Wastewater Plant Operations Lead

Job Description

This role is based in the Castletroy WWTP, Limerick

We are Uisce Éireann. Every day, we are responsible for the delivery of secure, safe, and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. As Ireland’s national regulated water utility, our vision is a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports.

Our purpose at Uisce Éireann is to rise to the challenge of delivering transformative water services that enable communities to thrive. That means we are proud to take on the responsibility of protecting our water supply and passing on a safe and secure water system to a rapidly growing population and empowering Ireland’s social and economic growth.

We are passionate about empowering our people, enabling them to make a positive impact on communities across Ireland. We are guided by a shared vision and purpose, grounded in values that define who we are and shape how we work, where we deliver for customers and communities, we work better together, we do the right thing, we aim high, and we keep each other safe. Our behaviours define how we interact, communicate, and succeed together. These values and behaviours apply to each one of us, across every role, location, and level.

Our goal is to attract and develop skilled and talented people from diverse backgrounds, who bring a dynamic range of expertise and insights to our work. With a strong, values-driven workforce, we ensure Uisce Éireann can continue advancing Ireland’s water services and meeting the needs of the communities we serve for generations to come.

The Role: 

The Asset Operations function forms the cornerstone of service delivery to customers, protecting the environment and meeting regulatory standards as well as managing the majority of operational expenditure. The Asset Operations function has responsibility for operational and maintenance strategy, policies, planning and standard operating procedures for Water and Wastewater operations both nationally and regionally, ensuring that value for money and customer service is delivered. 

The Regional O&M Team has a regional remit and is responsible for the regional operational management of treatment and the associated delivery of water/wastewater services through operational, maintenance and repair activities, while managing health and safety. The team is also responsible for the implementation of the regional operations, maintenance and repair plan that forms part of the national operations, maintenance, and repair plan, contributing to the development, management, implementation, and approval of same. Managing change and transformation activities is a key aspect of this team's responsibility particularly in the initial phases as the regional operations team splits into separate water and wastewater teams and ways of working are standardised. 

Reporting to the Wastewater Network Operations Manager, the Wastewater Plant Operations Lead is responsible for managing the provision of treatment services with respect to a specific plant/plants within a region.This includes the safe operation and maintenance of assets to ensure compliance and customer service standards. The role holder has direct line management of field-based teams and will provide direction and guidance as is required in the execution of the role of plant management and management of Operational Contractors working on our Assets. They will be responsible for overseeing and supporting the timely resolution of technical/engineering issues and service risks as they arise within the plant/ plants through the provision of technical analysis, service risk management, local knowledge of assets and operational performance capabilities. The Wastewater Plant Operations Lead will also support IDD and Minor Capital programmes, ensuring that they are facilitated by Asset Operations. They will also coordinate investment processes and identify deficits in operational standards and areas for improvement

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Managing Plant Operations

• Manage the provision of treatment and/or network services with respect to a plant/ plants, including the operation of the plant to ensure that regulatory compliance and customer service 

  standards are met.

• Responsible for the management, oversight and provision of operational services in in 

  the plant/ plants by managing the operation of the assets and detailing the requirements 

  and expectations of activities to be undertaken by field based teams across operations 

  and maintenance.

• Oversee the extended rollout of Uisce Éireann systems for Work Management, including 

  Maximo, and advocate for the use of their complete functionality throughout the Field 

  Force

• Oversee, in strong liaison with the Portfolio Operations Leads, the integration and 

  commissioning of new assets from capital investments into the operational phase.

• Develop operational plans for Treatment Plant/ Plants and/or networks, liaising with other staff to ensure clear plans are in place at all times, reflecting the drive for continuous improvement.

• Coordinate activities to ensure operational considerations are captured in proposals and 

  strategic investment planning is supported.

• Manage event response, ensuring the prompt response to alarms, the provision of 

  emergency cover and the resolution of issues and incidents to minimise the impact on 

  the customer or the environment. This will include NOMC engagement.

• Ensure all information (including service risks) are accurately recorded and promptly 

  reported for audit purposes and service risk escalations, using the technology systems 

  provided.

• Responsible for monitoring and reporting KPIs for owned processes

• Liaise and collaborate with the Operations Manager to ensure effective treatment and delivery across geographical areas.

• Provide regular reports on operational progress to the Operations and Maintenance 

  Manager as required.

• Keep up to date with best practice, ensuring operations lessons are captured and 

  improvement plans are kept up to date. 

• Provide direction and guidance to the Team Lead and field staff, liaising with other 

  Teams as required.

• Oversee the coordination of teams to ensure the effective and efficient use of resources,

  through treatment operation and maintenance & repair key performance indicators.

• Manage the provision of treatment and/or network services by developing and contributing to operational, maintenance and repair plans for the treatment assets within the plant/ 

  plants.

