Connections Manager (Graduate/Junior/Manager)

Hemiko; London; Hybrid; GBP 27,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK heat networks utility provider is looking for a Connections Manager to drive customer growth for heat network projects. The ideal candidate will have strong sales skills, excellent stakeholder management, and a commitment to sustainability. The role involves engaging with senior figures in public and private sectors to secure connections and support our mission of decarbonisation. Competitive remuneration and opportunities for professional development are offered.

Benefits

Discretionary bonus

25 days holidays plus statutory holidays

Pension plan

Private health care

Cycle to work scheme

Electric Car lease scheme

Health and well-being support

Continuing learning and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Proven aptitude for working as part of a fast-paced team towards shared goals.
• Experience of origination or front-end sales with public sector customers.
• Strong track record of building senior relationships and influencing stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills, including written and verbal.

Responsibilities

• Drive growth by supporting the origination of new customers.
• Unlock selling points and blockers for individual customers.
• Help craft compelling offers with commercial and technical advisors.
• Maintain positive relationships with local authorities.

Skills

Communication skills

Sales skills

Stakeholder management

Emotional intelligence

Commercial awareness

Tools

MS Word

PowerPoint

Job description

Overview

We’re recruiting Connections Managers at graduate, junior manager and manager level to help shape the future of low-carbon energy in the UK. These roles are all about building relationships, sparking conversations, and turning interest into real connections to our heat networks, and new heat network projects.

As a Connections Manager, you’ll be at the forefront of our mission to decarbonise towns and cities. You’ll be at the heart of our work, engaging with businesses, councils and developers to unlock opportunities for clean heat, championing the benefits of heat networks, gathering insights to craft compelling pitches, and representing Hemiko at local events, site visits and stakeholder meetings – with regular travel across the UK.

This is a people-first role, perfect if you thrive on conversations, persuasion and collaboration. You’ll be speaking with senior figures across the public and private sectors, supported by our specialist Connections and External Affairs teams.

We’re looking for candidates who are confident communicators, curious about low-carbon solutions, and ready to grow their careers in a fast-moving, purpose-driven sector. Join Hemiko and help us with our mission “together to zero”.

About Hemiko

Hemiko is the leading UK heat networks utility provider. We are a fast-growing, innovative business which is looking to invest in and deliver over £1bn of heat network projects. These are major infrastructure projects that will decarbonise heating for homes and businesses. Our vision is to deliver zonal scale heat networks across towns and cities, to decarbonise the UK and deliver excellence for customers whilst we do it.

Hemiko has been successful in 9 town and city scale funding bids across the UK and have bids to develop two zonal scale heat networks in London: the South Westminster Area Network (SWAN) and the Old Oak and Park Royal Energy Network (OPEN).

Hemiko is an industry leader in town and city-scale decarbonisation. The decarbonisation of heating and the built environment is one of the most complex areas of decarbonisation. Hemiko’s goal is to be a decarbonisation partner to communities, offering clear pathways to net zero heating.

Hemiko is an investor (deploying our own capital), developer and operator of heat networks, offering us an end-to-end view of heat networks.

We are an innovative, intelligence led company, looking to attract people who think around a problem and past an issue. We want to be at the front end of commercial and technical innovation and are looking for team members to come on that journey.

Hemiko is absolutely committed to an honest and collaborative approach to all our work - always looking for better ways to do things. We put communities and people at the heart of what we do.

We are a friendly, approachable business in the very rapidly growing low carbon energy sector, which provides significant opportunities for career flexibility and development.

The team and our activities / skillsets

The Connections Team is headed up by Rhea Marsden (Head of Connections) and is part of the Growth Department which is led by Charlotte Owen (Growth Director).

The goal of the Connections Team is to secure connections (customers) to our heat networks, to grow our heat networks and decarbonise our towns and cities.

There are five core skillsets and activities involved in the Growth Team, with team members specialising in one or more of these skills.

1. Origination. For each project it is a core goal to drive a pipeline of connections (customers) into our projects. Some of our team spend their time at events, door knocking and engaging via LinkedIn, email and phone, identifying and developing relationships with potential customers for heat networks. Skills involved here include sales, emotional intelligence, perseverance and a willingness to speak to anyone. Origination also encompasses identifying new places to invest in heat networks. Origination will be a core activity and skillset required for this role.
2. Developing customer offers and connection solutions. This skillset involves being highly engaged with potential heat network connections (customers) at a mid- and senior level, responsible for working with our Project Development Team and Assets Team to produce commercially and technically attractive offers. The goal is to really understand the customer and what they want/need and deliver an offer to match. Some experience here is desirable for the role.
3. Project and process leadership. Every project we work on has a Project Development Manager, responsible for ensuring that the techno-commercial elements of the project are de-risked and delivered. Our Growth Team works closely with the Project Development Manager, responsible for ensuring that the customer and stakeholder elements of the project are de-risked and delivered in parallel. This involves ensuring that the connections and external affairs processes are executed well and that our relationship with the council remains strong. This includes contributing to network governance processes and reporting. Some experience here is desirable for the role, but not essential.
4. External affairs. This skillset revolves around how we communicate our activities with public and political stakeholders at a local and national level. It encompasses activities ranging from media relations and government engagement, through to direct community engagement. Hemiko has a dedicated External Affairs Team, however, our Connections Managers who focus on origination are expected to work closely with External Affairs, to deliver stakeholder engagement. Experience in External Affairs is not required; however good stakeholder engagement and communication skills are a must.
5. Hemiko’s development opportunities often come through bidding, which requires setting out in writing and attending meetings to showcase why Hemiko are the best in the market at developing and delivering heat network projects. This is not a required skill for this role, but experience or willingness to support bidding is welcome.

