South West Energy Strategic Planning Technical Lead - ESO

at  National Grid

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.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

The role accountabilities will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience, knowledge and interest. There will be flexibility, to reflect regional and ESO needs, in the composition of each regional team. We need people that will contribute or lead on the following accountabilities:

• To take ownership and understand technical specific aspects of your region’s energy system planning inputs into developing the RESP including the interfaces with local and national data, central RESP methodology and assumptions.
• To develop, consult and then implement parts of the RESP methodology within your region relating to gaining, validating and balancing technical and spatial planning energy inputs
• Ownership of obtaining and validating regional geospatial energy inputs, coordinating with the central team
• To work in a matrix style structure within the wider regional energy strategic planning team to ensure work your leading upon is coordinated with other regional and central RESP teams
• To represent NESO’s regional energy planning function to energy system planners and energy leads within local government, gas and electricity networks, and other local actors
• To understand, engage and gain required and beneficial inputs from stakeholders in developing the RESP to the prescribed methodology; being able to clearly communicate and propose changes where needed to key assumptions
• To work with the central team in developing geospatial visualisations to support regional insights and communicating to stakeholders key changes in the energy system
• To create new ways to analyse and present problems and potential solutions, sometimes building on the work and experience of others to quickly develop sufficient understanding of unfamiliar topics in developing the RESP

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:

• To deliver RESP requires a diverse team made up of individuals with a wide range of skills and knowledge which are unlikely to be present in a single individual. Key skills and experience we are looking for are:
• Technical experience within and knowledge of the energy sector including of energy scenarios
• An understanding of the ‘whole energy’ system – with experience in one of the energy vectors (gas and/or electricity networks, heat decarbonisation, hydrogen, transport decarbonisation, etc)
• Experience of working with or within energy distribution and/or transmission companies, ideally relevant to the region(s) you seek to work within
• Understanding and experience of geospatial data modelling, ideally applied in energy planning, including knowledge of data management procedures
• Understanding and experience of applying common methods and assumptions and validation of data
• Ability to translate complex and technical information into easily understandable messaging for non-technical audiences
• Experience of communicating with, and influencing, internal and external stakeholders at a range of levels
• Project management, coordination and planning skills to ensure that deadlines are met, governance is adhered to, stakeholders are effectively engaged and high quality process and outputs are achieved
• An inquisitive mind with the ability to join the dots and a willingness to learn about new areas of work
• Training and development of the team will be a key priority as we set up RESP. Successful individuals may be asked to help train other team members and also have the opportunity to be trained on less familiar areas.

JOB PURPOSE

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.
It’s not every day that you have an opportunity to be the first to establish an energy team in the South West. We are looking for an Energy Strategic Planning Technical Lead to be based in the South West, you will be home based until a suitable hub opens. and we continue to offer hybrid working from office and home.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is taking on the exciting new role of being the Regional Energy Strategic Planner. We will be responsible for developing Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) for 11 regions across Great Britain, empowered through recent Ofgem decisions and an ongoing consultation.
The South West RESP will need to reflect regional characteristics, driving whole energy considerations across all energy vectors. Think renewables, heat decarbonisation, hydrogen, energy networks, transport and flexibility! And how each region’s needs differ yet come together in forming the Great British energy plan.
To achieve this, we need a South West based team – to work alongside our other regional and central teams in forming the hub and spokes needed for energy planning to benefit from and reflect local inputs.
Developing the South West RESP will require us to work with organisations at a local level (‘local actors’) including local government and gas and electricity networks, to improve understanding of the infrastructure needed in different parts of the country and attract investment for projects. Stakeholder engagement will be key to unlocking the benefits of integrated regional energy planning.
This is the first time we will have a regional presence. Alongside your regional manager, you will be the first to establish and commence energy planning work within your region. Regional teams will continue growing in 2025.
The purpose of this job is to be the technical engagement lead. You will apply your technical energy and system planning understanding and skill in leading engagement with technical audiences and coordinating technical and data interfaces with the central and other regional teams in developing RESPs. This will include inputting into specific energy aspects of the whole energy system as part of the team and wider NESO, engagement with energy system planning stakeholders, strengthening cross-team working, and leading your regions work in gaining and validating local energy insights into RESP. This will include you inputting into the methodology and assumptions behind regional energy strategic planning, consulting and communicating these with stakeholders, understand how local energy systems inputs align, and working with others in NESO to validate these.
Having an understanding and lived experience of the South West will be key.
Our focus in the immediate term is to build trust with our stakeholders, establish our process and methodology, and grow our capability in whole energy systems to best support local actors and industry stakeholders in developing credible plans to support net zero.

The role accountabilities will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience, knowledge and interest. There will be flexibility, to reflect regional and ESO needs, in the composition of each regional team. We need people that will contribute or lead on the following accountabilities:

• To take ownership and understand technical specific aspects of your region’s energy system planning inputs into developing the RESP including the interfaces with local and national data, central RESP methodology and assumptions.
• To develop, consult and then implement parts of the RESP methodology within your region relating to gaining, validating and balancing technical and spatial planning energy inputs
• Ownership of obtaining and validating regional geospatial energy inputs, coordinating with the central team
• To work in a matrix style structure within the wider regional energy strategic planning team to ensure work your leading upon is coordinated with other regional and central RESP teams
• To represent NESO’s regional energy planning function to energy system planners and energy leads within local government, gas and electricity networks, and other local actors
• To understand, engage and gain required and beneficial inputs from stakeholders in developing the RESP to the prescribed methodology; being able to clearly communicate and propose changes where needed to key assumptions
• To work with the central team in developing geospatial visualisations to support regional insights and communicating to stakeholders key changes in the energy system
• To create new ways to analyse and present problems and potential solutions, sometimes building on the work and experience of others to quickly develop sufficient understanding of unfamiliar topics in developing the RES