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.

To build and develop our resilience capabilities, we are recruiting into our Resilience and Readiness teams who will work across industry and energy vectors to recommend improvements that deliver a resilient energy network in GB. This role will be looking across short and medium risks that may impact the resilience of the whole energy system, including, and proposing mitigations that yield the greatest benefit to the UK customer.

The Office of Energy Resilience and Emergency Management role will be a significant and core activity within the ESO. It will be focused on understanding and planning system resilience across electricity and gas and the interactions between them. The key purpose of this will be to provide whole system coordination and analysis, allowing delivery of independent, expert advice and information to government and the regulator, alongside strategic coordination and preparation for emergencies across energy vectors.

This role can be based from Wokingham, Warwick or Glasgow (with some travel to other sites), and we continue to offer hybrid working from office and home. We are open to full time and part time applicants, as well as flexible working arrangements.

About us

As Great Britain’s electricity system operator (ESO), we sit at the heart of the electricity system, using our outstanding engineering and commercial expertise to balance electricity supply and demand. Ultimately, we keep the electricity flowing directly to where it’s needed, second by second.

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.

Key Accountabilities

• Engage with stakeholders across the UK’s energy system to play a key role in solving complex problems to drive improved resilience across energy vectors and ultimately drive value for the UK customer.
• Review industry resilience measures against future resilience standards set by government and the regulator, and prioritising recommendations based on consumer impact across the whole energy system and across geographies through close collaboration with government and industry.
• Analyse quantitative and qualitative data received from industry to form a view of the readiness of industry both for upcoming winter and summer seasons, and in their procedures to prepare for and mitigate the impact of emergencies, assess these against best practice, and develop recommended improvements.
• Demonstrate a keen interest in resolving key issues facing the UK energy system.
• Apply a rigorous, methodical, and analytical skillset across multiple risk factors, sectors and scenarios to drive prioritised recommendations, based on pragmatic and evidence based analysis, and translate this into recommendations to inform meaningful interventions.
• Stay abreast of emergency processes, crisis management, industry readiness trends and best practices – nationally and internationally and draw on lessons learned to continually improve and refine how the ESO undertakes its obligation to ensure energy industry readiness and preparedness. 

• Be able to translate large, complex, and often disparate pools of data into a compelling narrative.
• Project manage / lead key work assignments related to resilience and emergency management – keep senior colleagues informed on progress, reporting findings as necessary, and translating such work into meaningful insights that shape future decision-making and guidance.
• Set scenarios that form the basis of analysis of the impact of events on physical energy networks, and how other industries will be impacted, and develop recommended actions to improve network resilience.
• Be able to support ESO management in carrying out key stakeholder interactions with the Regulator and wider industry to advance discussions on GB energy resilience and emergency management.

**If you have a strong analytical background and a genuine interest in the energy sector but may not have all the above experience we would still like to hear from you.**

About you

What we do isn’t just important – it’s essential. That’s why we look to recruit experts in their field. In this case, we’re looking for someone who:

• Experience of the gas industry or distribution network are of particular interest
• Ability to balance a strong, methodical, analytical skillset with engagement and building of relationships and the ESO’s reputation with regulator and industry.
• Understanding of the energy sector – knowledge of the structure, regulatory environment and the short- and long-term issues affecting the industry.
• Effective interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate articulately at a senior level, and with a broad external audience.
• Knowledge of risk and control frameworks and resilience risks relating to system operations, ideally with previous involvement in crisis and recovery during significant events or operational outages either in an energy context or in other sectors.
• Ability to think holistically and bring together discrete expertise to facilitate a whole system approach.
• Ability to assemble complex ideas, issues, and observations into clear and simple explanations that inform decision making and action.

What you'll get

A competitive salary between £50,000 - £67,000pa – dependent on 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%.

As we work towards creating a cleaner, greener, and more affordable future for all, we also work towards creating a place for our teammates to belong, with professional and personal growth and positive well-being.

• Full support and career-development resources to expand your skills, enhance your expertise, and maximise your potential along your career journey.
• A diverse and inclusive community of belonging, where teammates are empowered to bring ideas to the table.
• Generous Total Rewards Plan – comprising of health, finance and wealth, work/life balance, and career benefits.

More Information

This role closes on the 1st April 2024, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

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.

#LI-AW1
#LI-HYBRID