About the job

Job summary

In our pursuit at Ofgem, we are committed to guaranteeing a stable, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable energy supply for every residence and enterprise in Great Britain. Serving as a pivotal force in the shift towards Net Zero and a carbon-neutral energy system, our endeavours have a positive impact on both consumers and the environment. 

 

We're seeking an experienced Customer and Behavioural Insights lead. In this role, you'll lead, shape, and execute customer research and insight projects within Comms. This will include acting as the lead research specialist for Ofgem’s stakeholder research,  collaborating with the stakeholder team to translate findings into actionable results.  

This role involves strategically presenting insights to senior colleagues in Communications and Policy teams, employing qualitative and quantitative research various methods to collect and analyse research data and ,engage with colleagues. As the Customer and Behavioural Insights lead you will ensure that Ofgem's collected data yield genuinely actionable insights, particularly in evaluating and informing future communication initiatives.  

You will advocate for inclusive research, lead message testing,  and apply behavioural science knowledge to enhance customer communication campaigns This multifaceted role contributes to generating strategic insights that address team challenges, fostering collaboration across communication disciplines with a consumer-first approach. 

This role requires collaborative working with the Customer Insight & Behavioural Science team and you will regularly engage with team leads in communications, embedded stakeholder professionals throughout Ofgem, and the Communications Senior Leadership Team. 

Join Ofgem and contribute to shaping the future of energy regulation and sustainability. Apply now and be part of a dynamic team committed to making a positive impact. 

Job description

Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) works to protect the interest of existing and future energy consumers. What we do matters: making a difference to people’s lives now, and for generations to come. The energy system is undergoing a period of change. Technological innovation, new business models and decarbonisation efforts mean that the energy system of the future will be very different from the one we have today. In a world of increasing complexity, having a deep understanding of the needs, perceptions and experiences of consumers, and putting them at the heart of our decisions, is essential.   

Ofgem Communications prides itself on basing its communications and engagement on insight from a range of stakeholders, particularly consumers themselves. It means our communications and engagement have impact, responding to audience/stakeholder needs and improving consumers’ trust in the organisation and the information we provide - and good policy-making comes from good insight. We make decisions affecting consumers every day. As part of our role to protect consumers, reliable, recent data translated into actionable insight is essential to inform some of the difficult trade-offs being made. 

The Customer and Behavioural Insights lead will embed customer insight in all communications activities (internal and external), supporting the stakeholder team on delivering stakeholder research, making more effective use of insight across communications activities and ensuring that we better understand our audiences. 

This role will be part of the Analysis profession, within the Research and Behavioural Science sub profession. The post holder will work closely with the Customer Insight & Behavioural Science team but be embedded within the Communications team. 

Key Responsibilities 

The Customer and Behavioural Insights lead will be responsible for:  

• Leading, shaping and delivering customer research and insight projects within Comms. 
• Lead research specialist for stakeholder research, working with the stakeholder team to turn this into actionable results. 
• Considering how to present insights gathered through research and the stakeholder team, to senior colleagues in both Communications and Policy teams, in a timely manner. 
• Understanding and applying a range of methods to analyse research data and synthesise findings, effectively engaging sceptical colleagues in analysis and synthesis.  
• Ensure that the data and insights Ofgem collect lead to genuinely actionable insights to help evaluate comms initiatives and inform future comms activities – especially when measuring our overall comms objectives. 
• Engage colleagues creatively and innovatively across the whole of comms in a variety of ways with insight - including drafting engaging presentations and bringing data to life visually. 
• Advocate for inclusive research - helping teams understand the diversity of Ofgem’s audiences and effectively including all kinds of audiences in appropriate research activities. 
• Leading or supporting message testing, applying appropriate methods, planning research for communications with challenging user needs, and deliver high quality research reports. 
• Applying knowledge of behavioural science e.g. behavioural frameworks (such as COM-B) to improve the design of customer communications campaigns and help drive behaviour change (internally and externally). 
• Leading on development of personas and audience archetypes – using qualitative and quantitative user research to create and iterate reliable and realistic representations of our key audiences, to ensure that we develop the information they need on the channels they want it. 
• Understanding the social and technological context of Ofgem services and aligning research activities to help the Communications Profession understand changing consumer behaviour. 
• Generating strategic insight by understanding what problem the team is trying to solve, aligning research activities to inform decision making and action, collaborate closely with colleagues in different comms disciplines and advocating for a consumer first approach.  

Person specification

Key Outputs and Deliverables 

• Identify research needs, and plan and lead research activities. 
• Develop clear recommendations and delivery of engaging presentations and research outputs. 
• Deliver targeted engagement within comms to maximise the reach and impact of internal and external research.  
• Identify and develop personas or audience archetypes.  
• Independent stakeholder research results shared regularly with the Ofgem board (GEMA), senior leadership team and wider Ofgem. 
• Creative input to initiatives to embed the consumer voice at all levels within Ofgem including embedding insight into regular consumer deep dive sessions with GEMA. 
• Apply behavioural insights approaches and use research techniques to design test, iterate and evaluate messaging, collaborating and problem-solve with colleagues in Communications Profession and across Ofgem to deliver tangible improvements to our communications campaigns. 

Key Stakeholder Relationships 

Internal  

• The Customer Insight & Behavioural Science team in the SERN directorate  
• User centred design profession  
• Secretariat team for meetings with Chair, GEMA including NEDS 
• Team leads across communications 
• Embedded stakeholder professionals across Ofgem 
• Communications Senior Leadership Team 

External 

• Research agencies 
• Comms insights specialists in other government departments/regulators e.g. DESNZ 
• Research teams within consumer bodies and charities 
• Relevant cross government networks  

Essential Criteria

• Applied market/social research experience using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies (Lead criteria). 
• Strong analytical and technical skills such as quantitative data analysis and questionnaire design. 
• Experience aligning research activities with wider plans to inform a comms proposition. 
• Strong drafting and presentation skills, with the ability to bring data to life, translating research findings into actionable comms-focussed insight and generating genuine engagement with insight. 
• Ability to work effectively with stakeholders, collaborating across teams to maximise the impact of research. 
• Understanding and practical application of behavioural insights and best practice evaluation techniques to improve the effectiveness of communications. 

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of capturing consumer needs and translating them into empathy maps, user stories and user journeys. 
• Experience of experimental testing/evaluation approaches (eg RCTs/AB testing). 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,650, OFGEM contributes £11,785 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

When you press the ‘Apply now’ button, you will be asked to complete personal details (not seen by the sift panel), your career history and qualifications.  

You will then be asked to provide a 1250 word ‘personal statement’ evidencing how you meet the essential and desirable skills and capabilities listed in the role profile. Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your supporting statement, how you meet each of the essential and desirable skills and capabilities. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.