About the job

Job summary

Shape the policy that delivers a greener, fairer energy system for the UK. Join Ofgem’s Infrastructure group and be at the forefront of the drive to deliver Net Zero! 

Ofgem as the industry regulator exists to ensure prices are fair, build resilience across the energy sector, facilitate infrastructure investment, and develop and deliver effective market reforms and governance arrangements. We work for consumers and with many industry partners. Energy fuels our society and our economy. That’s why our policy work is so important, and so rewarding. It protects consumers. It enables businesses. It influences the entire energy industry. And it helps to bring about the seismic societal and infrastructure changes that will be the foundations for a Net Zero future.  

Ofgem operates a Flexible Resourcing model, initially these roles will sit within Ofgem’s Markets directorate and initial deployments could be within Affordability, Future Domestic Retail Policy, Standing Charges or Financial, Resilience and Controls teams.  

In these roles you will proactively lead a policy area to provide end-to-end knowledge and strategic oversight to support effective decision making and continuous improvement. You will lead continuous development on your domain knowledge and work flexibly across Ofgem to ensure the delivery of organisational priorities. You will effectively communicate benefits, challenges, and trade-offs from policy proposals to Ofgem colleagues and sectoral stakeholders. Some (but not all) posts at this level act as Professional Development Leads, coaching and developing colleagues.  

To join us, need extensive experience in a policy development role showing a history of managing the input of relevant analytical, technical, and legal experts to present policy recommendations that highlight the risks, trade-offs, and wider commercial and economic considerations to decision makers. You will also be able to manage delivery, setting clear priorities, supporting others to solve problems and to seek continuous improvement. You will be able to clearly demonstrate the relevance of your work internally and externally. As well as being able to create open and inclusive engagement. As well as the ability to contribute to and use quantitative, commercial and qualitative evidence and analysis to support policy development  and decision-making. 

Job description

We operate a Flexible Resourcing model where you will have the opportunity to work flexibly across Ofgem supporting on a range of projects or may have a longer deployment within a team where you have in-demand specialist skills, knowledge, and expertise.  We will support you to learn and develop the Policy & Strategy skills and knowledge you need to build your career. 

Initially these roles will sit within Ofgem’s Markets directorate and initial deployments could be within the following areas: 

 

Future Retail Markets Portfolio: sits within the Markets Directorate and is made up of four policy teams: Domestic, Non-Domestic, Consumer Vulnerability and Debt, and Affordability policy teams. We also have an experienced and agile Analysis team which supports the policy teams across the portfolio and wider where required. As a portfolio we ensure that consumers are protected and empowered through policy development, working to encourage new business models and propositions, and engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to gather insights into industry behaviour and consumers’ needs. It is critical that suppliers provide all consumers with good service, that meets their specific needs. 

 

Standing Charges: Our recent call for input on Standing Charges generated over 30,000 responses from individual consumers, charities, consumer groups, and energy suppliers and networks. Using these contributions we are now charting a path forward, linking closely with other key Ofgem work on Affordability and Debt, and Future Price Protection, to determine whether changes need to be made to ensure prices are fair for consumers.    

 

Financial Resilience and Controls: We lead on high profile and impactful proposals to protect current and future consumers by developing a more financially resilient energy system. We want to remove incentives for excessive risk-taking with consumer money whilst enabling an environment for investment and sustainable competition.  

Person specification

Key Responsibilities 

Policy Development & Delivery  

• Proactively leads a policy area and provides the end-to-end knowledge and strategic oversight to support effective decision making and continuous improvement  
• Proactively leads continuous development of their domain knowledge, policy proposals, research, technology, consumer needs and stakeholder perspectives in their policy/strategy area  
• Works flexibly across Ofgem to ensure delivery of organisation priorities in line with business planning, guiding, supporting, and collaborating with colleagues to respond effectively to change 
• Leads on the delivery of high quality, timely, and robust analysis of core issue/s and policy options resulting in evidence-based and deliverable recommendations. 
• Leads key projects, including responsibility for internal and external stakeholder engagement, prioritising, planning and delivering work.  
• Ensures decision makers consider relevant legislation and regulation and any specific case issues and escalates critical issues as needed to ensue delivery for consumers. 

 

Stakeholder Management 

• Effectively communicating the benefits, challenges, and trade-offs from policy proposals to Ofgem colleagues and sectoral stakeholders, effectively using evidence to build understanding and commitment to action. 
• Ensures effective delivery by working collaboratively across team boundaries and engaging with key Ofgem functions and relevant government departments - developing close links to manage and mitigate risks  
• Representing Ofgem externally and building constructive stakeholder relationships to ensure challenges and issues are identified and resolved in consumers’ interests 
• Is demonstrably accessible and identifiable to all who operate in their policy/strategy area as and Ofgem lead/expert and in turn knows who to engage to improve policy design and delivery

Essential Criteria 

• Policy Skills: identifying, analysing, and articulating complex problems; working with other professionals (for example analytical, technical, and legal) to develop solutions and options, and presenting policy recommendations that consider the trade-offs, risks, and dependencies to aid effective decision making  
• Ability to contribute to and use quantitative, commercial and qualitative evidence and analysis to support policy development  and decision-making 
• Managing delivery: set clear goals and priorities, supports others to solve problems, overcome challenges, seeking feedback and means of continuous improvement.  
• Clearly identifies and communicates the relevance, interdependencies and strategic fit of their work to organisational priorities both internally and externally  
• Demonstrably identifies and understands the value/contribution of internal and external partners and effectively creates open, creative, constructive, timely and inclusive engagement   

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £45,614, OFGEM contributes £12,315 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.