Business Management and Analytics Scotland 2024

Start your career with a splash. When you join Scottish Water as a Graduate, it’s more than just a great launchpad for your career. You’ll play an important part in helping Scotland to flourish, by delivering the critical infrastructure and services that our nation relies on every day.

You’ll be joining us at a fascinating time, as we endeavour to transform into a more agile, innovative organisation that provides truly excellent service, delivers great value for money, and works in an environmentally sustainable way that goes beyond Net Zero.

What you’ll do

Scottish Water depends on lots of engineers and technical specialists to make sure that the nation’s water and waste water are taken care of. But the organisation can’t run effectively without a community of specialists who keep our commercial and business operations running smoothly, and continuously improving the way we work.

Choose the pathway that makes the most sense for you:

• Operational Excellence: We’re great at delivering our core water and waste water services – but continuous improvement is the name of the game. How can we streamline or automate processes? How can we keep customers better informed? Are hand offs between teams working seamlessly? Could field based and office based teams collaborate more effectively? There are lots of opportunities to make life easier for our colleagues and our customers.
• Commercial: Our funding comes from Scottish taxpayers, so it’s crucial we spend that money wisely. From our revenue and wholesale activity, to managing our PFI partnerships, to strategic investment decision making, to portfolio and programme management, we have a diverse group of teams that share a core focus on one of our strategic objectives: Delivering great value and financial sustainability.
• Lean and Agile Solutions: We have a squad of transformation specialists who are focused on re-designing our most significant and complex end-to-end processes. Working in virtual and cross-functional teams, they use lean and agile methods, business analysis techniques, and external insights to challenge established thinking and deliver complex business changes. No stone is left unturned as we explore the art of the possible.

Over the course of 2 years, you’ll typically rotate roles within your specialism every 6 months, with the goal of getting you ready to step into an operational or analytical role.

How does the graduate programme work?

• You’ll be employed on a permanent contract from Day One.
• The starting salary for this role will be £28,500. After each successful 6-month placement, your salary will increase by up to £1000.
• You’ll be part of a cohort of c.60 graduates, giving you an instant and invaluable network of contacts throughout the business.
• There is plenty of support. As well as your day-to-day manager, we’ll match you up with a mentor who will support and coach you as you go through your programme.
• You’ll have access to both structured and informal training designed to equip you with the skills you need now, and in the future.

What you’ll need

You’ll have graduated within the last three years (or be on track to graduate next summer). Your degree should ideally be in a business related discipline, e.g. Business Studies, Operations Management, HR Management, etc.

You’ll need to live within commuting distance of one of our main office hubs, e.g., Edinburgh, Stepps, Dundee, Inverness.

In terms of essential requirements? That’s it.

But here’s the thing: We get thousands of applications for our Graduate roles each year. What makes the best candidates stand out?

Here are a few things we love to see:

• CVs that tell us more than what grades you earned over the years. Show us what you’ve learned. What you love. What your aspirations are.
• Cover letters that tell us why you’re interested in Scottish Water (and in Business and Analytics in particular)
• People who use their application to show that they are Bold, Responsible, Inspiring and Caring.

Looking out for you

While the work we do is important, it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.

You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take paid time off to volunteer in your community.

When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.

For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), as well as life assurance.

As for some nice extras? You can expect an annual company bonus. Not to mention access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

What happens next?

• The closing date for applications is Sunday 17th December.
• Assessment activity will kick off in January with some surprisingly fun (no, really!) online testing.
• Final face-to-face interviews will happen during February. Where you can give us a good grilling too.
• If you accept a place on the programme, you’ll go through some pre-employment screening during the Spring, including a criminal record check.
• All our new Graduates will start together in September, with a week-long induction event in Glasgow. You’ll learn more about the organisation, meet our leaders, visit some of our operational sites, start making friends, and have a lot of fun.

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 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.

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.