Wastewater Plant Operations Supervisor - Kilkenny

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 meet 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 Wastewater O&M Management area is responsible for the national delivery of wastewater operational services through the operation, inspection, maintenance and repair of the wastewater network and treatment assets.

Reporting to the Wastewater Treatment Operations Manager, the Wastewater Plant Operations Supervisor will be responsible for managing the provision of treatment services with respect to a specific plant or plants within a region. This includes the safe operation and maintenance of assets, leading and managing the performance of a team of operators, and in managing operational contractors that work on Uisce Éireann assets. They will provide operational insights to technical and service risk issues and collaborate with colleagues across the organization to ensure successful delivery of minor capital programmes and operational interventions.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage the day to day provision of treatment services with respect to a treatment plant or plants, ensuring that regulatory compliance and customer service standards are met.
• Lead and manage the performance of a team of wastewater operations and maintenance staff and provide them with the necessary direction and skills.
• Interact with operations and maintenance staff to understand the needs of the asset and identify any potential wastewater treatment operations intervention requests, and submit these requests to Treatment Planning with supplementary information as required.
• Ensure data capture on issues that are relevant to contribute to the development of operational, maintenance and repair plans; liaise with Operations Planning to undertake periodical performance reviews and appraisals and make resulting recommendations.
• Manage and organise the maintenance and repair of newly commissioned/upgraded assets as required by undertaking appropriate site training and supporting adequate resourcing.
• Develop the skills of team members through provision of coaching and training in all aspects of the operation of relevant works.
• Coordinate the movement of all sludge arising from wastewater operational processes and activities, optimising sludge contracts effectively in conjunction with Operational Contract Management.
• Record and report all information (including service risks) accurately and promptly for audit purposes and service risk escalations, using the technology systems provided.
• Contribute to the development of task schedules and standard operating procedures for the provision of network services that maximise quality of output, efficiency and support the adoption of processes.
• Monitor and report KPIs for owned processes.
• Keep up to date with best practice, capture operations lessons and keep improvement plans up to date.
• Support adherence of teams to allocated task schedules, standard operating procedures and the close out of work orders on completion of tasks.
• Support the rollout 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

• Responsible for the management of costs associated with the wastewater team.
• Coordinate the effective and efficient use of budgetary resources through team meetings, productivity management, utilisation of vehicles, implementation of work tasks and monitoring of water network operations.

Supporting Specialised Works

• Oversee Specialised Works scoping, method statement reviews.
• Support field teams with complex asset system integrity challenges, assisting in determining the cause and forecasting the impact of the challenge.
• Liaise and collaborate with Asset Planning to support the definition and management of the investment plan, specifically: understand the asset base (performance & condition), conduct risk assessments, needs identification and intervention generation.
• Support operational and strategic change initiatives in liaison with Operational Control & Support Teams.

Health and Safety

• Ensure all health and safety inductions are completed and that all equipment is provided, appropriate to the job and necessary calibrations are periodically updated.
• Implement the Construction Regulations, undertake duties assigned under the Regulations and oversee policy implementation and best practice standards, including safe working practices.
• Adhere to all health and safety procedures, risk assessments (Safe System of Work Plan), use of PPE etc.
• Ensure personnel have relevant safety skills, training and associated documentation, including Safe Pass cards and, where relevant, Construction Skills Certificate cards.
• Identify hazards and assess risks for operational areas of responsibility.
• Carry out any other duties deemed necessary and/or required that the line manager may reasonably request.

General Duties and Responsibilities

• Collaborate with key internal stakeholders across the UÉ business.
• Promote and deliver 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 Asset Operations Transformation Programme, driving results required within the Directorate and supporting organisation wide objectives.
• Provide visible leadership for your team, coach and develop them to achieve their full potential and deliver business objectives, promoting collaboration and highlighting the behaviours that are expected from everyone in the team.
• 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.
• Other duties as required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Relevant third level qualification and/or accreditation is desirable.
• Minimum of 3 years direct relevant experience of working in a similar role within water treatment or network & maintenance repair service is desirable.
• FETAC level 5 / QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate or equivalent - Craft in apprenticeship such as Craft of Mechanical Automation and Maintenance Fitting is desirable.
• Experience and capability of building a high performing team and developing people to realise their full potential and achieve results through effective coaching, delegation and support.
• 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.
• Effective communication skills, to engage with a broad range of internal stakeholders and front line employees.
• Computing skills - ability to create and interpret spreadsheets and databases.
• Understanding of key network infrastructure (e.g. Control Valves, Pumps etc.) is an advantage.
• Understanding of Trunk Main operations, Network Management, DMA Operability etc is an advantage.
• Experience/understanding of working within a strong health & safety culture.
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