UK Low Carbon Fuels Production – Technical and Policy Adviser

Government Recruitment Service; Leeds; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A UK government department is seeking a Technical & Policy Adviser to support the development and implementation of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) policies. The candidate will provide expert advice on low carbon fuel technologies, ensuring that policy aligns with engineering realities. This role offers a significant opportunity to impact the aviation sector's transition to net-zero emissions, coupled with attractive benefits including flexible working options.

Benefits

Employer pension contribution of 28.97%

25 days annual leave

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Experience with sustainable aviation fuel production processes.
• Ability to explain complex information to support policy decisions.
• Expertise in lifecycle emissions and cost-effective solutions.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice on fuel technologies to inform policy.
• Support policy development by translating technical concepts.
• Coordinate technical due diligence on SAF production contracts.
• Scrutinize production costs and key technical drivers.
• Engage with industry experts to build a strong policy framework.

Skills

Understanding of low carbon fuel technologies

Strong communication skills

Analytical thinking

Job description

Overview

Do you have a good understanding of low carbon fuel technologies or related industrial sectors, with the ability to develop expertise in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production processes?

Have you got clear, confident communication skills, with the ability to explain complex or specialist information to support sound, evidence-based policy and commercial decisions?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

DfT is a high-profile department at the heart of UK government. We work with agencies and partners to support the transport network that helps businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country. We plan and invest to make journeys better.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here

• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday

• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it\'s like working at DfT: Department for Transport Central - Department for Transport Careers

Role context

Low Carbon Fuels have been delivering substantial greenhouse gas savings in UK road transport since 2008. However, aviation remains one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is expected to make the single largest contribution to reducing its emissions on the path to net zero.

Our vision is for the UK to play a leading role in the development, production and use of SAF, enabling net zero flying and supporting the creation of thousands of green jobs. Increasing the use of SAF is a key part of the Government’s strategy to reduce aviation emissions. In the King’s Speech, the Government committed to introducing a Bill to establish a Revenue Certainty Mechanism (RCM) for SAF producers, helping to unlock investment in UK-based production facilities.

We are seeking a Technical & Policy Adviser with knowledge of low carbon fuel technologies, production processes, and commercial feasibility to support the development and implementation of the RCM and wider LCF policy. The post holder will play a key role in shaping the design of complex and high-impact policy instruments, working across government and with external experts to develop, test and refine technical and commercial options that balance cost-effectiveness, investor confidence, and sustainability outcomes.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Providing expert advice on LCF technologies, including feedstocks, conversion pathways, process efficiency and lifecycle emissions to inform policy development and commercial design across SAF and other LCF applications.
• Support policy teams in developing the RCM by translating complex technical concepts into actionable policy insights, ensuring alignment between engineering realities and commercial/policy design objectives.
• Co-ordinating technical due diligence on proposed SAF production contracts, ensuring robust delivery assumptions and drawing on technical specialists with experience delivering similar CfD-style schemes across industry and government (including DESNZ).
• Supporting analytical colleagues in scrutinising production costs (capital and whole-life) and key technical drivers, such as plant scale, technology readiness and site-specific factors, for SAF and other emerging LCF technologies.
• Engaging with industry and technical experts, testing design assumptions, gathering intelligence, and commissioning research to build a strong, evidence-based policy framework.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.