Casework Associate

Job summary

We are Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, a non-ministerial government department responsible for regulating the water sector in England and Wales.

We have an opportunity for two Casework Associates to join our Casework Team within Casework, Enforcement & Customers Directorate.

The water sector is entering a new chapter. Following the Independent Water Commission’s Final Report and subsequent White Paper - 'New Vision for Water', the UK government has set out a bold new direction - one that brings together expertise from across the sector to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment.

Ofwat is working in collaboration with the government and other regulators to help establish a new body for England, combining our strengths with those of the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency, and Natural England. We’re also continuing to engage with the Welsh Government to support future decisions for Wales.

While these changes take shape, our mission remains the same: to hold water companies to account, drive performance, and ensure the sector delivers real value for customers, communities, and the environment. If you’re passionate about making a difference, this is a unique moment to join us and help shape the future of water, and together we can continue to make a positive impact.

You can find out more about why you should join Ofwat, our strategy, values and our framework for success in the attached Information for Candidates Pack.

Job description

As an Associate in the Casework team, you will work across one or both of our Licensing and Complaints, Enquiries and Disputes workstreams, as required. You will respond to customer enquiries and complaints that Ofwat receives and deliver small scale investigations, where we have legal powers to determine a dispute between a customer and their water company. You will also lead the assessment of licence applications we receive from companies wishing to operate in the water sector.

The successful candidate will have an understanding (and ideally experience) of regulation and/or the water sector and/or utilities, strong customer service and planning skills; be able to identify and assess analyse relevant information to make evidence-based recommendations; and be great at working with others to gather and share information clearly in writing or verbally.

You will be responsible for managing a varied caseload of customer enquiries, complaints and licence applications.

Key deliverables:

In this role you will be expected to:

• Lead the successful resolution of customer disputes, enquiries and complaints and delivery of licence application assessments.

This will require you to:

o Plan, prioritise and manage your programme of work to meet required deadlines and in line with our process and governance requirements.
o Identify, gather and analyse a range of relevant data and information relevant to our decisions.
o Clearly and concisely present objective, evidence-based conclusions and recommendations in writing and verbally, and conveying complex information to a range of audiences.
o Identify and gather the inputs and information required from internal and external stakeholders to ensure our decisions are well-considered, timely and reflect relevant links and impacts in Ofwat's wider work.
o Consider and manage issues and risks arising from your work, escalating these to managers where appropriate.

• Provide a high-quality service to customers and other relevant stakeholders contacting Ofwat via phone, letter or email. This will require you to:

o Actively listen to our customers and stakeholders, to ensure you understand and can effectively respond to enquiries and complaints raised with us.
o Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of contacts you have responded to via our case management system.
o Work collaboratively with internal subject matter experts where needed to understand issues and prepare appropriate and timely responses.

• Support continuous improvement in our ways of working. This will require you to:

o Help to identify and flag trends and insights from our work and reflecting on lessons learnt to inform future ways of working and our continuous improvement.
o Keep abreast of Ofwat's key announcements and wider trends and developments that might impact on our team's work.
o Play a role in enabling the success and well-being of our whole team, by seeking out and sharing knowledge; taking account of different individuals' needs and views; supporting each other in managing and adapting to changing workloads and priorities; celebrating success; and providing constructive feedback to support our learning and growth.
o Actively participate in finding solutions to challenges that might arise in our work, and in enabling and encouraging better and more efficient ways to achieve our team's objectives.

• Take ownership of your own personal development and well-being.

Person specification

To be successful in this role you will need the below essential attributes, experience, skills and knowledge:

Experience, skills and knowledge

1. Lead Criterion: Experience of gathering and analysing complex information to make evidence-based conclusions and recommendations.
2. Lead Criterion: Understanding (and ideally experience) of regulation and/or the water sector and/or utilities.
3. Experience handling difficult conversations with, and conveying complex information to, customers, including vulnerable customers by phone and in writing.
4. Ability to work under pressure, planning, prioritising and managing a varied workload to meet different, and often tight, deadlines, while maintaining quality.
5. Strong attention to detail and experience maintaining accurate and up-to-date records/case files.
6. Experience identifying, assessing, mitigating and escalating risks as they arise.
7. Working with internal and external stakeholders to gather and share information and to deliver a common objective.
8. Desire to continuously improve a work environment, for example: sharing your ideas with colleagues and implementing improvements to policies and processes.
9. Ability to adapt communication style to suit various stakeholders and situations.

Attributes

10.Delivers outcomes
11. Creates clarity
12. Promotes collaboration
13. Adaptable thinker

Attributes as per Ofwat's Framework for Success for the relevant salary grade. You can read more about Attributes here.

Benefits

Why You Should Join Us:

Our people are at the heart of Ofwat, and our People Strategy defines the goals that keep this focus at the centre of everything that we do. In our annual People Survey 2024, we outperformed the Civil Service (CS) People Survey benchmarks in all 10 areas.

