Project Manager: Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage

at  Department for Energy Security Net Zero

JOB SUMMARY

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.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Would you like to join a critical programme for addressing climate change? In 2019, the UK became the first major economy in the world to legislate to have “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, meaning we will no longer be a net emitter of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.
Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) can play a crucial role in reaching net zero. It can be an engine to drive cleaner, sustainable growth, transforming our industrial heartlands. It can also unlock new jobs and innovative businesses, raising productivity and competitiveness across the UK.
We have committed to delivering the first two-CCUS Clusters by the mid-2020s and have announced HyNet and the East Coast Cluster as the Track-1 Clusters, and we are approaching the Final Investment Decision for both.
The Cluster Teams oversee the delivery of the Hynet and ECC Clusters, ensuring that the final deals struck deliver value for money, and facilitate the establishment of an enduring, self-sustaining carbon capture industry. The teams own the Full Business Cases, delivery schedules and cluster-level decision-making.
Within these teams, we are looking for someone to drive delivery, supporting engagement with industry, managing schedule and risks and addressing challenges, and working across the multiple teams engaged in negotiations to uncover issues as they emerge.
This is a complex, stretching role, and comes at a very exciting time to join our team, with the Prime Minster recently announcing £21.7bn of available funding for the clusters! We are a lively, diverse, inclusive and friendly team, with a collaborative and encouraging culture and strong emphasis on learning and development. We seek to achieve high performance while also promoting wellbeing and supporting flexible working practices. We are embracing hybrid working and committed to being inclusive and great place to work.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

We would love to hear from you if you have:

• Experience of driving project/programmes forward and securing the required outcomes.
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams with the ability to draw out expertise from other professions (e.g., policy, digital, commercial etc) to support overall delivery.
• Experience of working with senior stakeholders, articulating and presenting complex issues in a clear and concise fashion.
• Strong organisational skills and experience handling multiple competing priorities, workstreams and requests.
• Experience in challenging constructively and acting as a critical friend to achieve solutions that are fit for purpose.
• Relevant project delivery experience such as risk /schedule / stakeholder management. Knowledge of risk assessment process.

Desirable Criteria:

Holding a Project Delivery qualification / membership, such as -

• PRINCE2 Practitioner
• Project Management Practitioner
• APM Project Management Qualification
• PMI Project Management Professional
• Leading and Managing Project Workstreams

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Planning- Project Delivery Capability Framework for Project Manager Level 3: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/project-delivery-capability-framework-for-civil-servants

Benefits
Alongside your salary of £40,950, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £11,863 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.

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)

4. Business Case Requirements:

• Ensure deal robustness and readiness for operations, evidenced in strong Full Business Cases for future projects that join the network. Support strategic case drafting for the business case, and confirm system capacity, capability, and cost maturity requirements for FBC are met

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Depending on how the 2 roles are allocated, responsibilities will include:

1. Schedule and dependency management:

• Help to develop and manage the overall schedule for the cluster and expansion of the cluster via follow-on projects.
• Ensure the schedule provides an ambitious yet realistic view of deployment and expansion, having a good understanding of design & construction, permitting and HMG processes.
• Advise decision-makers on the schedule and re-baselining decisions.
• Work with team leads to ensure dependencies are actively managed, resolve issues between the various elements of the programme.

1. Risk and Issue Resolution:

• Oversee risk and issue management for the cluster. Identify and resolve challenges to the schedule and risks to delivery, ensuring mitigations are in place.
• Advise senior management on trade-offs to ensure the clusters remains on track.

1. Scope and Benefits Management:

• Ensure deals provide value for taxpayers and energy consumers, enable future cluster expansion, and support a sustainable carbon capture industry.
• Manage cluster scope and dependencies, monitor commercial negotiation impacts, and present trade-off decisions to T1 Board and senior officers.
• Balance time, cost, and benefits for value, manage tranche benefits, and compile advice on project inclusion in the Cluster Investment Decision based on delivery risks and engineering limits.

1. Business Case Requirements:

• Ensure deal robustness and readiness for operations, evidenced in strong Full Business Cases for future projects that join the network. Support strategic case drafting for the business case, and confirm system capacity, capability, and cost maturity requirements for FBC are met.

1. Stakeholder engagement:

• Contribute to monthly working groups with external stakeholders from each cluster.
• Drive coordination within the cluster and ensure industry partners meet deadlines.

1. Guidance, leadership and cross-team Collaboration:

• Collaborate effectively with other teams in CCUS, providing direction and guidance on delivery objectives.
• Work across negotiation and assurance teams to ensure cohesive project delivery.

1. Change Management:

• Ensure effective Change Management processes are in place to agree and document changes to deliverables as agreed with stakeholders.

1. Governance:

• Provide key reports and support effective governance and decision making.