Location: Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford
Job summary
The UK is the first major economy in the world to pass a law to end our contribution to climate change and we have made great progress in decarbonising our economy in recent years. But we now need to go further in cutting emissions from all parts of our economy, through a complete transformation of the UK’s energy systems and significant changes in consumer behaviour.
Job description
Decarbonising the power sector, while ensuring a secure electricity supply and keeping costs as low as possible, is a key part of this transformation. Our future electricity system will look and operate very differently in future, and will also play a much bigger role in our economy as other sectors (such as transport or heating) increasingly switch away from fossil fuels. This will require multi-£billions investment to transform how we produce, distribute and consume energy, as well as a strong long-term and system-wide perspective to ensure strategic coherence across multiple policy and infrastructure programmes.
Innovative and influential evidence and analysis is essential to underpin these decisions. You will lead our work to support Ministers and policy makers across three Groups within the Department, championing the role of evidence in decision-making. You will work alongside two other Deputy Directors to jointly lead the multi-disciplinary, 100+ strong Energy Infrastructure & Markets Analysis team. The precise division of responsibilities between the three Deputy Director roles can be flexed depending on your background and working pattern. We therefore welcome applications from colleagues with a range of working patterns and backgrounds.
You will also be part of our wider leadership team within the Directorate and the wider Analysis Function, role-modelling the culture and behaviours we want to see. We want this to be known as a great place to work, where everyone feels that they are treated with respect, trusted to do their job and contribute their ideas, and supported by their team.
Key Responsibilities
- Providing best in class analysis, including driving strategic and analytical thinking across energy infrastructure and markets policy development and delivery, and building analytical capability for the future.
- Planning and delivering a wide portfolio of analysis, supporting strategic and delivery priorities across three DG-led Groups. In the year ahead the team’s priorities will include, for example: economic assessments for multi-£bn projects, including options development and assessment; innovative analysis to inform major system-wide changes to markets, systems and networks, and the role of strategic planning; embedding a new suite of power sector modelling tools across all our work; competition and value-for-money analysis for auctions and other funding allocation programmes; contributing towards analysis of cross-sector delivery risks and mitigation options; and monitoring and evaluating major policy programmes.
- Forging positive relationships with Directors and other senior leaders across the energy infrastructure and markets policy and analytical community, to ensure analysis has most impact, and works seamlessly across other linked technology areas such as hydrogen, energy from waste, and advanced nuclear.
- Developing our applied economics and other analytical capabilities needed to respond effectively to future challenges and opportunities in a way that delivers value-for-money.
- Leading a multidisciplinary team of 120+ and research budget of £2m+ efficiently, with partner Deputy Directors.
Person specification
It is important through your CV and Statement of Suitability that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the following
Essential Criteria:
- Strong leadership and management skills with the ability to motivate and empower the team to perform, with a focus on building the team’s capability, and to innovate and think strategically to develop new policies and programmes.
- A strong track record as an analyst with experience of working in a policy environment, comfortable leading the interface between analysis and policy, and able to draw strategic conclusions from often complex and uncertain data.
- A depth of practical experience of applying economic appraisal techniques, such as to inform complex or contentious business cases for major projects (including experience of drawing insight from complex models) or in market design, and approaches to evaluating the impacts of policies.
- A collaborative approach when working with partners and colleagues from different analytical disciplines to deliver complex programmes across boundaries, and experience of building highly effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders, with an ability to influence and confidently challenge when necessary.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate must also have or be prepared to gain (if applying from outside the civil service) the following:
- Membership of the relevant analytical profession (Government Economics Service, Government Social Research Service, Government Operational Research Service or Government Statistical Group)
We actively encourage applications from candidates from all backgrounds. Direct experience in energy policy is not essential. We would particularly value applications from candidates with a depth of experience in applied economics and/or systems thinking and modelling, to complement the experience we have across the leadership team.
