Job Description

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

Lead the Regulatory Economics Function Supporting Scotland’s Water and Wastewater Services

We’re looking for an experienced and influential Regulatory Economics Manager to lead a specialist team of economists and provide rigorous economic insight that supports Scottish Water’s regulatory obligations and long‑term strategic decision‑making. This is a pivotal leadership role, helping the business understand, demonstrate and communicate value, efficiency and affordability, while supporting effective investment decisions that deliver for customers across Scotland.

Sitting at the heart of Strategy & Regulation, the role plays a key part in shaping how Scottish Water responds to the requirements of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) and how robust economic evidence is embedded across business planning, investment prioritisation and performance frameworks.

The role

This is a senior and highly influential role, responsible for developing and managing a high‑performing team of economists and ensuring strong, practical economic analysis informs decision‑making at every level of the organisation. The role requires a confident leader who can bring clarity to complex regulatory and economic issues and communicate insight, challenge and recommendations clearly to senior leaders and non‑economists alike.

Working closely with colleagues across Strategy & Regulation, Finance, investment planning and capital delivery, the Regulatory Economics Manager ensures Scottish Water’s economic analysis, and evidence is robust and tailored to the needs of both the business and our economic regulator. The role plays a key part in strengthening the quality and credibility of economic submissions to WICS, supporting compliance and reinforcing confidence in Scottish Water’s approach to business decision-making and performance reporting.

What you’ll do

The Regulatory Economics Manager’s responsibilities include overseeing analysis of efficiency and performance, preparing robust evidence for regulatory submissions, and presenting complex economic reasoning clearly and concisely to internal and external stakeholders. The role also provides rigorous economic input and challenge to support longer‑term planning and policy development, including work on supply and demand balance, surface water management and the future of charging for services.

In addition, you will work with the Business Economics Manager in developing, testing and implementing pragmatic cost‑benefit analysis tools and costing approaches that support sound investment decision‑making, from long‑term strategic assessments through to project‑level decisions.

A core part of the role is ensuring economic insight is understood, trusted and used across the business. This means building strong relationships, influencing key decision‑making forums, and helping colleagues apply economic tools and analysis in a practical and proportionate way. The role also has joint accountability for managing a significant consultancy budget, ensuring external support delivers value for money and aligns with agreed priorities.

What you’ll bring

You’ll bring significant professional experience in economics, with strong regulatory economics expertise and the ability to apply economic reasoning to real‑world commercial and strategic decisions. A master’s‑level qualification in Economics, or equivalent depth of study, is essential, alongside a track record of delivering high‑quality analysis in a complex, multi‑stakeholder environment.

You’ll be a confident and credible leader, with experience of recruiting, coaching, mentoring and developing economists and building capability within a specialist team. Strong stakeholder‑management and communication skills are critical, with the ability to explain economic insight and challenge clearly, concisely and persuasively to senior decision‑makers and non‑specialist audiences.

You’ll also bring evidence of developing and implementing a range of technical economic analysis, such as econometric analysis of cost efficiency, cost‑benefit analysis and costing methodologies, and of shaping approaches that support strategic and investment decisions. Experience of working in, or alongside, a regulated or infrastructure‑based environment is highly desirable, particularly where economic evidence plays a central role in regulatory and business planning.

What the role is offering

This is a key leadership role within Strategy & Regulation, offering the opportunity to influence Scottish Water’s approach to regulation, investment and long‑term decision‑making at a national level. You’ll be part of a collaborative, values‑driven environment where high‑quality analysis and expert insight directly support customer outcomes, affordability and long‑term resilience.

The role provides scope to shape how economic capability is embedded across the organisation and to develop a team whose work has real impact on strategic priorities and regulatory outcomes.

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to achieve a good work‑life balance. This role will occasionally require work outside of normal working hours, but you’ll have plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday each year, including public holidays. You can also buy up to five additional days if you need more time, and benefit from a truly flexible approach to work‑life balance, including opportunities to volunteer in your community.

We support major life events through our family‑friendly policies covering adoption, maternity and parental leave, and we embrace flexible working for the everyday. For your future, we offer a defined benefit pension — the ‘know what you’ll get when you retire’ kind — along with generous life assurance. You can also expect an annual company bonus and access to SW Splash, providing rewards that can help you save money on holidays, bills and shopping.

The post is full‑time, based on 35 hours per week with flexible working hours. Applications from those wishing to apply for alternative working patterns or flexible working arrangements are welcome.

The not-so-small print

This role will be at M1 Level. A competitive package is on offer which includes a salary starting from £ with the ability to advance to £ based on consistent out-performance.

Please include with your application a role specific covering letter (maximum 500 words) outlining your reason for applying and why you believe you are suitable for the role.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on Tuesday 16th June 2026

We operate Balanced Hybrid working at Scottish Water and we encourage people to work half their time in a Scottish Water location.

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer. 

A few final things worth knowing…

Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!

Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We're also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.

As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you'll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.

Please note, Scottish Water takes the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, colleagues and customers very seriously and as such you may be subject to Drug & Alcohol testing in line with our policy.

Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk