Senior Commercial Waste Operations and Development Officer

We are seeking an experienced waste services professional for the post of Senior Commercial Waste Operations and Development Officer. This role ensures our commercial customers receive reliable, high-quality waste collection, keeping their premises compliant and well-maintained. By providing excellent service, we retain and attract commercial clients, supporting ongoing service improvements and innovation for the benefit of all our customers.

You will lead a dedicated commercial operations team of 14 staff and be responsible for managing commercial waste collections across the borough, efficiently solving problems as they arise to ensure an effective response, as well as planning operations and assigning staff and vehicles as needed.

You will champion health and safety in all aspects of service delivery, uphold excellent standards of customer service, and maintain the highest levels of professionalism, performance, and regulatory compliance throughout your operational responsibilities.

In this pivotal role, your ability to adapt your communication style will ensure seamless, high-quality interactions with both residents and businesses, enhancing customer satisfaction across the borough. You’ll play a key part in shaping positive employee relations, fostering an environment where open dialogue, transparency, and mutual respect are at the heart of staff engagement.

You will build strong relationships with colleagues and partners to monitor service performance, improve operations, and address issues such as uncontracted commercial waste and customer containment needs. Your expertise will support the growth and development of the service, providing valuable insight to sales and contract teams and helping to implement new services alongside the Commercial Waste Contract and Accounts Manager.

You will have operational experience in managing waste-related services with an understanding of best practice and procedures relating to waste management, ideally in a local government setting. You will possess a relevant degree, and/or professional qualification in waste related management or at least 3 years relevant experience.

This is an excellent time to join Waste Services as we receive positive feedback on cleansing standards and commercial waste services backed up with excellent Keep Britain Tidy monitoring results. We continue to use and develop digital business tools within the service, and this helps to inform and deliver further planned expansion of services.

This is a unique opportunity to join a passionate team at the forefront of waste management innovation in one of London’s most vibrant boroughs. You’ll champion sustainability and help shape Tower Hamlets’ future as an environmentally responsible community. We’re proud of our commitment to investing in people, offering tailored training and advancement opportunities, and fostering a collaborative, supportive work culture.

Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.