Associate Commercial Lead

Job summary

Do you want a career where you can make a real difference? 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 work in an agile way. This means that, as our priorities evolve, your work may adapt to meet emerging needs and help us deliver our mission. This approach offers opportunities to develop your skills, gain new experiences, and contribute where you can make the greatest impact. This relates to the nature of the work rather than contractual terms, such as location or working pattern.

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.

Find Out More

We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/pqUhdr3L72

You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/desnz-careers/

Job description

The Commercial Directorate delivers commercial solutions that support DESNZ’s objectives by providing expertise across the Department and its ALBs. This includes shaping and managing a wide range of commercial arrangements ensuring they deliver value for money, support high-quality public services, and align with strategic and policy goals.

The role involves managing the end-to-end procurement process for goods and services, and for supporting cross-functional teams on more complex and strategic procurements by running specific workstreams or undertaking activities such as research, stakeholder engagement, evaluation, eSourcing, etc.

In this role you will work closely and collaboratively with stakeholders, to form and lead cross functional teams to deliver value through the effective management of stakeholders and supplier relationships. You will also have responsibility for all commercial aspects of the spend under management.

Leading the delivery of commercial advice and commercial activity across the full commercial cycle from commercial strategy to contract exit, informed by commercial risks and delivering policy area objectives.

While the job holder is assigned to a procurement role in a specific Business Unit, they will be expected to support other Business Units or to undertake Contract Management responsibilities as required to support fluctuations in workload.

Specialisms/Options

International Net Zero & SICE

These teams lead the Department’s response to the international issue of global climate change and support developing countries in their response to climate change. The focus is on driving climate change mitigation in countries where climate mitigation potential is greatest (e.g. Colombia, Mexico, Viet Nam, South Africa) across key sectors such as energy, urban infrastructure and forests and land use, together with mobilizing private finance and influencing international climate negotiations. There is a focus here on non-standard grant-like agreements with multilateral organisations as well as standard grant applications.

Project Hawthorn

Project Hawthorn is DESNZ’s response to identified poor-quality solid wall insulation installed under ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme. Project Hawthorn was set up following the identification of significant examples of non-compliance in solid wall insulation (SWI) installations under the ECO4 and GBIS schemes. DESNZ, through Ofgem, instructed Atkins Réalis to carry out a statistically representative audit regime to understand the level of non-compliance in the population. These audits revealed a high (98% Cat 1 and Major) level of non-compliance in external wall insulation (EWI), and a lower (30% Cat 1 and Major) levels of non-compliance in internal wall insulation (IWI) under ECO4 and GBIS. Due to the high levels of non-compliance found for EWI installations, DESNZ has publicly offered an audit to all circa 26,000 recipients of EWI installed under ECO4 and GBIS adopting a ‘find and fix’ approach. The current preferred delivery partner for this initiative is TrustMark, who, as the government-endorsed quality scheme for retrofit, holds data on all measures and projects delivered under ECO4 and GBIS and who already employ compliance expertise as part of their remit. It is a high-profile remediation programme focused on audit, remediation, consumer journey issues, historical issues including targeted remediation support, and wider quality assurance across the NZB portfolio. It sits in an area of direct ministerial, HMT and wider senior interest, and is closely linked to DESNZ’s wider aims on consumer confidence, carbon savings and fuel poverty outcomes.

Consumer protection

The consumer protection reform area is designing a strengthened future system of standards, enforcement, redress and oversight for retrofit and warm homes schemes as outlined in the Warm Homes Plan published earlier this year. Its purpose is to create a more robust, simpler and more transparent consumer protection framework that improves quality, gives consumers access to timely redress when things go wrong, supports action against poor performers, and helps build confidence in home decarbonisation. The work includes delivery model assessment, market engagement, business case development and the design of future service components such as customer support, quality assurance, financial protection, data and intelligence, digital services, auditing and system governance. The recently published consultation will help shape future requirements with results of the consultation due in December 26.

Nuclear:

DESNZ’s Nuclear cluster is at the heart of the Department’s mission to make the UK a Clean Energy superpower by turbo-charging the growth, diversification and resilience of the UK’s Nuclear Sector. Without Nuclear power the UK will not be able to achieve its Clean Energy and Net Zero objectives, making our work critical to the Government’s objectives.

Whether it's the construction of new power stations like Sizewell C to their decommissioning; helping industry innovate new, more efficient fuels to the recycling of nuclear waste or driving forward researching into world-changing technology for Nuclear Fusion there isn’t a part of the nuclear lifecycle DESNZ’s doesn’t support.

Our task in the Nuclear Commercial team is to help enable the public and private sec