Molly Sander is a water production manager for United Utilities. Molly realised she wanted to pursue a career in the water industry when she went to work in Nicaragua on a water sanitation project for ten weeks as a placement during her geography degree at Lancaster University. In her role at United Utilities, she now oversees four different treatment works across Greater Manchester and manages a team of 18 process controllers and field service engineers.
“I love working in the water industry, we turn our taps on and take having water for granted and it’s a vital part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s so interesting when you know what happens behind the scenes, water doesn’t just fall from the sky into our taps, there is a big engineering process behind it.”
Unlimited opportunities in a progressive organisation
After completing a degree in geography at Lancaster University, I secured a place on United Utilities’ graduate programme in 2016.
The scheme was a great opportunity for me as I knew I wanted to work in the water industry, but I didn’t want to be limited to the opportunities I could pursue. At United Utilities, there are so many different jobs so I knew I would find the perfect role for me within the business.
The graduate scheme consists of different placements, so it gave me a really varied insight into the business. During the two-year scheme, I worked on building a remote scheduling system for operational teams, worked in stakeholder management in preparation for the water price review and also led to an energy efficiencies management project. The project had a budget of £100,000 so it was a lot of responsibility!
During the scheme, I completed training on a number of courses including an Institute of Leadership and Management Diploma. I learnt a lot of key skills from the diploma and it helped me approach the management of people with confidence.
I also completed two CEO challenges, set by United Utilities’ chief executive Steve Mogford to come up with a solution for a real-life challenge facing the business. One of them was focussing on health and safety, developing a system to protect our contractors working on-site, which has since been rolled out throughout the company.
Following the graduate scheme, I worked in wastewater and early this year I moved to the clean water side of the business, in a role as water production manager.
Delivering clean water in Nicaragua
During my time at university, I applied for a ten-week government-backed scheme to work in Nicaragua on a water sanitation project, which opened my eyes to the sector. The placement was an absolutely incredible experience and I saw first-hand the impact that water has on people’s lives.
I worked on building toilets as well as educating the local community and school children on what people should and shouldn’t flush down the toilet – similar to United Utilities’ 3P messaging.
Even though the placement was completely different to live in the UK as I lived without any running water or electricity, it made me realise just how interesting and vitally important the industry is – from that moment on, I knew it was the career I wanted to pursue.
When I returned home, I started my second year of university and I selected modules around water infrastructure, and I went on to do a dissertation in water management and rivers as I knew it was what I wanted to get into.
I love working in the water industry, we turn our taps on and take having water for granted and it’s a vital part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s so interesting when you know what happens behind the scenes, water doesn’t just fall from the sky into our taps, there is a big engineering process behind it.
My current role
My role includes overseeing four different treatment works across Greater Manchester and managing 18 process controllers and field service engineers to ensure the sites are running smoothly and to budget.
I’m also part of the management team for Manchester, the youngest person in this team, which I think is beneficial for both sides – I get to learn from others who have been in the industry for years and I think I help to bring a fresh approach and new ideas.
My role is so varied and I’m out and about all of the time at different sites which I truly love. Managing treatment works involves a lot of problem-solving which I thrive on.
I love the fact that I don’t have deadlines that are weeks or months off, my job is about getting things done now which really suits me and keeps me excited. Every day I don’t know what I’m walking into as there is always a new challenge.
How United Utilities changed my life
United Utilities is responsible for water and wastewater services in the North West of England. We deliver 200 million litres of water a day and keep the taps flowing and toilets flushing for more than 3 million homes and businesses in the North West, as well as treating all the wastewater which disappears around the U-bend.
Working at United Utilities has changed my life for the positive. I am so much more confident now than I was when I started. Managing a large area and a big team of people is a lot of responsibility but I’ve been supported so much by my colleagues.
Personally, my job here has helped me achieve goals such as being able to buy a house and travel to places on my bucket list including a dream trip to India and Nepal.
I’m from South Wales originally and I live in Manchester now, so the job has helped me to make lots of friends here and I still go on holiday with some of the girls from the graduate scheme.
The challenge of working on-site during the pandemic
I’ve been working on-site throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As United Utilities delivers an essential service, we are all key workers.
There has been a big change to the way we operate, as we need to ensure that everyone on site maintains social distancing, contractors complete COVID safety training and everyone is kept safe. We have been doing team meetings and weekly maintenance meetings with engineers virtually. The engineers usually travel from different sites for this meeting, so it’s been a great time saver for them.
During lockdown we had the highest demand for water than ever before due to a combination of the hot weather so people were drinking more, people spending more time at home, lots of paddling pools use and an increase in washing hands. It meant we were much busier than normal and our plants were working to the maximum capacity to keep the service flowing.
We’re constantly adapting our processes to reflect the changing government guidelines so it’s an ongoing challenge, but I love facing challenges.
Keep growing
I’m keen to stick on the operational side of the business as it’s what I love. I don’t have any desire to change my role, I did enjoy doing strategic work which is potentially something I could go back to.
The good thing about United Utilities is that there are so many different job roles that if I did want to change, I know there is a huge amount of opportunity within the company for me to continue to grow.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-sander-1babb1108/
https://www.unitedutilities.com/
