Southern Water
Data Analytics Lead
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Closing Date 2026-08-21
Job: Data Analytics Lead
Location: Durrington, West Sussex
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37 hours per week
Salary: from £52k
About the Role
Southern Water is undertaking one of the most ambitious transformations in the UK water sector. Over the next five years, we will invest £7.8bn to improve resilience, environmental performance, operational performance, and customer outcomes. Digital, Data, Analytics, and AI are central to that transformation. We are building a future where data is not simply collected and reported on, but actively drives decisions, actions, and value creation across the organization.
Our Data & Analytics Strategy sets out an ambitious vision: to transform Southern Water from a data-aware organization into a truly data-driven water company. We aim to embed analytics into the heart of how we operate, turning data into a strategic asset that improves decisions, enables intelligent automation, enhances customer outcomes, and helps us meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving industry.
This is a rare opportunity to help build that future. As our Data Analytics Lead, you will play a pivotal role in shaping how analytics creates value across Southern Water. You will influence strategy, define standards, develop capability, and help ensure that insight is consistently translated into better decisions and measurable business outcomes.
This is more than a leadership role. It is an opportunity to help shape the future analytics operating model of a major utility organization, influence executive decision-making, develop analytical talent, and establish the standards and practices that will define how analytics is delivered across the business for years to come.
If you are passionate about turning data into action, developing high-performing teams, and creating lasting organizational impact, we would love to hear from you.
What You'll Be Doing
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Drive the Analytics Vision
- Own and evolve the analytics roadmap, ensuring delivery is aligned to Southern Water's strategic priorities, regulatory commitments, and business outcomes.
- Help shape the future of analytics across the organization, influencing how data, analytics, and AI are used to improve decisions and performance.
- Ensure analytics activity remains focused on measurable business value rather than technical outputs.
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Influence Decisions at Every Level
- Partner with senior leaders across operations, engineering, customer services, digital, and corporate functions.
- Frame complex business challenges and help stakeholders understand how analytics can improve outcomes.
- Drive greater adoption of insight and evidence-based decision-making across the organization.
- Act as a trusted advisor on analytical approaches, opportunities, and priorities.
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Establish Standards and Analytical Excellence
- Define and maintain analytical methodologies, standards, frameworks, and quality controls.
- Review and approve complex analytical designs and approaches.
- Ensure analytical outputs are trusted, repeatable, transparent, and fit for purpose.
- Lead analytical governance, assurance, and risk management activities within your domain.
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Build Capability and Grow Talent
- Lead, coach, and develop analytics professionals across different levels of experience.
- Create clear development pathways and support continuous learning.
- Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing environment where analysts can do their best work.
- Help build a culture of curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
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Lead Our Analytics Community
- Own and lead Southern Water's Analytics Community of Practice.
- Curate standards, best practice guidance, reusable patterns, and learning materials.
- Promote collaboration across analytical teams and business units.
- Help establish a consistent and scalable approach to analytics across the organization.
What Success Looks Like
In this role, you will help create an environment where:
- Business decisions are increasingly informed by trusted insights and evidence.
- Analytics is recognized as a strategic enabler of organizational performance.
- Analytical standards are consistently applied across teams.
- Analysts have clear development opportunities and thrive within a supportive community.
- Data, analytics, and AI capabilities contribute directly to operational, customer, environmental, and regulatory outcomes.
- Southern Water continues its journey towards becoming a truly data-driven organization.
What You'll Bring
Essential
- Experience defining and implementing analytics strategies that deliver measurable business outcomes.
- Strong capability in establishing analytical standards, governance frameworks, and quality controls.
- Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders across both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrable experience leading, coaching, and developing analytical talent.
- Strong problem-solving skills, including directing complex multi-method and multi-source analytical work.
- Excellent communication skills, capable of translating complex analysis into clear, compelling, and actionable narratives for executive audiences.
- Experience providing technical and strategic leadership across modern analytics ecosystems, including data pipelines, analytical modeling, and visualization approaches.
- Expertise working with platforms and tools such as Databricks, Alteryx, Power BI, and statistical analysis techniques.
- A strong focus on value creation and ensuring analytics translates into better business decisions.
Desirable
- Experience evaluating analytics platforms, technologies, or vendors.
- Knowledge of model governance, assurance frameworks, or analytical risk management.
- Experience operating within regulated industries.
- Familiarity with Data Science, AI, or advanced analytical techniques and their practical application to business challenges.
Southern Water is at the forefront of transforming Britain’s water industry, investing significantly to enhance resilience, sustainability, and service excellence. With £7.8bn planned investment for 2025-30, this is an unparalleled opportunity to join a business committed to delivering a generational shift in the way water services are managed.
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You will be joining at a time of significant change, working alongside a highly skilled leadership team with a clear vision for the future. We offer an environment where senior professionals can make a meaningful impact, influence major strategic decisions, and drive long-term value creation.
At Southern Water, we believe diverse perspectives drive innovation. If you’re passionate about making a positive impact and think you can bring value to our team, we’d love to hear from you—even if you don’t tick every box. Your unique skills and experiences could be exactly what we need.
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- Introduce Yourself)](myworkdaysite.com- Introduce Yourself)
Our Commitment to Diversity
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. We do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other protected characteristic. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
#LI-HM2 #LI-Hybrid
Our Purpose
Our purpose is big. Our impact is huge. And we know that every single one of us has the power, through our actions, to positively change society and the environment for good. It’s why careers with us have real meaning. Because, if you’re driven and ambitious, we can offer you huge opportunities for personal growth, professional development, and constant innovation. Forever evolving. Forever focused on doing the right thing, we empower and encourage everyone to play to their strengths and to help us shape a fair and positive future for all. We believe in Water for Life. If you do too, Dive Right In.
Our Customers
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.
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?
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