Consumer Panels Manager

CCW is the passionate, independent voice representing water consumers in England & Wales. We support thousands of people each year, providing free advice and helping people to resolve their complaints with their water company in an easy, caring way. We champion everyone’s needs and interests, completing and showcasing research that influences water companies, government, and regulators to make change happen.

In July 2024, the Secretary of State said that ‘Consumers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account through powerful new customer panels’. This was further mentioned on 5 September when the Secretary of State said “For the first time in history, customers will have the power to summon board members and hold water executives to account.”

The proposed consumer panels, one per company, will give CCW and other stakeholders, a ‘finger on the pulse’ of consumers’ views.  This will give companies sight of independent views of the services they provide, so they can feed this information into decision-making and planning. The panels will be run alongside CCW’s work on delivering its Forward Work Programme.

Reporting to the Senior Consumer Panels Lead, this post will be one of a small team responsible for leading the delivery of the CCW consumer panels. There is a panel for each water company and you will be responsible for the day-to-day decisions to ensure that they are managed efficiently to deliver results. From liaising with the research agency appointed to deliver the panels, to setting up accountability processes and working with CCW policy team, both company engagement and policy specialists, to give them the right support and ensure that companies listen to the consumer voice when making business decisions.

• Work with a research agency to deliver research activities and accountability processes for research panels; each panel being linked to a specific water company. This will involve:
  • ­ Managing the relationship with the research agency to ensure that outputs and outcomes reflect the needs of internal and external stakeholders
  • ­ Making decisions about the approach, research design, direction and progress of the panels work, so this fits in with CCW’s objectives and reflects the needs of internal and external stakeholders
  • ­ Developing and quality checking materials and reports
  • ­ Identifying best practice across the panels and making recommendations based on this
• Provide support to deliver at least two accountability processes for each water company per year. At the company sessions within these processes, members have direct conversations with the Board and Executives of water companies, to hold them to account on things of importance to consumers. There may also be a need to hold additional, ad hoc accountability processes if the need arises.
• Work with each panel to consider what key issues need raising with the water company’s Board and Executive Team at the accountability processes.
• Ensure that information shown to panel members to support accountability and research is presented in customer-friendly format which is easy to understand.
• Provide challenge and critical thinking on the development and reporting of research activities so that they stand up to stakeholder scrutiny. This will include reviewing the panels work and feedback on this, on an ongoing basis, to identify ways to maximise its potential and address evidence gaps, and to make recommendations for process changes to address these.
• Where necessary, make comparisons between water company and panel research, including weighing up evidence sources and advising the Senior Consumer Panels Lead on appropriate action.
• Work with key stakeholders to ensure everyone is using consistent and well-informed data sources.
• Liaise with water companies, in conjunction with CCW’s Policy Team – both company engagement and policy specialists – to monitor the actions they take to address concerns raised by the panels.
• Explore and implement innovative ways to use the panels and accountability processes, including thinking beyond current practices.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, so there is a smooth, effective flow of information to support the panels, and stakeholders are empowered to take any opportunities to work with the panels.
• Develop feedback/reports/updates to Governments, Ofwat and for our website on the activities and impacts of the panels.

Once the work of the panels is established, we expect the role to develop further and are anticipating that you will report on the monthly ‘consumer barometer’ check of consumers’ current perceptions on their water and sewerage services.

Key Duties & Accountabilities:

The post holder will be one of a small team leading on matters relating to CCW’s consumer panels. This work will include but is not limited to:

Accountability Processes

• Work closely with the research agency throughout the accountability process, which will include panel members identifying the issues they want to hold companies to account for. briefing panel members on these issues and sessions where panel members hold the companies to account face-to-face and the research agency gathers panel members feedback.
• Ensure that the processes for working with the research agency will facilitate participants being briefed, engaged and confident holding the companies to account.
• Provide the research agency with a steer on day-to-day issues and concerns about the direction of the work, ensuring that it meets CCW’s objectives and strategic requirements. The post-holder will need to identify if any action is necessary and either put remedies into place, for more significant issues, such as those that have a higher level of risk to the project delivery or CCW’s reputation, make recommendations to senior staff on the next steps.
• Take part in CCW at accountability panel meetings, as an observer.
• Liaise with the research agency about the development, maintenance and publication of notes of the accountability processes, outlining any actions that the companies take as a result of panel discussions.
• Through the research agency, inform panels on water company progress on panel recommendations, providing a steer on the next steps as necessary.
• Publish material related to the accountability processes, in an accessible format. This may include agendas, summaries of the issues raised and company responses.