Almost four in five of our people would recommend Ofwat as a great place to work. Nine in ten say that they are treated with respect and that Ofwat respects individual differences. Nine in ten also say that the work they do is interesting and that they decide how they do their work. That’s great but it’s important to us to build an environment that is not only fair, inclusive and empowering but also collaborative. Here, nine in ten of our people say that their team works together to find ways to improve what we do, and that their manager is open to their ideas.

You will also benefit from:

• Excellent employer pension contributions of nearly 29%.You can find further details about pension schemes under Terms and Conditions in the Candidate Pack.
• 25 days’ annual leave (increasing to 30 with each year of service) plus bank holidays and an extra 2.5 days of privilege leave
• Access to exclusive discounts on a variety of goods and services, including retail outlets, theatre tickets, holidays, insurance, and a gym membership
• Flexible working arrangements that suit your lifestyle
• Fees paid for membership of relevant professional bodies
• Up to 3 volunteering days per year
• Recognition vouchers scheme
• Generous shared parental leave and pay
• Enhanced sick pay
• Regular development opportunities
• Health and wellbeing initiatives
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Season ticket loan for home-to-office travel
• Free eye tests and contribution to lenses/spectacles for VDU users

Moving to Ofwat from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Find out more at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How to apply

Apply through the Civil Service Jobs website where you’ll be asked to create an account and complete an application form (CV and personal statement). If you’re unable to make an electronic application, please contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk and we will support you in completing your application.

Please see the candidate guidance on our website for more detail and tips on how to best make your application and prepare for interview.

Please ensure you have submitted your application in full ahead of the deadline listed below. Unfortunately, we won't be able to consider late applications.

Selection timetable

• Closing date: 23.55 on 11 February 2026
• Sifting: 12 – 19 February 2026
• Interview dates: 26 February - 04 March 2026

Assessment process

Sift Stage - Blind Sifting

We operate a blind sifting model to eliminate bias. All candidate identifying information will be removed from applications.

At sift stage we will assess your application (CV and personal statement) against essential criteria 1,2,3,4 and 5 listed above. Please ensure you provide enough evidence in your application form to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.

Use your personal statement to address the following three criteria below and tell us how your experience, skills and knowledge meet them:

1. Lead criterion: Experience of gathering and analysing complex information to make evidence-based conclusions and recommendations.
2. Lead criterion: Understanding (and ideally experience) of regulation and/or the water sector and/or utilities.
3. Experience handling difficult conversations with, and conveying complex information to, customers, including vulnerable customers by phone and in writing.

*Please note that in the event of receiving a large number of applications, a pre-sift may take place on just the lead criterion.

** If a high volume of candidates meet the minimum pass mark at sift stage, we will only progress the highest scoring candidates to interview. Candidates not invited to interview, who have achieved the minimum pass mark, will be placed 'on hold' until the final stage of the assessment process is completed. Should the role/s remain unfilled, candidates placed 'on hold' may be invited to interview in merit order.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. For further information on appropriate/inappropriate use of AI see the Civil Service guidance. Please note this guidance refers to ' Civil Service Success Profiles' Civil Service assessment framework. At Ofwat we do not use this in our assessments - please refer to our Framework for Success as listed above.

Interview Stage - Transparent Interviews and Presentation

At interview stage we will test against essential skills, experience, knowledge and attributes set out above.

Our transparent interview process involves candidates receiving a selection of attribute-based questions in advance. This has been proven to help neurodiverse candidates and others to perform better at interview and is part of our inclusive culture.

You can read more about attributes and our Framework for success here.

As part of the interview process, we will require a short written task to complete in advance.Further details will be provided to candidates upon invitation to interview.

Please note that the interviews will be conducted via video conferencing software (Microsoft Teams).

Please ensure anything you present in your interview answers is factually accurate, and you are not presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by AI, as your own. You may expect follow up questions.

It may be necessary for a second stage interview, which will be communicated to the successful candidates, if required.

If the assessment process identifies more appointable candidates than roles available, a reserve list will be created for 12 months from which further appointments in merit order can be made.

'Near-miss' candidates (candidates who have performed well at interview stage but haven’t scored high enough for the advertised Associate band) may be considered (in merit order) for a Business Support grade post – a band lower than Associate. Further details will be provided to candidates as needed.

If you have any queries about any aspect of this role, selection process, or you require any reasonable adjustments, please email recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk
• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints procedure - The process of recruitment and assessment embraces the principles of fair and open competition and best practice. The first is to maintain the principle of selection for appointment to the Civil Service on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. The second is to promote an understanding of the https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-code/the-civil… which sets out the constitutional framework in which all civil servants work and the values they are expected to uphold, and to hear and determine appeals made under it. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@ofwat.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from us, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

Candidate Pack_Associate Casework_Jan26 Opens in new window (pdf, 752kB)