• Responsible for the management and resolution of escalated issues from field teams.

• Responsible for managing or supporting with incident responses and escalating issues 

  and incidents to the Operations & Maintenance Manager, as required.

• Support adherence of teams to allocated task schedules, standard operating procedures 

  and the close out of work orders on completion of tasks. 

• Support the roll out and development of standard operating procedures, as required.

• Provide technical oversight of third parties/contractors; Permits-to-work, Permits-to Enter.

• Support Key Account Managers with any queries relating to issues affecting Key 

• Accounts in their regional area, including site visits where required.

• Support the Customer Contact Centre/Customer Contact Technical Lead with any 

  escalated customer issues/queries including site visits as required.

Budget Management

• Manage the overall budget allocated to the treatment and/or network teams to ensure delivery of services within budget. 

• Identify and manage any risks to budgets ensuring the necessary approvals processes

  are followed and the Finance function is engaged to mitigate risks. This will include 

  overall material consumption and inventory management, identifying efficiencies and 

  balancing conflicting priorities as required.

• Approve purchase requisitions, including reactive and retrospective requests in line with 

  procurement policies and processes. 

Supporting Specialised Works

• Oversee Specialised Works Scoping, Method-Statement Reviews

• Support field teams with complex asset system integrity challenges, acting as an 

  escalation point for determining the cause and forecasting the impact of the challenge, 

  defining the scope for site surveys and investigations, and identifying options for 

  resolution.

• Liaise and collaborate with Asset Planning to support the definition and management of 

  the investment plan, specifically; understanding the asset base (performance & 

  condition), conducting risk assessments, needs identification and intervention 

  generation. 

• Support operational and strategic change initiatives and develop solutions for 

  improvements, liaising & collaborating with Operational Control & Support Teams.

Team Management 

• Lead, support and develop the Wastewater Treatment and/or network Operations and Maintenance & Repair teams and provide them with the necessary direction and skills to ensure the safe operation and maintenance of wastewater assets.

• Oversee the coordination of teams to ensure the effective and efficient use of resources, 

  through team meetings, productivity reporting and monitoring wastewater treatment and/or network operation and maintenance & repair key performance indicators.

• Set and review objectives, and manage the performance of Wastewater Treatment and/or network Operations and Treatment and/or network Maintenance field based teams within the region. 

• Responsible for leading and managing direct reports to achieve business goals. 

• Ensure adherence and compliance with all health and safety procedures, legislation, 

  practices (including risk assessments, Safe System of Work Plans etc.), PPE, the 

  closure of Health and Safety items and training required under the Construction 

  Regulations.

• Responsible for managing field-based teams, preparing, and delivering timely internal 

  communications. 

• Lead, support and develop the Treatment and/or network teams and provide them with the necessary 

  direction and skills to ensure the safe operation and maintenance of assets.

• Provide visible leadership for the plant team, coaching and developing them to achieve 

their full potential and deliver business objectives, promoting collaboration and highlighting the behaviours that are expected from everyone in the team.

Other

• Participate in out of hours and escalation standby working, as required.

• Provide emergency cover, as required.

• Support and/or manage engagement with regulatory and other stakeholders, as required.

General Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaboration with key internal stakeholders across the UÉ business

• Responsible for promoting and delivering health and safety commitments across UÉ and its supply chain, reinforcing positive behaviours and delivering health and safety objectives and requirements to the highest industry standards. 

• Support the delivery of the Uisce Éireann Transformation Programme, driving results required within the Directorate and supporting organisation-wide objectives.

• Provide visible leadership for your team, coaching and developing them to achieve their full potential and deliver business objectives, promoting collaboration and highlighting the behaviours that are expected from everyone in the team.

• Other duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Relevant third level qualification and or accreditation is desirable

• A minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience is required. 

• We keep each other safe - experience / understanding of working within a strong health & safety culture

• Knowledge of water or wastewater treatment and/or the maintaining and repairing of 

  water or wastewater treatment and network assets is an advantage

• Knowledge of risk management principles and guidelines (ISO 31000) and risk identification at water and wastewater assets

• We do the right thing - knowledge of the application of the current legislation, standards, processes and procedures relevant to water and wastewater

• Budget management experience

• Local knowledge of assets and operational performance capabilities to support the 

  timely resolution of non-routine, specialised activities

• We work better together - capable to work collaboratively across various function and achieve set objectives

• We deliver for customers and communities - experience in a customer focused business

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Effective communication skills, to engage with a broad range of internal stakeholders 

  and front-line employees

• Strong experience of line and performance management duties

• Ability to make decisions based on analysis of information within a very fast paced, 

  customer focused environment

• Knowledge of managing process compliance

Grade and Salary D) €62,259 - €93,388 per year

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