Chief Operating Officer for Open Water Market Limited (OWML)

About OpenWater:

In 2011, the UK Government published the Water White Paper 'Water for Life', which set out its plans to:

• increase choice and improve service for water customers.
• stimulate innovation and drive more sustainable approaches to managing our water resources.

The subsequent Water Bill included the legislative changes required to deliver these ambitions for the water sector.

The Water Act 2014 included provisions to allow all non-household customers in England to choose their supplier by April 2017.

As noted above, the Open Water programme was established to implement the necessary market architecture to deliver on the ambitions of the Water Act. Open Water Market Limited (OWML) is a company limited by guarantee that was established in December 2013 as the entity to take forward and govern that programme of work.

OWML has been classified as a public body, which means that its accounts are consolidated into Ofwat's and there is a detailed Memorandum of Understanding governing the interactions and financial relationships between OWML and Ofwat. Further details of our role can be found at: http://www.open-water.org.uk/

Context:

As part of a recent consultation to amend companies' licences, it was announced that there would be a new approach to taking forward the work of the Open Water programme. This approach would involve OWML continuing to deliver its current programme of work up to the end of 2014, before this work would then formally move into a ring-fenced programme taken forward by Ofwat from January 2015.

The timing of the transition has subsequently been further delayed and is now scheduled for 1 June 2015.

The industry has established a company, classified as private, called Market Operator System Limited which will manage the capital procurement of the market operator ICT system and may evolve into the enduring market operator.

The previous Chief Operating Officer has now resigned and a short-term opportunity of up to six months exists to manage the year end and transition of OWML's work to Ofwat. OWML is seeking the services of a highly skilled and experienced Chief Operating Officer to contribute to the successful transition and winding down of OWML, managing the day to day organisation of the company and support the subsequent transition of its activities to Ofwat. Full details of the role can be found in the attached Invitation to Tender document.

Assignment Duration:

The assignment would ideally begin on 30 March 2015 (exact start date to be agreed) with the option to extend beyond 30 June 2015 in order to manage the orderly transition of OWML activities to Ofwat. The period of any extension would be subject to mutual agreement but could be up to six months. The role will be part time, 3 days per week on average.