Performance & Insight Manager

Are you passionate about driving operational excellence and helping teams perform at their best?

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a brand-new team within our Water Operational Excellence team, helping shape how performance insight drives operational improvement across the business.

As Performance & Insight Manager, you will lead the establishment of a newly created team of Performance Partners and Analysts, designed to strengthen how we monitor, understand and improve operational performance across our regions. This is a fantastic opportunity to build and lead a team from the ground up, setting the direction, ways of working and capability needed to deliver meaningful impact.

You’ll coach and lead a team of eight team members, building capability and ensuring they deliver high-quality insight that drives operational improvement.

Stakeholder management will also be a key part of the role, working closely with senior leaders across regions to ensure insight translates into action.

What you’ll be doing as a Performance & Insight Manager

• Coach, lead and develop a team of eight Performance Partners and Analysts, fostering a high-performing and collaborative team culture.
• Support and mentor analysts, helping them structure analysis, communicate insight effectively, and deliver impactful outputs.
• Build capability in performance management and analytics across the team and wider organisation.
• Manage and influence key stakeholders across regional operational teams and central functions, ensuring alignment on priorities and performance outcomes.
• Lead the design, development and implementation of our Water Operations performance framework, establishing the right data-driven conversations at all levels of the Water organisation.
• Act as a strategic link between regional teams and central insight functions.
• Lead Director and Executive-level performance cycles and materials.
• Support regional improvement initiatives and help remove blockers to delivery.

The Performance Partners in your team will:

• Support Operational Teams to understand performance drivers and deliver improvements in their areas.
• Monitor and report on regional KPIs – including productivity, H&S, compliance, performance commitments, and financial performance.
• Support preparation of materials for Performance meetings, driving continuous improvement and standardisation across regions.
• Proactively investigate underperformance – diagnosing root causes using data and operational insight and recommending actions to address it.

Base location
Variable across Thames Water sites (flexible working available)

Working pattern or hours
Monday–Friday (36 hours per week)

Essential criteria

• Proven leadership experience, including coaching and managing multi-disciplinary teams.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with experience working with senior operational leaders.
• Experience in operational performance frameworks.
• Strong data interpretation and insight generation skills.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Advanced Excel and BI tool experience.
• Strong technical foundation in Excel, Power BI and ideally SQL to guide and coach analysts.
• Due to the nature of the role, a full UK driving licence is required.

Desirable criteria

• Experience in water or a similar industry.
• STEM degree.
• Lean / Six Sigma qualification.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary of up to £71,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience.
• Company car allowance!
• 26 days holiday plus bank holidays (increasing with service).
• Generous pension scheme.
• Private medical healthcare (dependent on grade).
• Generous Paternity Leave, including 4 weeks paid and an optional 2 weeks unpaid.
• Enhanced Maternity Leave – 26 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half pay.
• Access to benefits to support your wellbeing and finances – including annual health MOTs, physiotherapy and counselling, Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks (Please note different T&Cs apply if on secondment)

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else, just let us know. We’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.