Network Maintenance Operator (Inverness and Dornoch)

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.

How’s this for job satisfaction: at Scottish Water we look after Scotland's most precious natural resource. From source to tap, we are guarding Scotland’s reputation for refreshingly pure water, and caring for our environment at the same time.

Sound good? We are looking for motivated people to join our Water Response team based out of the Inverness area.

What you’ll do

Your number-one priority is resolving customer issues. You’ll take control of any situation, investigate problems and come up with solutions that make customers happy – always making sure they’re kept up to date.

You’ll also carry out routine repairs and maintenance on Water network infrastructure, as well as plant, equipment and vehicle checks. All while putting health and safety first (Chapter 8 NSRWA will be your guide), and keeping any service disruption to a minimum.

Accurate reports are essential, so you’ll be across reporting systems for measuring performance and productivity. And as you’ll be working as part of a team, you’ll do your turn on the standby rota for out-of-hours work.

What you’ll bring

You will need to be self-motivated, but still eager to contribute to your team’s goals. Basic IT skills are a must, as you’ll be using digital equipment and apps throughout the day. You’ll need report writing skills too – nothing fancy, but enough to get your point across clearly, quickly, and accurately.

A full, clean driving licence is non-negotiable, as you’ll need to travel around sites in the Inverness area.

A few ‘nice to haves’: it would be ideal if you have experience with HGVs or 180/360 excavators. And experience using cable avoidance tools would be good. As would an understanding of health and safety principles for site working or skills in basic ground.

Holding a CPCS or NSRWA qualification would be great, but it’s not a must-have.

The not-so-small print

This role will be a Grade 4. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £31,640. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £ 36,460.

The role includes participation in a 365/24/7 standby rota to ensure reliable service delivery in relation to any water supply issues. As well as standby  you will have the opportunity to work overtime – paid at time and a half after 35 hours worked in a week.

Other financial benefits include a ‘defined benefits pension' which guarantees an inflation linked pension when you retire , based on your salary throughout your time at Scottish Water and the number of years you have worked. Scottish water provides group life assurance which is equal to twice your salary and this is on top of the three times your salary paid by the pension scheme , so its great to know your loved ones will be provided for.  There is also currently an annual business out-performance payment, access to financial services , SW splash which is our benefits scheme giving access to discounts and/or cashback when shopping online.  We also offer a cycle to work scheme allowing you to use part of your salary before tax to purchase a bike up to the value of £4000. You can also access a brand-new electric vehicle as a benefit through a salary sacrifice scheme.

If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 1st July 2026.

Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party, and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer.  

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 also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. 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.

Please note, Scottish Water takes the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, colleagues and customers very seriously and as such you may be subject to Drug & Alcohol testing in line with our policy.

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. 

We’re here to help. Ask us anything at SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.uk