About the job

Job summary

The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) is one of the largest and most high-profile in the Civil Service, despite having only been created in February 2023. These roles offer a unique opportunity to make your mark on two of the key programmes that will enable the country’s transition to Net-Zero. We are looking for experienced leaders who are excited by the opportunity to shape and deliver programmes whose reach and impact will be critical not just to the transition to Net-Zero, but also enabling greater investment and job creation as part of a wider economic transformation to a low-carbon economy.

Three roles are available as follows, for which we are looking for inspirational leaders who are focused on building empowered, diverse and inclusive teams. If you are excited about playing a role in achieving Net-Zero, supporting economic transformation and creating a fantastic place to work; we’d welcome your application.

Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) 

There are two Deputy Director Policy posts available in the REMA Programme, only one of which is available in London and the other in a Places for Growth Location.

1.Future Electricity Security

2.Wholesale electricity markets & location

The REMA Programme is a major Government programme which is seeking to establish the market arrangements to drive the next phase of the transformation of our electricity system and deliver a secure, affordable, and low-carbon future. This is a transformational programme which will decide the biggest changes to UK energy markets in a generation.

Carbon Capture Usage and Storage

There is one Deputy Director Policy posts available in the CCUS Programme. Only available in a Places for Growth Location.

1.CCUS Programme Management

We believe that CCUS will be essential to meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero target, playing a vital role in levelling up the economy, supporting the low-carbon economic transformation of our industrial regions, creating new high value jobs. 

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has described CCS as a ‘necessity, not an option’ for the transition to Net Zero.   

CCUS and low carbon hydrogen are vital to transforming sectors such as steel, cement, and chemicals, which lack viable alternatives to achieve deep decarbonisation and will help create world-leading low carbon manufacturing clusters.   

Places for Growth Locations - Birmingham, Cardiff, Salford, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Darlington

Job description

Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) Programme

About the Roles

Our electricity market arrangements in Great Britain were designed for firm, flexible generation (principally gas/coal power), located throughout the country. Since then, huge strides have been made in the deployment of low carbon renewable generation, often located far from centres of electricity demand, on the journey to decarbonise the power sector by 2035. However, this technological transformation is also raising new challenges in keeping the electricity system operating dependably and cost effectively.

These two new roles will lead our policy development and delivery on key areas of the REMA Programme:

1.Ensuring a secure electricity supply, as we transition away from gas generation and towards other low-carbon flexible technologies.

2.Addressing the growing mismatch between where our electricity supply and demand are located, to keep costs as low as possible for consumers and to ensure that the electricity system can still operate effectively

The REMA Programme published an initial consultation on a wide range of reform options in July 2022 (available here). We are currently working towards a second REMA consultation with the aim of significantly narrowing the number of policy options remaining on the table, and taking decisions about our future electricity market arrangements where we can.

Vacancy Description- Deputy Director, Electricity Markets (REMA) policy: Future Electricity Security

Main objectives and key responsibilities of the role are:

• Ensuring that our approach to electricity security remains fit for the future, responding to new challenges such as the continued growth of intermittent generation sources (wind and solar) and growing demand for electricity across the economy
• Designing and delivering changes to our electricity market arrangements so that we are able to drive the investment needed to maintain a reliable electricity supply at lowest cost, throughout the transition to a fully-decarbonised power sector
• Developing and delivering policy to ensure a smooth transition away from gas generation, including by strengthening pathways for remaining gas generators to convert to low-carbon generation where appropriate, and by accelerating the deployment of low-carbon flexible technologies
• Joining-up our electricity security policy thinking with the wider changes to market arrangements being considered across the REMA Programme, as well as with other power sector policies across the Department
• Leading a growing team of 20+ staff, managing resources flexibly across your responsibilities, inspiring and empowering them to perform, providing continued opportunities for them to stretch and develop, and helping ensure a fun and supportive atmosphere within the team. 
• Making a full contribution as a member of the REMA Programme and wider Directorate senior leadership team, including by working collaboratively across boundaries and flexing resources in line with overall priorities, leading on elements of our local People Plan, and ensuring the Directorate remains a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone to work. 

Vacancy Description- Deputy Director, Electricity Markets (REMA) policy: Wholesale electricity markets & Location

Main objectives and key responsibilities-

• Setting strategic direction for the Department’s work on the best approach to tackle locational issues within electricity markets. This will need to include considering the appropriate role for market-based price signals relative to other levers such as system planning and network infrastructure build-out, the role of price signals in relation to both driving investment in new capacity and the operational behaviour of existing generation assets, and the linkages with other parts of the energy system including retail energy markets
• Leading the detailed design work on the remaining policy options within the REMA Programme to address location within electricity markets, working closely with Ofgem and the Electricity System Operator as well as with other delivery bodies, to enable a full assessment ahead of final policy decisions 
• Developing new policy options to ensure that a future renewables-based electricity system can continue to be operated reliably and cost-effectively
• Working closely with others across the REMA Programme, enable final policy decisions on a package of measures – including on location and system operability - that best delivers our overall objectives for a secure, affordable, and low-carbon electricity system
• Leading a growing team of 20+ staff, managing resources flexibly across your responsibilities, inspiring and empowering them to perform, providing continued opportunities for them to stretch and develop, and helping ensure a fun and supportive atmosphere within the team. 
• Making a full contribution as a member of the REMA Programme and wider Directorate senior leadership team, including by working collaboratively across boundaries and flexing resources in line with overall priorities, leading on elements of our local People Plan, and ensuring the Directorate remains a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone to work.  

