Foresight Strategist - ESO

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.

As a Foresight Strategist you will play a crucial role in a new forward-looking Foresights team. You will develop foresight conclusions and products that inform strategic decision making, thereby ensuring the impact of our foresight work. You will look across the social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical factors that could impact the energy trilemma (Net Zero, Energy Security, and Economy and Efficiency). The validity and credibility of your inferences and products will be fundamental to how the Future System Operator, UK government and energy sector understands and responds to uncertainty and change.

This role can be based from Wokingham or Warwick, 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

At National Grid ESO, our mission is to meet the challenges of the future and deliver cleaner, affordable electricity. We constantly strive to do this better by using technology and innovation to transform the way we work.

Becoming the Future System Operator

In 2021, government and Ofgem jointly consulted on proposals for an expert, impartial Future System Operator (FSO) with responsibilities across both the electricity and gas systems, to drive progress towards net zero while maintaining energy security and minimising costs for consumers. In October 2023, the Energy Act 2023 was passed, legislating for this Future System Operator to be created.

The ESO, including all of its existing roles, will be at the heart of the new Future System Operator. We will be taking on additional roles across vectors and sectors to create an organisation with a whole energy system mindset; enabling us to identify solutions to our energy system that are more sustainable, secure, and affordable for all.

The FSO will be set up as a public corporation with operational independence from government – bringing parties together to support optimised decision making and action. As now, it will be licenced and regulated by Ofgem through price control agreements. It is anticipated that the new organisation will be up and running in 2024.

The time to act on climate change 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

• Keep up to date with UK and global trends and disruptions across social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal and ethical factors that could impact the energy trilemma (Net Zero, Energy Security, and Economy and Efficiency).
• Bring together research and analysis from internal and external sources to draw cross-cutting conclusions that shape strategic decision making for the organisation, UK government and the energy sector. This should include using approaches to help others manage the risks and leverage the opportunities arising from uncertainty.
• Identify gaps in organisational knowledge and expertise and work with the team to develop programmes to address them, including informing the scoping and commissioning of internal and external research.
• Build collaborative and fruitful relationships with experts within the organisation and externally to inform conclusions. Actively seek out a range of views and perspectives and use methodologies to ensure an impartial approach it taken to drawing and presenting conclusions.
• Build trusting relationships with foresight users to understand their drivers and needs. Create Foresight products that effectively communicate foresight conclusions to internal and external audiences.
• Develop and use approaches to measure and evaluate the impact of the Foresight team’s work.
• Facilitate research and knowledge sharing across the organisation including by (a) working with the team to maintain an up-to-date repository of research and inferences (b) facilitating knowledge sharing forums (c) presenting conclusions or approaches.
• Work with the team and others within the organisation or externally to develop tools and technologies to support the work of the Foresight team.

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 has experience in analysis, intelligence, futures, foresight or horizon scanning related roles. This terminology may not be used in all sectors and so equivalent experience would also be welcomed. Experience in the energy sector is not required but would be desirable. We are looking for candidates who are curious to understand possible futures and are driven to create impartial impactful inputs into decision making.

• Analytical skills and systems thinking: You can analyse information, think critically, and take a whole system perspective to understand and interrogate interactions. You can manage uncertainty and ambiguity in input information and communicate the consequences of this in the research outputs. You can draw replicable conclusions from complex and multifaceted research that are suitable to inform strategic decision making. You can design approaches to generating conclusions that ensure impartiality.
• Communication and relationship management: You can credibly communicate conclusions to a range of internal and external audiences, including creating formal publishable products. You can collaborate with researchers and analysts (internal and external) to properly embed their findings into your work. You can build and benefit from internal and external relationships.
• Strategic thinking: You understand the drivers of the foresight users and can adapt your approach and focus to meet their needs. You can monitor and evaluate the impacts of foresight products and communications and take an approach of continuous improvement. You can anticipate how users’ needs might change over time.
• Technological proficiency: You are familiar with, or able to learn, technologies that support inference generation and presentation such as data and information visualisation.
• Project and research management: You can manage yourself and others to deliver work to the required standard within cost and time budgets.

What you'll get

A competitive salary between £55,000 - £63,000pa – 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%.

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 21st February 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.

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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