Renewable Heat Incentive Higher Engineering Policy Maker (HEO)

Renewable Heat Incentive Higher Engineering Policy Maker (HEO) 

£29,850 - £34,769 per annum. An additional scientific allowance of £4,045 per annum may be payable

Ref: IRC86297

The Department of Energy and Climate Change is responsible for ensuring the UK has secure, affordable energy and for the UK’s role in domestic and international efforts to avoid dangerous climate change. The department supports the Secretary of State - The Rt. Hon. Edward Davey MP - and his Ministerial team to deliver the Government’s energy and climate change policies.  The Secretary of State has set three priorities:

• Driving investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure and supporting growth.
• Helping households and businesses take control of their energy bills.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the UK and internationally.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a subsidy aimed at boosting the uptake of renewable heating systems and is the world’s first long-term financial support programme for renewable heat. It's a key means by which the Government aims to meet its 2020 renewables target which requires 15% of energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. It's a Government major project with a projected subsidy spend of £430m in 2015/16.  It is also an important policy to help meet the Government’s longer term carbon targets.

The RHI engineering team sits within the wider RHI group and provides technical and engineering expertise to support policy design, implementation, operation and evaluation. Team members will be expected to build up an in-depth knowledge of renewable heat generation technologies and systems, heat metering and monitoring strategies and technical design and installation standards and use this knowledge to help develop successful policy. The work of the team is varied and for the coming year will include:

• Being the first port of call for technical queries on renewable heat technologies and systems.
• Using engineering knowledge to prove solutions to issues and to provide critical evaluation of the work of others.
• Communicating technical information to non-specialists and assisting in developing the expertise of the wider group.
• Developing and maintaining a network of external experts in both industry and academia.
• Providing engineering support to the policy teams and leading aspects of policy development.
• Developing, procuring and managing a multi-million pound metering programme to measure the performance of real-life installations.
• Providing advice and input into the on-going development of installer quality standards and training.
• Assessing and developing the engineering evidence base underpinning the policy.

The role of the higher engineering policy maker will be to provide engineering support to policy makers as they carry out the formal review of the non-domestic RHI. They will also be responsible for co-ordinating the team’s input into the development of installer quality standards.

The senior engineering policy maker will be responsible for leading and managing the metering programme which is forming a core part of the RHI policy evaluation, and for supporting policy makers with policy design, implementation and operation. In addition, they will have line management responsibilities for a junior engineering colleague.

For these roles, the ability to work effectively with non-specialists is absolutely crucial. You will be able to work collaboratively, build trusting relationships and connections, have good interpersonal skills, and excellent communication skills. A first degree (or equivalent) in a relevant engineering subject is essential.  In addition, we are looking for technical excellence in relevant engineering disciplines such as industrial processes requiring heating, non-domestic heat uses, project management of research programmes, heat measurement, analysis of big data, understanding the domestic and non-domestic heating industry, development of industry best practice and standards, or renewable heating technologies.   

All posts are offered on a fixed term appointment basis until March 2016, and we offer an attractive benefits package. Applicants will also be expected to undergo security clearance.

For further information about this post and application process please visit:

Civil Service Jobs - Renewable Heat Incentive Higher Engineering Policy Maker (HEO)  

Closing date: 25^th June 2014

DECC values equality and diversity in employment and welcomes applications from all sectors of society.