Head of Programme & Project Management

At Thames Water, we make a daily difference to our 16 million customers by supplying 2.6 billion litres of water through 32,000 km of pipes, keeping taps flowing and toilets flushing. We deliver life's essential service so our customers, communities and the environment can thrive.

As the UK’s largest water company, we are taking action for a new world of water - fixing the problems of today and building resilience for tomorrow.

As the Head of Project & Programme Management, you will lead the team of Digital Project and Programme managers, influencing performance and results, setting standards and best practice for digital project management. This role is critical to ensure consistency, efficiency, and quality of our Digital project & programme delivery and you will play a key part in developing strategic plans and contributing to the development of digital strategies.

You will be recognised as a delivery expert, responsible for the management of large, complex Digital projects & programmes from planning, through delivery and implementation, ensuring we deliver efficiently, within budgets and timescales whilst managing changing requirements, risk and the impacts on critical paths.

What you’ll be doing as Head of Project & Programme Management
As Head of Project & Programme management, you will need excellent leadership qualities, be comfortable with operating a matrix managed team, allocating resources to projects and programmes as demand requires. You will enable ongoing analysis of digital projects & programmes to ensure we are delivering to meet strategic goals and delivering agreed benefits. You will set standards and guardrails of best practice across the Digital project and programme manager community embedding consistent methodologies and ways of working.

This role is pivotal to driving Digital transformation and the Digitisation of Thames Water.

Key responsibilities:

• Oversee the successful delivery of large, complex digital and transformation projects and programmes, ensuring they are completed on time, within scope and on budget.
• Establish a consistent and transparent approach to governance, oversight, and performance reporting for large-scale and cross-functional projects and programmes.
• Manage and develop a central pool of project and programme managers, including recruitment, onboarding, and professional development to ensure high-quality delivery capability.
• Develop strategic plans which contribute to the development of functional strategy
• Lead project & programme manager resource planning and deployment, working closely with Product and Domain teams to align resources with project priorities and pipelines.
• Provide delivery expertise, setting and embedding project & programme management standards, best practices, and delivery methodologies across the organisation.
• Engage with senior leaders, delivery partners, and internal teams to ensure alignment, resolve challenges, and drive project success.
• Define, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) to track project performance and support continuous improvement.
• Implement and maintain robust project & programme management frameworks, including tools, templates, training, and feedback loops to foster delivery excellence.

Base location: Clearwater Court, Reading – Hybrid working
Full Time (36 hours a week)

What you should bring to the role:
Essential Experience:

• Significant experience in digital project & programme management or a related field, delivering complex, cross-functional projects and programmes.
• Previous experience of successfully planning and managing multiple large scale, high risk complex projects and programmes, partnering with the business to ensure change is embedded effectively and benefits are realised.
• Leadership: Proven experience in leading and developing high-performing, cross-functional project & programme teams
• Senior Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to build and manage strong relationships with internal customers & teams, senior leadership, external clients, and third-party vendors.
• Risk & Issue Management: Strong track record of proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating project risks & issues to maintain delivery confidence.
• Dependency Management: Experienced in identifying and managing cross portfolio dependencies
• Extensive knowledge of budgeting & forecasting activities across project and programme portfolios

Essential Technical Skills & Qualifications:

• Strong proficiency in project management methodologies such as Agile, Hybrid, Waterfall (PRINCE2, SAFe etc) with the ability to tailor approaches to suit delivery needs.
• Experienced in using project and programme management tools (e.g. MS Project, Azure DevOps) to track delivery, plan resources and manage budgets
• Relevant professional certifications such as APM, PMP, PRINCE2, MSP, AgilePM, SAFe
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills, with the ability to define and interpret KPIs, milestones, and RAID logs
• Experienced in delivery of technical platforms and systems, e.g. CMS, ERP, CRM
• Understanding of existing and emerging digital technologies

What’s in it for you?

• Up to £115,000 per annum depending on experience
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Car Allowance £5,800
• Annual Bonus
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Private Medical Health Care
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

Whether you’re interested in a role in one of our call centres or science labs, we’re looking for people like you with real passion and a burning desire to make things better.

So, if you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that Thames Water is great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process. Our aim is to remove any real or perceived barriers to success, so if you need assistance, we’re here to help and support.

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 and meet colleagues.

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.