Regional Planning and Scheduling Manager

Powered by Water, Driven by Purpose

South West Water keeps the South West flowing with safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services across some of the UK’s most stunning landscapes.

We’re proud to be part of Pennon Group, a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

Ready to make a splash? Join our team today.

Lead the planning behind essential wastewater services.

As Regional Planning & Scheduling Manager, you’ll own the end-to-end planning and scheduling function for Wastewater Services, aligning people, resources and systems to deliver safe, efficient and reliable operations. The role is based in Exeter with regular travel across the South West.

You’ll provide strategic direction and governance, drive continuous improvement, and create the environment for teams to perform at their best—using data and insight to support smart decisions, respond to change and deliver strong outcomes for customers and communities.

What you'll be doing:

• Set and continuously refine the strategic framework for Planning & Scheduling, ensuring consistent, compliant and customer-focused activity across WWS.

• Establish and maintain standards, policies and governance, with accountability for the overall effectiveness and maturity of the function.

• Design and oversee end-to-end systems and processes that align people, resources and workflows across all planning horizons.

• Balance demand, capacity and risk to enable safe, efficient and reliable operational delivery.

• Champion data-led planning through forecasting and insight, ensuring decisions are evidence-based and aligned to organisational priorities.

• Drive improvements in productivity, asset reliability, resilience and service performance through actionable insight.

• Collaborate across operations, maintenance, asset, customer, digital and transformation teams to align priorities and enable delivery.

• Support the integration of new initiatives, systems and ways of working into business-as-usual operations.

• Identify inefficiencies and systemic barriers, leading continuous improvement to enhance planning capability, responsiveness and customer outcomes.

What we are looking for:

• Significant management experience in planning, scheduling, operations, or resource management, ideally within wastewater, water, utilities, infrastructure, or other asset‑intensive industries.

• Proven track record of leading teams in complex, high‑pressure operational environments with competing priorities.

• Experience operating at both strategic and operational levels, with the ability to shift between long‑term improvement and real‑time decision‑making.

• Demonstrated success in implementing or maturing planning and scheduling models, systems, or operating rhythms.

• Experience working across multiple functions to support service delivery, transformation initiatives, and business change.

What's in it for you:

• Generous holiday allowance with the ability to buy and sell annual leave for added flexibility.

• Company Car

• Competitive company pension scheme.

• Training and development within the role.

• Access to thousands of discounts and vouchers through Pennon Perks.

• 24/7 support with our Employee Assistance Programme.

• Discretionary bonus.

• Cycle to work scheme.

• And more!

Closing Date: 1st July 2026

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.

Be yourself, we like it that way. Together, we will build a culture of belonging, where inclusion is instinctive. Diversity is our strength and a reflection of our communities. We care, we value everyone, we celebrate uniqueness.

Our core values, which are essential to our success, are:

Be Rock Solid - Build trust and be trusted. Be the one we all look to and can depend on.

Be You - We want you to bring your best everyday. Be yourself and make your mark in your individual way.

Be the Future - Embrace change. Drive Progress. Own the challenge.