Negotiations & Corporate Advisory Head

• Details
• Reference number
• 475683
• Salary
• £70,275 - £83,460
• National: £70,275 - £79,170

London: £75,395 - £83,460 (pro-rata for part-time hours) + Depending on the experience of the candidate, they may be eligible for a commercial specialist pay enhancement of up to £17,000

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

• Job grade
• Grade 6
• Contract type
• Permanent
• Business area
• DESNZ - Major Decarbonisation Projects - Carbon Capture, Usage & Storage (CCUS)
• Type of role
• Commercial
• Corporate Finance
• Working pattern
• Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
• Number of jobs available
• 1
• Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford

About the job

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 Major Decarbonisation Projects Group (MDPG) is a Director General led business area within DESNZ responsible for delivering the Department’s Hydrogen and Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Programmes.

The Group has created flexible resource ‘Hubs’ to bring together subject matter expertise, supporting the delivery of these programmes.

These roles are part of the Negotiations and Corporate Advisory Hub, which offers commercial and corporate finance expertise into MDPG policy development and leads MDPG’s negotiations with private sector projects. Team members are deployed flexibly based on the Group's needs, so you may work on both Hydrogen and CCUS projects at different stages of policy development and delivery. The duration of the specific projects you are assigned to may vary depending on business needs.

Hydrogen and CCUS are key components of the Governments’ clean power and net zero missions. The hubs have been set up in line with the civil service drive to be increasingly agile and delivery focused. As such, these roles are a fantastic opportunity to contribute to major government policies and to be part of pioneering innovative civil service operating models.

Person specification

As part of the Negotiations & Corporate Advisory (NCA) Hub, the role holder will be flexibly deployed in line with Major Decarbonisation Projects Group (MDPG) priorities to provide specialist commercial, negotiations or corporate finance skills to support policy design or project delivery across either or both Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and Hydrogen sectors. While a range of relevant skills and experiences may be suitable, the role holder must bring deep expertise in at least one of the team’s key areas.

Our ideal candidate would have significant experience of the financing and/or development of infrastructure projects ideally in the energy sector; a developed understanding of commercial risk and reward allocation and strong insights into the application of these concepts in first-of-a-kind or second-of-a-kind infrastructure projects including how HMG policy and regulatory frameworks can help provide the commercial environment to support investment into the development and delivery of these projects.

Subject to the successful candidate’s experience within commercial, negotiations and/or corporate finance domains, key responsibilities may include:

• Leading on the provision of high‑quality commercial, negotiation, and corporate finance advice to help shape the strategic direction of CCUS and/or hydrogen policy and ensure commercial considerations drive effective policy design and delivery.
• Ensuring risks are identified and appropriately managed, including cross-chain commercial risk, and that where relevant this insight shapes strategic decision‑making across MDPG and wider HMG.
• Providing financial assurance, commercial structuring advice and bespoke commercial solutions in respect of high‑value decarbonisation projects to help ensure they are investment‑ready and aligned with market and regulatory realities.
• Designing, steering and delivering a coordinated negotiation strategy, overseeing multiple negotiation workstreams, and delivering innovative contractual, funding and revenue mechanisms that resolve complex delivery challenges and secure value for money.
• Providing effective leadership across teams, which may include direct line management and matrix leadership and overseeing external advisory support. Supporting colleagues’ development and knowledge sharing, including through driving the adoption of commercial and financial best practice.
• Building and managing influential relationships across government, regulators and industry, including HM Treasury, NSTA, NISTA, Ofgem and LCCC.
• Leading the production of high‑impact advice for senior stakeholders and Ministers, distilling complex commercial and financial issues into clear recommendations.

As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable leadership in delivering complex commercial or negotiation activity and/or corporate or project finance work, showing strong commercial judgement and the ability to drive high quality outcomes.
• Able to build credibility quickly and influence a broad and senior stakeholder community, including external partners and delivery bodies, and able to provide authoritative commercial or financial advice to non-experts, including when faced with ambiguity or incomplete information.
• Significant experience in at least one relevant infrastructure sector: CCUS or Hydrogen, Renewables, energy production and/or transmission networks, upstream and/or mid-stream oil and gas.
• Confident in challenging assumptions, reframing commercial or financial problems, and presenting clear, evidence-based positions, enabling senior decision makers to navigate risks and choose pragmatic, commercially robust solutions.

Desirable Criteria

• Proven ability to shape and apply commercial models to policy development, commercial structures and contracts, providing insightful, solutions focused advice that influences policy direction and delivery choices.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,275, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £20,358 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) to outline how your prior experience aligns with the essential and desirable experience outlined in the job description.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement only.

The interview will consist of behaviour questions.

Interviewees will be asked to deliver a presentation; further details will be provided nearer the time.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance. A DESNZ Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

DESNZ cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DESNZ holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service and Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Chris Thomas
• Email : christopher.thomas3@energysecurity.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : desnzresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance desnzresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/