About the job

Job summary

This position is based in London

Job description

The Climate Change Committee is the independent expert statutory adviser to Parliament and the UK Government on climate change policy. It was created as a key part of the long-term legal framework set out in the Climate Change Act (2008). The Act sets a long-term target for 2050 (Net Zero, a 100% reduction in net emissions from 1990) and requires that carbon budgets (five-year caps on emissions) are set on a path towards the long-term target. The Act also requires that the UK assesses and responds to the risks that it faces as the climate changes.

The CCC has established itself as a high-profile, high-impact expert body in the analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Its reports can be accessed from the CCC’s website: www.theccc.org.uk The CCC is comprised of two Boards (‘the Committee’ and ‘the Adaptation Committee’) and an analytical secretariat. The Committees have a distinguished membership of leading experts from the fields of climate change, science, engineering and economics: www.theccc.org.uk/about-the-ccc/the-committee.

The Committees are supported by a Secretariat of around 40 economists, operational researchers, scientists and other analysts. The CCC was the first body of its kind in the world and brings together different strands of expertise from its members, from government, the research community and business. It draws on existing information and undertakes its own analysis to provide expert advice to Ministers and to Parliament. It is required to give advice to Ministers on climate change matters covered by the Climate Change Act and on an ad-hoc basis as and when requested.

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is seeking an outstanding analytical leader to lead the team responsible for the CCC’s work on land-use, agriculture and nature, across both climate adaptation and mitigation. This role offers an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of the UK’s land use and the policies that guide it as the UK replaces the Common Agricultural Policy. A key focus is to integrate the multiple challenges of adapting to climate change, reducing emissions, increasing carbon sequestration, protecting and enhancing ecosystems/biodiversity, and food security.

Role

The post holder will lead a team of 3 G7 senior analysts and an SEO analyst that work across the land, agriculture and nature aspects of our work on adapting the natural environment, farming and forestry to climate change and reducing emissions while increasing carbon sequestration from UK land and agriculture. This team are developing pathways for the sector to feed into our advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget (published early 2025) and the Fourth Climate Change Risk Assessment (published in Q2 2026). The post offers a unique opportunity to develop a compelling and holistic vision for land-use and the natural environment and to shape the UK’s policy response to deliver it.

This role will also be responsible for leading the team’s regular progress reporting work on both emissions' reduction and adaptation that informs the regular (annual or biennial) progress assessments for the UK Government and Devolved Administrations.

Responsibilities include:

• Leading the team: making sure the work programme is consistent with available resourcing, the right outputs are being targeted, that a credible work programme is developed to deliver them, that the most effective engagement is being prioritised, keeping the work programme on track, and agreeing adjustments as needed. Ensuring the team and wider leadership are bought into the programme and have a shared understanding of priorities.
• Management: managing the team (typically 3 G7 Senior Analysts and 1 SEO Analysts) to be motivated and supported to perform well; supporting learning and development of team members; providing timely and effective feedback; contributing to the team leaders’ group and management team as a leader within the CCC, promoting an inclusive, authentic and resilient culture.
• Communication: leading the teams in developing and drafting report sections and other outputs; leading discussions with the Committees; presenting CCC findings externally; engaging with priority stakeholders.
• Decision-making: taking both big decisions (e.g. on the overall work programme) and small decisions (e.g. on specific assumptions) in collaboration with the team; assessing Government policy choices fairly and robustly.
• Analysis: supporting the team to select and implement the right analytical approaches and to generate meaningful insights from them.

Applicants should have relevant existing expertise and a track record of managing the production of analysis to develop policy and/or strategy advice. The position holder will need to be confident working with a broad range of stakeholders with varying views, able to secure the confidence of the Committees (on both Net Zero and adaptation) and be an effective and inclusive leader and manager for the team. They should be a strong communicator (both written and verbal), a good decision-maker, and able to develop a compelling vision and lead an analytical team to deliver it.

As well as the team of talented CCC analysts and the experts on the Committees, the postholder will be able to draw on a significant research budget and collaborations with Government analysts and other public organisations and will have power to convene advisory groups of external experts and of stakeholders in the sector.

General

The CCC takes personal development seriously and is proud to maintain a highly effective and well-motivated workforce. There will be opportunities for the successful candidate to develop both technical and general skills via on-the-job learning, training and attendance at conferences and seminars. These posts, in particular, offer opportunities for developing skills in economics, policy, communications, project management and leadership. Successful applicants will agree a development plan with their manager.  

The Climate Change Committee are committed to creating a workplace culture where all staff feel valued, supported and can develop their potential. We work hard to ensure all staff can flourish and succeed, working with and respecting people’s different backgrounds and personal circumstances.  We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds to apply for this position. For more information on our EDI commitments, please read our strategy here https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/ 

Things you need to know:

The CCC office is based in Canary Wharf, London, with staff expected to attend the office for 40% of their contracted hours. The pay band for this role is £68,944 - £75,235 and the expectation is that the successful candidate will join on the minimum of the CCC G6 pay band. 

We support a wide variety of working patterns such as compressed hours, hybrid working, part time hours, job sharing and flexi time. National pay bands may be used where staff apply to work from home for more than 60% of their working hours and live outside London. Regular attendance at our London office, for example for meetings and training, will still be required. The national pay band for this grade is £64,728 - £72,662. 

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £68,944, Climate Change Committee contributes £19,235 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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.Please refer to Job Description

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.