AddressStatus: Permanent /Full-time strongly preferable (requests for part-time/flexible working arrangements are welcome)
Transitioning to a low-carbon energy system to meet the 2050 net zero target is one of the most complex and important challenges society has faced and innovation in services and products will play a crucial part in achieving it.
The Energy Systems Catapult’s mission is to accelerate energy innovation towards net zero. We do that by helping a broad range of innovative companies bring products and services to market, and by recommending changes to policy, regulation and the energy system itself to ensure that the future energy system within the UK is secure, clean, and affordable.
The Markets, Policy & Regulatory team translates existing policy and regulations and helps innovators make sense of the opportunities and barriers to introducing new services and products. We also draw on our work with innovators to make the case back up to government for policy and regulatory reform.
As demand for our expertise and services continues to grow, we are recruiting for a Senior Energy Policy Advisor to join the team. We are particularly interested in strengthening our Electricity Practice, which deals with all aspects Electricity Markets, policy and regulation, including retail and wholesale market reform, flexibility, investment in the grid, and the institutional arrangements that govern the sector.
The Catapult is a place where you can do the best and most impactful work of your career. You will be exposed to a variety of exciting projects, from how we go about decarbonising 26 million homes, how we decarbonise both complex sites and industrial areas and the role of local areas in decarbonisation. There is also the small question of how the whole transformed system will work together!
Our HQ is in Birmingham but our hybrid working arrangements mean that our people are distributed across the country. With a rich mix of disciplines and experiences across the energy system, the Catapult is a highly stimulating environment and was recently awarded a Great Place to Work certification.
You
We are looking for a policy expert. It would be great if you demonstrate a successful track record of delivering projects related to electricity policy, perhaps in a consultancy, government, industrial or academic department. But this is not a prerequisite if you are genuinely interested in and understand the subject matter and can demonstrate strong capabilities in other areas.
To that end, you will be able to showcase how you have delivered policy projects that have led to impact and change to the sectors in which you worked.
As the Catapult’s policy expert in this space, you will not only be comfortable and effective working collaboratively with your colleagues but also engaging externally with a variety of industry stakeholders, as you will be expected to develop strategic relationships on electricity policy, regulation, and institutional governance and to represent the Catapult at external events.
You will lead the delivery of electricity policy projects from conception through to final output. With that in mind, you will use your first class analytical, report writing and presentation skills to ensure that your outputs are engaging and well targeted to the intended recipients.
In addition, you will be expected to contribute to the Catapult’s bids for projects, as well as helping to shape the Markets, Policy & Regulation team’s strategic direction, operational approach, effectiveness and growth.
What you will be doing
- Delivering policy projects in our electricity policy practice. Depending on the nature and scale of the project, you could be leading the policy work or supporting a Practice Manager (subject matter lead). There may also be opportunities to be involved in the work of our two other practices: carbon policy and heat & local energy.
- Contributing to the development of the Catapult’s positioning on policy and regulatory issues relating to the decarbonisation of the power system, including wholesale and retail electricity market reform; electricity network strategy; distributed power flexibility.
- Supporting the delivery of projects for a wide range of potential commercial clients (including central and local government, the regulator, network companies, energy suppliers, new and emerging innovators).
- Production of reports, presentations, blogs and articles – either as lead author, co-author or contributor to specific sections.
- Representing the Market, Policy & Regulation team within the Catapult – for example, by presenting on project work at company Show & Tell events.
- Managing interactions with stakeholders such as central and local government, regulators, private companies, innovators, etc. This may include attendance at and/or running workshops and delivering high quality presentations, webinars, etc.
- Contributing to the Catapult’s bids for future projects, contributing and scoping relevant Markets, Policy & Regulation expertise and inputs as appropriate.
- Horizon scanning and maintaining the Catapult’s knowledge and insight heat & local Energy Policy.
Key Credentials
- Experience of work on policy and / or regulatory issues, analysis of problems and developing strategically sound solutions.
- Evidence of high-quality writing in your area of expertise and the ability to collaborate and contribute to writing research outputs for different audiences (e.g. reports; think-pieces; blogs; briefings; etc).
- Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) and experience of delivering presentations.
- Ability to work accurately to tight deadlines, and good planning and organisational skills.
- Ability to work both independently and closely with a team.
- Collaborative and confident in developing relationships with a variety of stakeholders with different backgrounds (e.g. government, commercial, academic).
- Deep understanding of the UK’s Energy Policy, markets and regulations and strategic challenges. [Desirable]
- Relevant post-graduate qualification. [Desirable]
Next Step
If you want to have real policy and regulatory impact, are excited by the opportunity of collaborating with key players across the market and would like to work with a diverse team who are passionate about decarbonisation, we look forward to hearing from you.
