Head of Economic Regulation

Powered by Water, Driven by Purpose

South West Water keeps the South West flowing with safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services across some of the UK’s most stunning landscapes.

We’re proud to be part of Pennon Group, a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

Ready to make a splash? Join our team today.

Head of Economic Regulation

As a company operating in a highly regulated industry, maintaining trust with regulators, customers, and stakeholders is critical. We are seeking a Head of Economic Regulation to play a key part of shaping our regulatory strategy and positioning the organisation for long-term success.

This role is a full-time, permanent position and can be based out of our Exeter, Bristol, or Redhill HQ. Salary will be discussed at the interview stage, depending on experience and skills.

Reporting to the Director of Economic Regulation and Chief Strategy & Regulatory Affairs Officer, this role leads on economic regulation, market reform, and price review strategy, ensuring the business is well-positioned within an evolving regulatory landscape.

You will combine strategic foresight, regulatory expertise, and stakeholder leadership to influence industry developments, strengthen regulator relationships, and drive effective regulatory outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

You will lead the organisation’s economic regulation strategy, monitoring, interpreting and influencing trends across the water sector, while developing long-term approaches aligned to market reform and increasing competition. A key part of the role will involve leading critical elements of periodic price reviews, including the development of regulatory business plans and the design of associated incentives, ensuring robust programme management and governance across all regulatory submissions.

You will take ownership of charges policy and tariff strategy, including the delivery of pricing reforms, and play a central role in building and maintaining strong, effective relationships with economic regulators. This includes coordinating responses to consultations, investigations and inquiries.

The role will oversee the regulatory reporting framework and supervision arrangements, ensuring compliance with licence obligations and merger undertakings. Working closely with Finance and Business Unit leaders, you will help balance customer affordability with financial sustainability, bringing expertise in utility risk, return and economic valuation.

You will collaborate across Legal, Compliance, IT and Customer teams to ensure cohesive regulatory delivery, while driving business improvement through efficiency benchmarking and industry analysis. In addition, you will support capability building by delivering training and developing internal expertise in economic regulation.

What We're Looking For

• Significant experience (7–10+ years) in economic regulation, ideally within the water or utilities sector

• Proven leadership experience (minimum 3 years managing teams or strategic programmes)

Skills & Attributes

• Strategic thinker with a proactive, solutions-led mindset

• Ability to translate complex regulatory frameworks into clear, actionable insight

• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills

• Highly organised with the ability to manage competing priorities under pressure

Qualifications

Required

• Professional qualification in Economics and/or Finance (or equivalent experience)

• Advanced skills in Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable

• Leadership or management qualifications

• Experience in data analysis, investigations, or project management

What Will Motivate You

• Shaping the future of economic regulation within a critical national infrastructure sector

• Driving innovation and change during a time of industry reform

• Building and developing high-performing teams

• Working at pace on complex, high-impact challenges

• Influencing strategy at the highest levels of the organisation

Why Join Us?

This is a unique opportunity to lead at the forefront of regulatory strategy, shaping outcomes that impact millions of customers while driving sustainable, long-term value for the busines

What's in it for you:

We know our people drive our success — so we’re committed to offering an excellent range of benefits, including:

• 30 days annual leave + bank holidays

• Bonus Plan

• Private Healthcare

• Company car or cash for car allowance

• Competitive contributory pension

Closing Date: 16th June 2026

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.

Be yourself, we like it that way. Together, we will build a culture of belonging, where inclusion is instinctive. Diversity is our strength and a reflection of our communities. We care, we value everyone, we celebrate uniqueness.

Our core values, which are essential to our success, are:

Be Rock Solid - Build trust and be trusted. Be the one we all look to and can depend on.

Be You - We want you to bring your best everyday. Be yourself and make your mark in your individual way.

Be the Future - Embrace change. Drive Progress. Own the challenge.