APEX Improvement Specialist

Our Turnaround Plan at Thames Water prioritises the areas that matter most to our customers and stakeholders. Central to this effort is the implementation of Agile Process Excellence (APEX), aimed at fostering continuous improvement and embedding a culture of excellence.

What you’ll be doing as a APEX Improvement Specialist
As an APEX Improvement Specialist, you’ll be a key member of our core APEX team, providing expert support and coaching to our Turnaround initiatives. Your role will involve delivering hands-on improvement expertise, conducting process intelligence and root cause analysis, performing maturity assessments, and facilitating accredited skills transfer and training. You will play a critical role in embedding new ways of working and building cross-functional capabilities that support our long-term goals.

Key Responsibilities:

Provide hands-on improvement expertise to Turnaround initiative teams, shaping improvement approaches and embedding agile ways of working.
Conduct process intelligence and root cause analysis, utilising techniques such as value stream analysis, process mining, and experience flow mapping.
Perform initiative and team maturity assessments to identify opportunities for targeted APEX support.
Facilitate accredited training programs in agile methodologies, change acceleration, and problem-solving.
Embed agile routines and rigor within improvement pods in selected Turnaround initiatives.
Build strong relationships with initiative leaders, pod leaders, teams, and sponsors to ensure efficient and effective support.
Contribute to Turnaround communications and promote APEX and continuous improvement across the company.
Provide periodic updates and deep dives for the Executive Turnaround Committee and other forums as required.
Identify and validate improvement opportunities to generate business cases for change.
Create and maintain tools, frameworks, methods, and practices to a high standard and quality.
Develop and manage workplans, resource plans, and deliverables as part of the overall APEX program.Base Location: Reading /Hybrid
Working Pattern: Full time

What you should bring to the role

Extensive experience with delivery methodologies such as Lean, Agile, and Six Sigma on business projects and improvement activities.
Strong team-working abilities, capable of operating independently or as part of a small, specialist team.
Proven experience in a cross-functional environment with a range of internal teams and stakeholders.
Strong problem-solving capabilities, with a rigorous, data-driven approach to analysis and change management.
Analytical, detail-oriented, and logical, with the ability to break down complex problems and determine critical drivers of performance or quality.Leadership Behaviours:

Collaborative team player who consistently lives the Thames Water values.
Highly motivated, independent, and goal-oriented with a proven ability to inspire cross-functional change and collaboration.
Flexible and resilient, able to deal with changes, challenges, and setbacks while maintaining a positive mindset focused on outcomes.
Skilled at engaging and influencing a range of business teams, stakeholders, and decision-makers.
Capable of balancing available capacity with the demands of the turnaround initiative teams and managing relevant stakeholders.What’s in it for you?
This is an opportunity for professional growth and development, with the chance to make a significant impact on the future of Thames Water and the communities we serve.
Competitive salary - Offering between £58,000 - £87,000 per annum dependent on experience
Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (Plus bank holidays)
Car Allowance
Annual Bonus
Private Medical Health Care
Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution
Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year
Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeingWho are we?
At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive.

Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it for us all.

But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part?

Working at Thames Water
At Thames Water we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business.

We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, background, and differences that each individual brings.

Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process.

Find out more about working at Thames Water.

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, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way.

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