The Role

As a Connections Manager at Hemiko, your mission is simple: drive customers to our heat networks. You’ll be the local first point of contact, the relationship-builder, and the engine driving new customers to our business.

In this role you will:

• Drive growth – support the origination of new customers for heat network projects
• Unlock each opportunity – identify selling points and blockers for individual customers, and shape tailored strategies to bring them on board.
• Helping craft compelling offers – work with commercial and technical advisors to create persuasive proposals that give us high confidence in customer conversion based on your knowledge of customers.
• Close the loop with asset teams – hand over contacts to our Asset Managers for detailed contractual negotiations, while ensuring a seamless customer journey.
• Keep councils onside – help us in our relationships with local authorities, contribute to Steering Groups, and maintain positive governance engagement.
• Build senior relationships – cultivate trust and influence within councils, housing developers, public sector organisations and major businesses.
• Deliver growth priorities – contribute to external affairs activity across our heat networks, such as developing websites, social media and press content.
• Engaging local communities – support our External Affairs Team to engage with local communities, such as through local events, door knocking and community consultation.
• Be visible and connected – represent Hemiko at industry events, local networking functions, and community activities to build our reputation and reach.
• Stay flexible – support wider Growth Team initiatives and external affairs activities as needed.

This role is for someone who thrives on origination and early-stage sales. You will be spotting opportunities, opening doors, and converting relationships into long-term customers.

Candidate

We are looking for a commercially minded, entrepreneurial, proactive relationship-builder. You will be someone who thrives on origination, identifying opportunities, opening doors, and shaping compelling offers to secure customers for our heat networks. You will have excellent commercial awareness, confidence in sales environments, and the ability to build rapport and trust with senior decision-makers across the public and private sectors. You will enjoy working as part of a project team, collaborating with colleagues to deliver growth and investment decisions on programme.

Required

• Proven aptitude for working as part of a fast-paced team towards shared goals and deadlines.
• Experience of origination or front-end sales, developing and progressing opportunities with business and public sector customers.
• Strong track record of building senior relationships and influencing stakeholders at multiple levels.
• Experience of presenting and discussing commercial propositions, with confidence to handle questions and objections.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and the ability to quickly read people and tailor your approach.
• Commercially astute, with a mindset geared towards identifying customer drivers, blockers, and solutions.
• Confidence to deal with very senior stakeholders (CEO/CFO level) – must be comfortable presenting at boardroom level.
• A genuine commitment to making a positive impact within local communities and driving sustainable solutions.
• A willingness to travel regularly to attend meetings, events and local stakeholder engagements.
• Excellent communication skills, including written and verbal.
• Strong MS Word and PowerPoint skills with proven ability to prepare high-quality written proposals, based on company templates.

Desirable

• Proven track record of securing contracts or agreements in a B2B sales environment.
• Experience working with engineering or technical teams.
• Experience negotiating energy supply agreements, connection agreements or similar large-scale commercial contracts.
• Experience securing connections and supply agreements for heat networks in the UK or abroad.

We welcome applications from candidates with varied backgrounds and experiences. If you don’t meet every requirement listed but believe you have the skills, drive, and potential to succeed in this role, we’d still love to hear from you.

Remuneration and Info

• Remuneration: £27-44k graduate/junior manager, £45-59k manager
• Discretionary bonus based on individual and business performance.
• An inclusive culture that promotes diversity.
• Holidays 25 days a year plus statutory holidays - with an option to purchase, or sell, up to an additional 5 days per annual leave year.
• Pension plan provision.
• Private health care scheme available.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Electric Car lease scheme.
• Health and well-being support.
• Continuing learning and development opportunities.
• Company PC/laptop, etc.

Informal Enquiries

For a discussion about this role please contact Richard Drew, Senior Connections Manager ([e-mail]) to arrange a suitable time for a discussion.

We appreciate that no one’s circumstances are the same and having the flexibility in working environments work is essential to our wellbeing. If this is significant to you let us know when you apply, and we will discuss how this could work in your role.

Hemiko strives to be an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from anyone regardless of ethnic origin, gender, gender expression, disability, age, trade union activity, marital status, religious belief, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic background. We welcome applications from neurodiverse applicants. We are Armed Forces friendly. We welcome applications from ex-Armed Forces personnel, reservists, armed forces veterans, cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.