Southern Water
Principal Process Engineer
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Closing Date 2026-07-03
Job Title: Principal Process Engineer
Location: Falmer, Sussex (must be willing to travel across the patch to attend site visits when required)
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: 37
Salary: Competitive salary - to be discussed at interview stage
About the role:
Southern Water is investing heavily in the resilience, quality, and sustainability of our water and wastewater services. We’re driving major transformation across AMP8 and beyond, and we’re looking for a Principal Process Engineer to play a key role in shaping how we deliver cleaner, greener, more efficient solutions for our customers and the environment.
What you will be responsible for:
- Technical Leadership: Lead process design across multiple wastewater schemes, providing expert guidance and approvals. Oversee key technical deliverables, resolve complex issues, and ensure quality, compliance, and value for money.
- Safety & Sustainability: Promote a strong safety culture, develop risk assessments, and ensure designs meet CDM, environmental, and sustainability standards.
- Innovation & Improvement: Drive continuous improvement by challenging existing practices, adopting industry best practice, and championing digital design and standardisation.
- People Leadership: Support, mentor, and develop junior engineers, contribute to recruitment, and foster a culture that encourages innovation and collaboration.
- Financial & Commercial: Assist with business case development, manage design budgets, and influence stakeholders to secure best value.
- Programme & Customer Focus: Ensure design deliverables meet programme, customer, and regulatory expectations, and represent Southern Water at technical events.
What you’ll bring to the role:
Qualifications:
- MEng/BEng/BSc or HNC in Chemical Engineering, Environmental, or a related discipline.
- Chartered Engineer status with a relevant institution is essential.
Experience:
- A solid background in delivering water projects in the UK Water Industry, with a deep understanding of engineering principles, commercial operations, and risk management.
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Skills:
- Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to drive innovation and manage complex engineering challenges.
Essential:
- A full, UK Driving Licence and access to a vehicle.
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. 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.
"Our mission is to protect and enhance life through water—and we need passionate people to help us achieve it. If you’re inspired by our purpose and believe you can contribute, apply today. You don’t need to meet every criterion; what matters most is your drive to make a difference."
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.
Additional information:
In line with Southern Water’s security requirements, successful candidates will be required to provide evidence of their identity, eligibility to work in the UK, criminal record check (DBS) and verification of their employment and/or education history for the past three years. Appointment to this role is subject to the successful completion of all pre-employment checks, including security vetting. Please note that if a candidate does not meet the required security standards or fails to pass the vetting process, Southern Water reserves the right to withdraw the offer of employment. Some positions may also require higher levels of security vetting, which may involve providing additional documentation.
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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 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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