Industrial Carbon Capture Business Models - Senior Technical Policy Adviser

Do you want a career where you can make a real difference? Do you want to work at the forefront of current policy making decisions? Do you want to have an impact on the UK and beyond? If yes, then a career at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) could be for you.

Here at DESNZ we are delivering our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, with clean electricity by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s journey to net zero. Our work is helping ensure clean energy for all, keep bills down and seize the opportunities to lead the world in new green industries, taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy and encouraging greater energy efficiency across the UK. The work of the department has never been more timely or relevant, and by joining us you will be part of making that difference.

Our work is varied, interesting and most importantly it's impactful. Our DESNZ Values are interwoven into everything we do; we are bold, we are collaborative, we are inclusive, and we learn. As a department we are committed to these values to build a culture where everyone can thrive.

We offer great working benefits including a world-class pension, flexible working options and a career where your learning and development is taken seriously. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.

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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

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In this role, you will work as a Senior Technical Policy Advisor in the Industrial Carbon Capture business models team. Your focus will be on leading and/or supporting on work on the technical elements of the business model design, such as understanding the technologies being deployed and sectors of implementation, and the impact this has for eligibility, commercial design of the model, contractual terms and the costs of the scheme.

Current areas of focus include:

• Working across government to develop policy for CO2 utilisation.
• Developing the monitoring, reporting and verification requirements for industrial projects that generate biogenic emissions.
• Considering potential adaptations to the business model for projects in particular sectors, such as combined heat and power projects.
• Managing interfaces with other priority policies such as CCS Network Codes and Non-Pipeline Transport of CO2.
• Maintaining oversight of the upcoming pipeline of future industrial CCUS projects.

Examples of responsibilities required to deliver this work might include:

• Identifying future changes which may be required to the existing business model design to support to evolution of the business model for future rounds of allocation.
• Working in a mixed team of DESNZ and external advisors (including commercial, legal and technical advisers) on drafting the contractual terms that will underpin the business model to enable successful negotiations to be completed with projects.
• Liaising with other teams across DESNZ and other government departments to ensure coherent policy development across the wider CCUS policy landscape.
• Engaging with industry stakeholders to seek feedback on policy proposals and to understand developments in emerging technologies and sectors of implementation.
• Drafting papers and presenting to internal and external stakeholders, including HM Treasury and industry.

As work on the business model progresses, opportunities to work on other elements of policy development may be available.

Essential criteria

We would love to hear from you if you have the following skills and experiences:

• Knowledge, experience or interest in energy, infrastructure projects, industrial decarbonisation and/or the government’s net zero agenda.
• Strong policy development skills to contribute to the development of new policy.
• Strong delivery skills and a proactive approach to workload, with an ability to take the initiative, spot opportunities and threats, and deliver quality to short and long timelines in a fast-paced working environment.
• Strong analytical skills, collaborating closely with colleagues and advisers to draw on a range of evidence, with an ability to understand and apply the commercial, legal and technical elements of carbon capture projects to policy development and delivery.
• Strong collaborative skills and ability to manage and work across a large and complex team organisation, providing inputs to others and collaborating on interface areas. You will be working closely with technical, commercial, analytical and legal advisors both within and external to DESNZ to craft new policy and commercial frameworks.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and leadership skills, with the ability to establish, build and maintain collaborative and positive relationships with stakeholders including working with industry and project developers to progress work.
• The ability to communicate complex and sometimes technical issues clearly and concisely to senior colleagues, stakeholders and ministers.

For this role, it is essential that the post-holder has a science and/or engineering background that demonstrates an ability to understand the technical elements of industrial carbon capture projects.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

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.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Office attendance

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.

Job contact :

• Name : Richard Deutsch
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]