About the role

Great Britain's electricity system is undergoing an ambitious, exciting and vital transformation. Together with industry, we are creating a cleaner, greener system, one that protects the planet and serves generations to come.

The Corporate Strategy team sits with the Strategy & Policy Directorate, with responsibility for the Corporate Strategy cycle and internal Strategic Consulting. We will directly shape the FSO’s pathway to a sustainable energy future, by enabling our Executive Team to prioritise strategic objectives that drive net zero delivery at pace. We also provide reliable strategic insights to inform internal decision making and business planning across the organisation.

As a Strategy Manager within the team, you will work closely with leaders from across the organisation to identify and address key strategic challenges and opportunities that will impact the FSO. Working closely with the team’s Head of Corporate Strategy, you will enable the Chairperson, Board and Executive to develop corporate strategy that sets the future direction of the FSO, and you will lead on the design and initiation of strategic or change initiatives that unlock future value for the energy sector and for consumers.

The team initiates, incubates and delivers a dynamically evolving portfolio of initiatives, projects and strategies that touch all parts of the organisation, and we leverage matrix resourcing to enable our team members to gain broad exposure and drive impact across the various roles the FSO will fulfil within the energy sector. We believe development is core to our performance as a team and proactively enable growth in strategic analysis, commercial acumen, complex problem solving, systems thinking, design thinking and consultancy skills. We encourage our strategy managers to build the capabilities of others within our team as well as the wider organisation, whilst enhancing their own professional development. 

The role can be based out of Warwick, Wokingham or London offices, and we have team members and managers regularly attending each of those sites. Currently the team is operating on a typical pattern of 1-2 days per week in the office, subject to business needs and sensitive to personal circumstances. We continue to offer hybrid working from the office and home, support flexible working arrangements, and are open to full time and part time applicants.
 

About us

Our mission is to facilitate the decarbonisation of Great Britain’s energy network and ensure the delivery of reliable, affordable, and green electricity for consumers. We work with stakeholders across the whole energy industry to plan for future network needs, using insight to make sure we can balance the system today and find opportunities to transform the way it operates tomorrow.

Becoming the National Energy System Operator
In Summer of 2024, the ESO will transition to becoming the National Energy System Operator, or NESO for short. Previously denoted as the Future System Operator (or FSO), the new National Energy System Operator will be the independent body responsible for planning Great Britain’s electricity and gas networks and operating the electricity system. 

The ESO, including all of its existing roles, will be at the heart of the new National Energy System Operator. As NESO, we will build on our existing roles, capabilities, and ways of working significantly to create an organisation the energy system and its users’ need. Our new capabilities will enable us to look across vectors, including electricity, natural gas and hydrogen, and crucially consider the trade-offs between them. 

The organisation will be set up as a public corporation with its own Board of independent directors, with complete operational independence from government, the regulator and any and all commercial interest. As the ESO are today, NESO will be licenced and regulated by Ofgem through price control agreements and obligated to identify optimal solutions to system operations and planning in the most sustainable, affordable and secure way for all. 

The time to deliver is now. As part of our team, you won’t just be touching the lives of almost everyone in Great Britain – you’ll be shaping the way we use and consume energy for generations to come.
 

About you

We are interested in candidates with a proven experience as a strategy manager, senior strategist, and/or consultant, or other roles with comparable skillsets. This could be from an in-house or consultancy roles, and with an appreciation of client relationships and engagement. 
We value having a diversity of skills and backgrounds within the team, so whether you have a background within the energy sector, or bring expertise from other domains, we would value your unique perspective.

Skills
We are seeking candidates with these advanced skills in:
•    Strategy: You continually think holistically about challenges and opportunities facing the organisation or energy sector, which you distil into systematic frameworks that support critical decision-making of senior leaders.
•    Commercial: You understand how businesses operate, how the strategy cycle drives an organisation, and how strategic initiatives enable proactive change.
•    Problem Solving: You repeatedly identify the root causes for complex problems and demonstrate creativity in developing solutions that provide value to the organisation.
•    Communication: You are well versed at influencing others and inform at all levels of seniority within the organisation, conveying concise and compelling oral, written, and visual narratives. You are practised at storytelling and flexing your approach to influence outcomes. 
•    Stakeholders: You consistently build and manage trusted relationships executives and leaders, who will know they are able to come to you for support around strategy and problem solving. 
•    Organisation: You plan and manage your own time effectively and can also support and coach this same skill in others, ensuring you meet your commitments, can respond to urgent requirements, and are available to your stakeholders.
•    Project Management: You can plan, delivery manage, risk manage, report, and evaluate projects and/or strategic initiatives, ensuring delivery to time, cost and quality.
•    Leadership: You are skilled at inspiring others, coaching, guiding, and nurturing them – both from line managerial responsibilities, but also working across an organisation, acting as a strategic multiplier. 
 

What you'll get

A competitive salary between £58000 – £70000 - dependent on experience and capability.
As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus based on company performance, 26 days annual leave as standard and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. 

You will also have access to a comprehensive benefits package tailored to support your well-being and professional success. From a competitive salary to flexible work arrangements, we promote your work-life balance. Enjoy fit for purpose wellbeing and lifestyle offerings, ongoing skill development aligned to our Purpose and Values, and be part of a supportive community that values your individuality and where you can belong.
 

Key Accountabilities

•    Senior stakeholder management & engagement: You will develop trusted relationships with executives and senior leaders from across the organisation, which you will use to investigate, understand, and define their challenges and opportunities. 
•    Strategic initiative development: You will ideate, develop, and recommend proposals for strategic initiatives aligned to the corporate strategy, to business challenges/opportunities, or to the needs of executives and senior leaders. 
•    Strategy content: You will lead the development of content for the corporate strategy, and for strategic initiatives being incubated by the team. This will range from early identification to business case creation. 
•    Strategy facilitation: You will lead on convening and facilitating multi-team or multi-stakeholder collaboration across the organisation. This could include the design and running of co-creation, complex problem-solving sessions.
•    Strategic thinking: You will lead on complex problem solving that develops solutions to the root causes of problems within an operational business. This includes leveraging tools like holistic thinking, design thinking and/or systems thinking.
•    Outputs and deliverables: You will lead on creating compelling, narrative-driven strategies and presentations targeted at general/public, technical, Government and/or executive audiences.
•    Delivery management: You will structure and manage your own delivery and supervise that of direct report/s (and others via a project matrix resourcing model). You will report on delivery progress, risks, and issues to the rest of the team and the Head of Corporate Strategy on a regular basis.
•    Strategic leadership: You will lead a small team of Strategists / interns / Graduate placements, and be expected to inspire, guide and coach the merits of strategy and high-performance with the team, directorate and wider organisation. 
 

More information

This role closes on 31st March 2024 at 23:59, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary. Interviews will be held on w.c. 8th April 2024. 
We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office. 
We're committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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