Change Manager

Every day, more than 16 million people rely on Thames Water and we’re transforming how we serve customers now and for generations to come. This is a pivotal moment for us and the wider water industry. We’re building a better, more transparent, more resilient future. To do that, we need exceptional leaders who are passionate about impact, influence and delivering meaningful change.

That’s where you come in.

As a Change Manager you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our business, leading large groups through complex change journeys and taking full ownership of change outcomes. Your ability to manage resistance within entrenched or long-standing teams will be crucial to delivering meaningful transformation that impacts millions of customers.

In this 12-month fixed-term contract, you’ll lead advanced change management practices across a complex product delivery programme, helping us deliver innovative solutions. You will design and deliver engagement and communication plans that foster collaboration and support successful adoption of new platforms and processes, ensuring that you drive and sustain change rather than simply contributing to it.

What you’ll be doing as Change Manager
You will bring deep expertise in change management, consistently evaluating complex situations using multiple sources of information and providing strategic input to guide decision-making. This role requires a strong understanding of how change management integrates with wider business functions, combined with commercial awareness to ensure initiatives align with organisational objectives. You will lead large groups through change journeys, directly manage resistance in embedded teams, and implement engagement and communication strategies that enable sustainable transformation.

Working closely with product owners, you’ll support the delivery of new features and functionality—including technical configuration and custom builds, on one of our existing platforms, impacting a large colleague population. Your ability to engage stakeholders, drive business readiness, and embed sustainable change will be key to success, as will your commitment to owning the full change lifecycle and outcomes.

Key Responsibilities
· Develop and implement a robust change management framework for large-scale technical programmes, leading large groups through change journeys and ensuring best practice.
· Evaluate complex situations using multiple sources of information and provide strategic recommendations, especially when managing resistance in established teams.
· Align change initiatives with organisational objectives through strong commercial awareness, and own change outcomes from inception to completion.
· Lead stakeholder engagement and communication across diverse business units, designing and delivering comprehensive engagement plans.
· Conduct impact assessments and readiness evaluations to inform adoption strategies, particularly in long-standing teams.
· Design and implement post go-live support and escalation models to maintain operational stability.
· Create and execute communication, training, and adoption plans that drive business readiness and sustainable change, ensuring you are responsible for the outcomes.
· Own and maintain the end-to-end change management plan and governance, partnering with project managers and technical teams.
· Monitor, measure, and report on adoption, readiness, and benefits realisation, coaching leaders and teams throughout the process and maintaining accountability for results.
Base location: Hybrid – CWC Reading, you will be required to attend the office 2 days a week
Working pattern: Full-time

What you should bring to the role
· Recognised as an expert in change management with a proven track record in leading large groups through technology or platform transformation projects and owning change outcomes.
· Skilled in evaluating complex situations and managing resistance within entrenched teams, contributing strategic input within the change management discipline.
· Deep understanding of how change management integrates with broader business functions, applying strong commercial awareness and responsibility for change results.
· Experienced in designing and implementing support and transition frameworks for complex system go-lives, including comprehensive engagement and communication plans.
· Highly developed communication and diplomacy skills for effective stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
· Comfortable working autonomously and creating structure in complex, evolving environments, particularly with business-critical platforms such as billing, reporting, or analytics.

Required Qualifications
· Certification in Change Management (e.g., Prosci, APMG) or proven working knowledge.
· Experience leading large-scale technology or platform/product transformation projects, including responsibility for end-to-end change outcomes.
Please can you include a covering letter including specific examples of: Leading large groups through change journeys / Managing resistance in entrenched or long‑standing teams /Designing and delivering engagement and communication plans/ Owning change outcomes, not just contributing to them

What’s in it for you?
· Competitive salary from £61,010 per annum, subject to experience.
· Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
· Car Allowance
· Annual Bonus
· Generous Pension Scheme through AON
· Private Medical Health Care
· Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to 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.