Research

• Act as the main contact for the research agency, to ensure that research outputs meet CCW’s objectives for the consumer panels.
• Inform the development of research activities, including contributing to the development of briefing for panellists, accessible and easily understood stimulus materials and questionnaires.
• Advise on the validity and effectiveness of research agency proposals, and identifying solutions if these do not meet CCW’s objectives.
• Ensure each research activity is developed in an open way and not influenced by policy or stakeholder expectations.
• Liaise with the research agency, identifying potential sticking points or problems or issues that put the overall project delivery at risk. For example, low engagement from panel participants. The post-holder will need to identify ways to address this and recommend mitigatory action.
• Develop clear reports of the results and make sure that all results, including any final reports, are quality assured and stand up to stakeholder challenge.
• Liaise with the research agency on panel health and engagement rates, working with the agency to ensure these are maximised.
• Publish the findings of research work with the panels.

Panel outputs

• Reporting and monitoring accountability processes and research projects
• Work with the research agency to develop templates to streamline reporting and dissemination of results.
• Ensure any outputs from the panel are evidence-based, balanced and customers on the panels have effective and meaningful ways to feedback and the opportunities to do so are maximised.
• Ensure that any results have been triangulated against other published information.
• Ensure panel reports and published materials are presented in an accessible and engaging format.
• Ensure that any actionable outputs, from either accountability processes or research, reflect what consumers want and that the findings match the panels’ expectations.
• Brief the relevant policy managers so that they can present outputs and findings to the water companies and facilitate follow-up face-to-face sessions on their responses, to address any action they want to take and timescales for this.
• Monitor how companies are addressing consumer concerns, maintaining oversight of progress and keeping the panels informed of progress.
• Review company outputs to ensure that they meet panel expectations.
• Work with the research agency to monitor panellist satisfaction with the panels and, if panellists are not satisfied, work out what needs to be done improve this.

Stakeholder relations and liaison with internal teams

• Establish and maintain productive working relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, developing partnerships and joint working as necessary.
• Work with the research agency to ensure that all parties have any information they need to contribute to and take part in panel activities, for example that all briefing is covered any questions raised by the panel participants or companies are addressed.
• Work with Policy Team to identify emerging or cross-panel issues and any issues emerging from the panels.
• Provide robust analysis to support responses to queries and challenges.
• Establish and maintain regular feedback channels, with panellists as well as internal and external stakeholders, setting out progress with actions arising from accountability processes and research outputs.
• Represent CCW in meetings, panels and at conferences.
• Carry out other duties within the scope of the role as required by the Head of department.

Leadership

• Lead their area of work and ownership of the relationship with internal CCW teams who will also be contributing to or working on this.
• Keep senior managers informed of issues affecting project delivery, escalate any that threaten project outputs and develop next steps.
• Be an ambassador for the panels in interactions with stakeholders.
• Actively promoting and role modelling our values (PRIDE) and behaviours, as set out in our Leadership charter.
• Actively promoting and embedding Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work. Supporting and complying with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.
• Self-motivated and capable of working independently.

Professional qualifications and preferred experience

• MRS or SRA membership, or with the level of work and education experience that would enable them undertake qualification/membership as soon as they start.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people who also have experience of planning, coordinating, delivering public engagement exercises such as citizen forums, council or other formal engagement activities including producing information and communications around engagement processes. A background working in the water sector would be preferred.

To ensure you’re well-prepared before applying to work at CCW, we’ve laid out everything you need to know on our information for applicants page.

Disability Confident Scheme: We guarantee an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. To be eligible for the guaranteed interview scheme you must have a disability or long term health condition. The disability could be physical, sensory or mental and must be expected to last for at least 12 months. You do not have to be registered as a disabled person to apply under the scheme.