Project Development Manager

Project Development Manager

Ready to lead one of the UK’s most significant water infrastructure projects?
At Thames Water, we’re shaping the future of water resilience for generations to come. We’re looking for an experienced Project Development Manager to lead the development of the Lower Thames to West London Reservoir (LTWLR) — a nationally significant £1billion Strategic Resource Option (SRO) designed to improve drought resilience while protecting the environment.

This is a rare opportunity to take a senior client‑side leadership role on a project of national importance, influencing outcomes from early development through planning and procurement.

What you’ll be doing as a Project Development Manager, you’ll be the client lead for the scheme, reporting to the Head of Scheme Development and working at the heart of our Strategic Water Resources team. You’ll be responsible for the day‑to‑day leadership of the project and its multi‑disciplinary delivery teams.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the overall development and delivery of the LTWLR SRO, ensuring safety, quality, cost and schedule requirements are met.
• Setting and owning project requirements, strategies, standards, design principles, milestones and budgets.
• Managing a large, multi‑disciplinary Technical Partner, acting as Service Manager under an NEC4 contract.
• Owning and maintaining the project baseline, including scope, cost estimates, schedules and risk assessments.
• Ensuring robust governance, change control and escalation of decisions where required
• Overseeing the delivery of technical outputs to support planning, procurement and regulatory processes, including RAPID Gate submissions.
• Acting as the primary interface between project sponsors, the SRO team, Technical Partners and Thames Water corporate functions.
• Representing the project with internal and external stakeholders, including active participation in community engagement
• Driving a strong culture of safety, wellbeing and collaboration aligned to Thames Water values.

What you should bring to the role

We’re looking for a credible, confident leader who thrives in complex, high‑profile environments and can bring people together around shared outcomes.

Essential:

• Degree‑level education. (or equivalent experience)
• Proven leadership experience on major infrastructure or capital projects.
• Experience in roles such as Project Manager, Project Sponsor, Design Manager or Development Manager.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence across organisations with competing priorities.
• Sound commercial awareness and experience working with large consultancy or delivery partners.
• Excellent communication, collaboration and influencing skills.
• Strong project management capability, with the ability to manage multiple priorities.

Desirable:

• Chartered status (or working towards) with a relevant professional body.
• Experience of projects progressing through DCO or similarly complex planning processes.
• Significant engineering or technical background.
• Knowledge across the full project lifecycle.

This role is offered on a hybrid working basis, split between our Reading and London offices, with a minimum of 3 days per week in the office (or as required by the project).

What’s in it for you?

• Salary: £71,000 - £85,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus, bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• 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.