Vacancy Description- Deputy Director, CCUS Programme Management

About the role

As Deputy Director, Carbon Strategy & Power Business Model (Energy Infrastructure) you will be the Head of the power CCUS function. This is a policy and delivery team with four substantive G6 led teams and expert internal and external team of project management, commercial negotiation, technical and legal specialists. It has circa 30 civil servants plus external advisor team. The objective of the team is to develop policy and business model contracts to incentivise private sector investment in power plants with carbon capture (power CCUS) and power plants using bioenergy with carbon capture (BECCS) and to deploy the technology through effective project selection and negotiation.

Main objectives and key responsibilities of the role are:

1.Deploy power CCUS in Track 1. Negotiate the Dispatchable Power Agreement and finalise the contractual arrangements for the first power CCUS plant in the UK.

2.Deploy power CCUS in Track 2. Design and oversee the delivery of the process for selecting power CCUS projects to be awarded support through the Track 2 process.

3.Design the BECCS negative emissions CfD. Lead the team and external advisors to design a leading business model to incentivise the generation of both power and negative emissions.

4.Deploy BECCS projects through project selection and negotiation.

5.Develop the future policy framework for power CCUS. Working alongside DESNZ power markets and NZ teams, set and incentivise the ambition for the level of power CCUS and BECCS required to contribute to a net zero power sector by 2035, and implement the required policy to achieve it.

Person specification

Essential Criteria (for all three roles) - the successful candidates will demonstrate in their CV and Statement of Suitability:

• Team leadership. This includes a strong focus on leading through change, building the team’s capability, inspiring and empowering the team to perform, ensuring resilience, and encouraging a fun and supportive atmosphere;
• Setting the strategic policy direction. You will need to exercise good judgement and take confident long-term decisions despite uncertainty or ambiguity, spot connections across different policy programmes and workstreams across the energy system and ensure they are joined up, balance different risks and identify robust solutions to emerging market and policy issues, and demonstrate commercial awareness of business and investor incentives and behaviours;
• Policy delivery leadership. Ensuring that our emerging policy proposals can be implemented successfully by delivery partners, building collaborative relationships with partners while also holding them to account, and the ability to successfully deliver policy projects to timetables and so that they achieve their intended benefits;
• Working together. The ability to establish excellent relationships with a range of colleagues and work effectively across boundaries in a complex environment, including with HM Treasury / the centre and with external industry and other stakeholders.

 Although experience in the energy sector or involvement in government led infrastructure projects is desirable, it is not essential.

Candidates should note that the Directorate has a well-established local L&D programme which receives positive feedback. Other development opportunities will depend on the individual, but the role offers good exposure to a range of policy, delivery and commercial issues.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £20,250 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 and Experience.

How to apply

To apply for this post please follow the instructions on the CS Jobs website by no later than 23:55 Tuesday 30th January 2024. As part of the application process you are asked to complete the following:

1.A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years.

2.A Statement of Suitability (no more than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.

3.Candidates will be asked to specify which role they are applying for, or if they would like to be considered for all three.

4.Candidates will also be asked to confirm their location preference during the  application.

5.Shortlisted candidates will be invited to undertake a Staff Engagement Exercise as part of the recruiting prior to the final interview. This assessment will not result in a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ decision. Rather it is designed to support the panels decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

6.Shortlisted candidates may have the opportunity to speak to the vacancy holder prior to the final interview. This is an informal discussion to allow candidates to learn more about the role and is not part of the assessment process

7.Final Interview

For further information on the application process and an overview on what to expect, please visit the Civil Service Careers website.

Overview of the Process

Government Recruitment Service will acknowledge your application and advise you of the outcome of the sift meeting. Depending on the number of applications received there may be a second stage sift.

Applications will be sifted to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post against the criteria set out in the person specification. Please ensure you keep this in mind when writing your CV and supporting statement.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Arrangements for interview

The final selection panel interview will be held in person in London.

If candidates are required to prepare a presentation for their interview, they will be given at least one week’s notice of the subject.

Expenses incurred by candidates during the recruitment process will not be reimbursed by the Department except in exceptional circumstances and only when agreed in advance.

Indicative Timeline

Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. If you are unable to meet these timeframes, please let us know by contacting scscandidate.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Please ensure you quote the job title and reference number in your email.

Interviews will be in person and held at Victoria Street, London. Candidates are asked to note the timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process. The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date – Tuesday 30th January 2024

Shortlist Announcement - w/c 12th February 2024

Assessments – between 19th and  29th February 2024

Interviews –  w/c 11th March 2024

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.