United Utilities
Project Manager – Innovation
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About Us
Project Manager – Innovation
Shape the Future. Deliver Innovation. Make a Lasting Impact.
Location: Lingley Mere, Warrington (Hybrid Working)
Salary: Competitive + Bonus + Outstanding Benefits
Ready to Lead Innovation That Matters?
At United Utilities, we're not just delivering water – we're helping to create a more prosperous, greener and healthier North West. As one of the UK's leading FTSE 100 organisations, we're investing in the future through innovation, sustainability and transformational engineering projects that deliver real benefits for our customers, communities and the environment.
We are expanding our award-winning Innovation and Outperformance team at United Utilities, bringing together innovation, decarbonisation, and standardisation to drive step-change improvements in cost and carbon performance mainly focused on our c.£7bn capital programme. Our team explores innovations that deliver value and drives the deployment these solutions at scale to unlock outperformance against our ambitious targets.
We're looking for an ambitious and forward-thinking Project Manager to join our Innovation & Outperformance Team. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced Project Manager or Project Engineer who thrives on turning great ideas into reality, driving industry-leading innovation and delivering projects that make a measurable difference.
If you're passionate about sustainability, emerging technologies, engineering excellence and continuous improvement, this could be the career-defining role you've been waiting for.
The Opportunity
As Project Manager – Innovation, you’ll work predominantly with the Standardisation Team, where you will be responsible for the full project lifecycle — planning, execution, monitoring, control and closure. Your core focus will be ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope and within budget, while effectively managing risks, resources and stakeholder expectations.
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You'll be at the forefront of driving standardisation, championing new ways of working and ensuring successful inclusion of solutions within our capital programme.
This role offers the perfect blend of strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement and hands-on project leadership.
What You'll Be Doing
Leading Innovation and Standardisation
- Drive innovative projects from initial concept through development, implementation and adoption.
- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce carbon impact and enhance operational performance.
- Translate innovation strategies into clear, standardised projects available for take-up by capital delivery project teams.
Delivering Successful Standardisation
- Develop and maintain robust integration of innovation outputs into our standardised product catalogue.
- Ensure projects are delivered safely, on time, within budget and to agreed quality standards.
- Manage project governance, reporting, risk and resource planning throughout the project lifecycle.
Influencing & Collaborating
- Lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary teams across the business as a means of realising benefits through standardisation.
- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and business leaders.
- Promote and advocate for the adoption and standardisation solutions.
Creating Lasting Impact
- Use standardisation outputs to drive benefits realisation and ensure successful transition of projects into business-as-usual operations.
- Support the development of repeatable, scalable solutions that can be implemented across the organisation.
- Regularly communicate progress, outcomes and recommendations to stakeholders.
About You
We're looking for someone who combines strong project management expertise with a genuine passion for innovation and engineering excellence.
Essential Requirements
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- Demonstrable experience managing and delivering projects within a technical or engineering environment
- Qualified, or actively working towards, APM PMQ (or equivalent)
- Relevant postgraduate qualification (such as MSc in Project Management) or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience
- Active Professional Development Plan (PDP) and working towards professional membership such as:
- ChPP
- CEng
- CSci
- Full UK/EU driving licence
We'd Love to See
- A passion for sustainability and environmental improvement
- Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
- Experience leading multidisciplinary teams
- Excellent communication and problem-solving capabilities
- A proactive mindset with a drive to challenge convention and create better outcomes
What You'll Get
- 26 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days after four years, plus bank holidays
- Competitive pension scheme with up to 14% employer contribution (21% combined value)
- Performance-related bonus of up to 10.5%
- Comprehensive company-funded healthcare plan
- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements
- Industry-leading learning and development opportunities
- APM PMQ support and professional accreditation pathways
- Support towards CEng, IEng and Chartered status
- Leadership coaching, mentoring and career development programmes
- The opportunity to work on projects that positively impact communities and the environment
Be Part of Something Bigger
At United Utilities, innovation isn't a buzzword—it's how we solve some of the region's biggest environmental and infrastructure challenges.
If you're excited by the opportunity to lead ambitious projects, shape the future of sustainable engineering and make a genuine difference to millions of customers across the North West, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply today and help us turn tomorrow's innovations into today's solutions.
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