and differences that each individual brings.

Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process.

Find out more about working at Thames Water.

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, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way.

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.