Technical Team Manager - Business Economics

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

Scottish Water invests over £850 million each year on Capital Investment projects. When it comes to making decisions about how we spend that money, we’re laser-focused on meeting the needs of our customers and delivering value for Scottish taxpayers.

Our Chief Economist’s team plays a crucial role in making that happen. Their expertise is key to developing and deploying strategic and economic analysis, including cost-benefit analysis, to inform our investment plans and decision-making.

We’re looking for an experienced economist and team leader to join the team to help us transform the way we use economic analysis at Scottish Water.

What you'll do

You'll lead a small, dedicated team of specialists, applying economic thinking and analysis to create a robust evidence base for investment decisions. The aim is to bridge near-term decision-making with long-term progress towards achieving Scotland’s Water Sector Vision at the lowest reasonable economic cost to our customers.

Your role will involve leading cost-benefit analysis for various investment scenarios, overseeing the economic analysis underpinning our strategic plans, and providing economic evidence for the Strategic Review of Charges. You’ll guide long-term tariff setting, Principles of Charges, and efficiency analyses, while also conducting and overseeing investment appraisals. Managing projections and performance monitoring will be a key part of your responsibilities, ensuring that our investment decisions are well-informed and aligned with our long-term strategy.

A key focus of the Chief Economist’s team is developing innovative analytic processes and tools to compare investment choices against future scenarios. Your work will inform strategic discussions, enable new approaches, and help monitor our performance as we strive to achieve Scotland’s Water Sector Vision.

You'll champion Ethical Based Practice and Regulation, working closely with colleagues across diverse disciplines and external consultants. The role presents exciting opportunities for professional development in numerous areas.

What you'll need

You’ll bring strong leadership skills, with proven experience of managing and motivating teams and coordinating consultants. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are essential to clearly explain complex economic topics to a variety of audiences.

We're looking for an experienced economist (at least 5 years), ideally within applied economics and/or strategic economic analysis.

Knowledge of the water or utilities industry is beneficial, but we highly value outside perspectives. We welcome applicants from other sectors, including academia, government, or public bodies, particularly those with strong regulatory economics experience.

You'll very likely have a postgraduate qualification (Masters or PhD) in an economics-related discipline, coupled with a strong record of published research. You should have extensive experience conducting robust literature reviews and applying research techniques.

You'll be an advanced Microsoft Excel user, ideally with additional skills in data analysis tools such as R or Power BI. Coding experience is also desirable.

Character is important to us. Across Scottish Water, we seek individuals who are Bold, Responsible, Inspiring, and Caring. (And you can expect these characteristics to feature in your interview with us!)

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

This is a full time (35 hours per week) position. But you’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community.  

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working. 

For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The not-so-small print

This role will be a Grade 8. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £48,900. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £68,510.

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. These checks are conducted on our behalf by a third party. Don’t worry - we’ll ask your permission before starting these checks.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until the 15th of April 2025.

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted. 

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at [email protected]