Closing Date
2025-08-17
Job Title: Engagement Manager - (Major Projects)
Location: Durrington (hybrid, 2 days in the office, mix of travel to sites and WFH)
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37
Salary: £50,000- £55,000 per annum
There has never been a better time to join our organisation as we build towards a greener future and create new sources of supply to keep our region’s taps and rivers flowing.
Job Overview
We’re seeking a proactive and strategic Engagement Manager to join our Major Projects directorate, supporting the development and delivery of stakeholder and public engagement plans for key water resources schemes.
You will work closely with the Senior Engagement Manager – Major Projects and a small, dedicated team to help develop and deliver the overarching engagement strategy and materials to promote the creation of new water sources including reservoirs, water recycling plants and new water supply pipelines, all of which are vital solutions to the challenge of water scarcity.
Your responsibilities will include developing engagement materials, supporting planning applications, drafting regulatory submissions, hosting site tours and building strong, trusted relationships with diverse groups such as environmental organisations, local authorities and industry partners. You will also help enable colleagues across Southern Water to engage confidently on these critical projects, aiming to secure advocacy and public acceptance for sustainable sources of supply.
Key Duties
- Develop and deliver strategic engagement programmes across a number of projects.
- Support advocacy efforts to build stakeholder support for new, sustainable water sources.
- Help manage reactive media and stakeholder enquiries, host site tours and give briefings on the projects as they’re developed.
- Create compelling content for digital and traditional communications channels.
- Collaborate on marketing plans promoting water scarcity awareness, water recycling technology and project benefits.
- Monitor, track and report on engagement metrics to inform strategy.
- Contribute to out-of-hours on-call support within the wider Corporate Affairs directorate.
About You
You are a confident, strategic thinker with a strong background in communications, ideally with experience in media, public affairs, or major project engagement. You are comfortable working independently and as part of a matrixed team, managing sensitive and complex issues with integrity and resilience.
You Possess
- NCTJ or equivalent PR qualifications (preferred).
- Proven ability to develop and deliver successful engagement strategies.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills across multiple media formats.
- Strong presentation skills and the ability to simplify complex information for varied audiences.
- Experience working collaboratively with stakeholders at all levels and managing tight deadlines.
- A proactive approach, including availability to respond to issues outside of office hours where required.
You thrive under pressure and are passionate about contributing to sustainable water solutions through meaningful engagement and advocacy.
This role involves developing and leading engagement plans for large water projects, working closely with environmental groups, local stakeholders, politicians, and Southern Water teams. It focuses on collaborative communication – including working with media team colleagues on press releases, ensuring web content is up-to-date and fostering idea-sharing across the business.
Ideal for a communications professional experienced in complex change projects, the role requires excellent writing skills, strong face-to-face engagement, the ability to present and deliver engagement creatively and the confidence to independently drive progress. This is a unique opportunity to join Southern Water at an exciting time when the company is leading the industry in the creation of innovative water recycling schemes and other projects that will benefit customers and the environment. The role demands resilience, relationship-building across internal teams and the ability to juggle multiple priorities confidently.
Package
This role will be full time Monday to Friday with a hybrid approach to working between our Durrington and Falmer offices, visiting sites and working from home.
Benefits
We are offering a salary of up to £55K per annum depending on skills and experience as well as other benefits including:
- Generous pension up to 11% company contribution
- 25 days annual leave
- Life assurance equal to 4x salary
- Salary sacrifice electric car scheme (after 6 months service)
- Health Cash Plan
- Full funded eye tests
- Two paid volunteering days a year
- Occupational health service
- Discounts with over 800 popular retailers
- Digital GP service
- Study support may be available for job-related qualifications
- Competitive maternity leave and flexible return to work options
- Cycle to work scheme
Join our Major Projects Engagement Team and see how far your career could progress with a company committed to career progression, training and development opportunities as we create a sustainable water future for our customers and the environment.
Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?
If this role isn’t quite what you’re looking for but are keen to be contacted about opportunities at Southern Water, you can register your details here: Introduce Yourself (myworkdaysite.com)
Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, because delivering water for life is our core purpose. To achieve this, we need 24/7 support in place to resolve incidents quickly and efficiently. All our employees understand the importance of out-of-hours incident support – because when problems appear, fixing them is our top priority. That’s why our people join together and support when and however needed to make sure our customers get the service they deserve. Joining the Southern Water family means you’ll become part of our incident support team. During your interview, your manager will speak to you about any incident support rotas that apply to your position.
Privacy Statement
Please note: If you are an existing Southern Water employee, you will need to confirm within your application that your Manager is aware of your application.
All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK. You will need to provide evidence of eligibility (e.g. a passport or long birth certificate and proof of NI) and current proof of address (dated within the last 3 months), will be required as part of the recruitment process. If you do not meet these criteria, your application will not be considered.
