Manager - Office of the Chief Engineer

久协; England; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the energy sector is seeking a manager for the Office of Chief Engineer. This role involves leading a team, supporting engineering best practices, and managing international relationships. The ideal candidate will have a chartered engineering background and strong communication skills, contributing to the transformation of the GB energy system.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable understanding of energy system operation.
• Experience leading and developing a team.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Office of Chief Engineer within the Strategic Energy Planning directorate.
• Manage key international engineering relationships.
• Support the development of professional mentoring schemes.

Skills

Communication

Leadership

Analytical Skills

Organizational Skills

Education

Chartered Engineer

Relevant Degree

Job description

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.

We are looking for a manager to lead the Office of Chief Engineer within the Strategic Energy Planning (SEP) directorate. Within this role you will be supporting the NESO Chief Engineer, working with the technical leads across the business and industry to learn and drive engineering best practice.

Your team will consist of engineering experts from a range of engineering disciplines. You and your team will be welcomed by the rest of NESO as a ‘critical friend’, providing impartial insight and feedback on critical engineering processes and decisions.

You will lead NESO’s international interactions in relation to energy system engineering, making a network of international contacts, and using this network to share insights, innovations and best practice. NESO has a long history of excellence in electrical engineering as the system operator for the GB electricity transmission system; since 2024 NESO’s engineering scope has broadened to include natural gas, hydrogen and other whole energy system interactions.

This role can be based in Wokingham, Warwick or Glasgow, 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.

Key Accountabilities

·Supporting the Director of Strategic Energy Planning in their duties as the Chief Engineer, and leading a small team to achieve that

·Working closely with the heads of technical engineering functions to understand all the engineering processes within NESO, and develop plans for how the Office of the Chief Engineer can best support them

·Being a ‘critical friend’ to support and enhance the engineering rigour and decisions that NESO makes

• Articulating the NESO Engineering story in an accessible and interesting way to promote NESO as a strong engineering organisation and build NESO engineering credibility

·Managing the relationship with various professional engineering bodies

·Leading NESO’s work to promote engineering chartership within NESO, providing and coordinating support for individuals striving to achieve, and maintaining, chartered status

·Supporting the development of professional mentoring schemes and internal technical development models

·Leading on the sharing and learning of engineering best practice from within the NESO and from around the globe

·Managing key international engineering relationships, such with EPRI, the International System Operator Network (ISON), and system operators and planners of other rapidly decarbonising energy systems around the world, to support and inform the research and technical priorities of the global research community

·Supporting NESO technical teams to ensure consistency across NESO in the development of technical codes and standards

·Working closely with the leading engineering universities in the UK, influencing their research priorities and academic courses, to ensure potential future energy system engineering challenges are investigated and there is a strong pipeline of future graduates to recruit from

·Ensuring that a whole energy system view is taken when thinking about current and future engineering challenges

·Supporting/leading engagements with manufacturers, software vendors, philanthropic organisations, universities and other technical institutes, as required.

·Supporting relevant innovation projects

• Being a fully active, constructive, and progressive member of the SEP leadership team
• Developing your team members to drive performance and to create a strong career path and progression

About you

We’re forging the path, and we know we can’t do it alone. That’s why we need visionary minds like yours to join us on this transformative journey. In this case, we’re looking for someone who:

As NESO takes on a larger role in the planning and operation of the GB energy system it is essential that we ensure and can demonstrate the high quality of our engineering decisions. We are looking for individuals who have a demonstrable understanding of the fundamentals of energy system operation as well as using and developing processes that ensure a rigorous approach to engineering-based decisions making. This role requires the ability to create strong relationships, have strong influencing and communication skills.

Essential:

• A chartered engineer with a relevant degree and significant experience in applying engineering in a work environment
• A good understanding of the fundamental roles of a national energy system operator
• Experience working with and improving processes to ensure high quality engineering decision making
• Experience of leading and developing a team
• Ability to analyse and present complex issues and understand their impact on regulated and non-regulated companies in the energy industry.
• Ability to represent NESO at external meetings and conferences
• Strong level of competence in producing written reports and presentations
• Strong ability to communicate and build international relationships
• Strong organisational skills

Desirable

• Experience of working within a gas or electricity transmission / distribution network or system operator
• Experience of working in a whole energy system context
• Knowledge of key industry frameworks and technical challenges
• Knowledge of professional engineering standards and relationships with the bodies that manage them (e.g. IET, IEEE, IGEM)
• Experience of building a new function within an organisation