Director of Policy and External Affairs, Great British Energy, DESNZ

The Director of Policy and External Affairs will be a pivotal member of the Great British Energy leadership team. Responsible for shaping and delivering the organisation's policy agenda and public affairs activity to enable delivery of Great British Energy’s mission. Working with senior leaders to build and maintain Great British Energy’s reputation as a business that is responsibly accelerating the energy transition and delivering social value.
This role will require close working with others in Great British Energy and its partners (such as The Crown Estate) to showcase the broad range of the company’s work and the impact it is having, as well as a close working relationships with the DESNZ policy, communications and sponsor teams.
Roles in what will become Great British Energy will initially be undertaken in shadow form within the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. They will then be transferred to Great British Energy when the Great British Energy Bill becomes law and the company has the necessary procedures and systems in place to employ people directly., As Great British Energy Directory of Policy and External Affairs your main responsibilities will include:
+ Work with the Interim CEO and DESNZ Director of Communications and their team to establish and lead a high performing policy and external affairs function, including a media team.
+ As part of the Great British Energy leadership team, shape the development of the company’s strategy, culture, values and operating model.
+ To lead and oversee the implementation of stakeholder engagement and public affairs strategy; to build and maintain trust with key stakeholders, including government departments, parliamentarians, trade bodies, think tanks, customers and partners.
+ Navigating the UK political landscape, ensuring that GBE is a high impact player in the energy market, moving at pace to establish GBE’s market and policy presence.
+ Shape Great British Energy’s positions on policy matters, horizon scanning and identifying gaps, risks and opportunities.
+ Act as a key advisor to the Chair, Interim CEO, and the leadership team on policy, strategy, and communications matters. A close working relationship with Department of Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) will be essential.
+ Preparing for select committees and stakeholder meetings, drafting consultation responses and policy positions.
+ Establish strong relationships with senior Great British Energy and DESNZ colleagues, including supporting the Chair and CEO’s external engagement, offering strategic counsel to supporting decision making.
+ Lead the development and execution of public-facing campaigns underpinned by rigorous research and policy insights.
+ Develop and manage a policy and communications budget, ensuring high performance and value for money in line with Great British Energy’s strategic goals, project briefs, contracts and public sector procurement requirements., 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 1250 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. Shortlisted candidates may have the opportunity to speak to the vacancy holder, Emma Floyd – Director, Great British Energy. Department for Energy Security & Net Zero. 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.
4. Final Interview which will include a presentation exercise.
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 interviews will be held on or close to Monday 28th October 2024.
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.
You will be interviewed against information in the person specification.
Indicative Timeline
Please note that these dates are only indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. 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 held in person in Aberdeen Candidates are asked to note the timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process. The confirmed timetable is as follows, We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

+ Extensive experience in a senior in-house policy and communications role, ideally within the energy sector or a related industry. Including experience in leading public relations and communications strategies that engage diverse stakeholders, including government, industry, and the public.
+ Proven track record of strategic thinking, problem-solving including using data and analysis and the ability to influence at the highest levels.
+ Strong understanding of UK government policy processes, with good political acumen and experience in policy development, legislative processes, and parliamentary engagement.
+ Demonstrable leadership and management experience within complex, fast-paced and changing organizations, with the ability to build and motivate a high-performing team with a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion and collaborating across organisations for collective success and innovation.
+ Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and persuasively to a range of audiences.
+ Passionate about the Company and its policy objectives to deliver clean energy, drive economic growth, create UK jobs and supply chains and provide value for the UK taxpayer. Whilst demonstrating a passion for creating societal impact and value.

Great British Energy will be a publicly owned, operationally independent energy company, designed to drive clean energy deployment, boost energy independence, create jobs and ensure UK taxpayers, billpayers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure, homegrown energy. Setting up Great British Energy is one of
government’s first steps for change and we will do this in a way that means it will have both an early impact and long-term success.
Great British Energy’s mission will be to responsibly accelerate the energy transition - enable and accelerate clean energy deployment, boost energy independence, create jobs and ensure UK taxpayers, billpayers and communities reap the benefits of clean, secure,
home-grown energy. Through its five functions (Project development, Project investment and ownership, Local Power Plan, Supply chains
and working with Great British Nuclear), Great British Energy will speed up the deployment of mature and new technologies, as well as local energy projects, to support the government’s aim of decarbonising our electricity system by 2030 whilst also ensuring we can meet future demand as we further decarbonise the economy.
To this end and as an example of what it can achieve, we have already agreed a major partnership between Great British Energy and The Crown Estate to accelerate deployment and support UK supply chains. Great British Energy will work collaboratively with industry, local authorities and communities, and other public sector organisations such as the National Wealth Fund, to spread skilled jobs and investment across the country. Great British Energy will be backed by a
capitalisation of £8.3 billion of new money over this Parliament.
In recognition of Scotland’s leading role in the UK’s clean energy revolution, Great British Energy will be headquartered and run from Aberdeen.
More details can be found in the Great British Energy founding statement.

Alongside your salary of £76,000, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
+ A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
+ Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
+ A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
+ An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
+ Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period. Senior Civil Servant (SCS) staff are expected to aim for closer to 60% of the time at an office or non-home based location over the accounting period.