Mega Project Lead: Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and Hydrogen

HM Treasury

Contents

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

Birmingham, Leeds, London

About the job

Job summary

This post is currently hosted with the Infrastructure and Project Authority (IPA), however HM Treasury are in the process of moving all existing IPA roles into the core department as the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA). Roles that transfer from IPA to NISTA will maintain the same or substantially the same terms and conditions of employment that are overall no less favourable. Roles commencing after NISTA has become operational will be with HM Treasury itself on similar terms and conditions. All successful candidates will receive full details of the terms and conditions of employment for their role with their formal job offer.

This role is available in the existing office locations of the IPA and NIC, and candidates will be asked to declare their preferred office location within their application form.

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth. 

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more. 

HM Treasury are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) will become the Government’s centre for expertise for infrastructure investment and major projects. It will sit at the heart of government, reporting to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office, and will form a key part of the Government’s approach to addressing barriers to infrastructure investment in the UK. By incorporating what is currently the National Infrastructure Commission and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority into a single organisation, it will bring oversight of infrastructure strategy and delivery under one roof.

NISTA will have responsibility for implementing the Government’s new, 10-year infrastructure strategy; and supporting successful delivery of a wide range of infrastructure and major projects ranging from railways, schools and housing to defence, IT and major service transformation programmes. To this end, the organisation will oversee the Government Major Projects Portfolio and provide expert advice on projects as part of an enhanced assurance function of project delivery and of service transformation. This will include advice provided to Ministers on major investment decisions through the Major Project Review Group process. NISTA will provide oversight and hold Government to account on infrastructure investments and delivery.

The UK government has set a clear pathway to delivering clean energy by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050, both of which include the creation of new industries such as CCUS and delivering low carbon hydrogen. The Committee on Climate Change views CCUS as “essential” to meeting the country’s legally binding emission reduction commitments. The Government has ALREADY announced £21.7 billion funding to kick off the “Track 1” CCUS clusters (East Coast Cluster and Hynet) and has ambitions to both expand these clusters and bring on additional “Track 2” clusters. Early sectors that will likely benefit from CCUS include dispatchable power, energy from waste, cement, and blue hydrogen. CCUS technology is also a key enabler of Greenhouse Gas Removals.

Hydrogen is one of a handful of new, low carbon solutions that will be critical for the UK’s energy security and transition to net zero. As part of a decarbonised, renewable energy system, low carbon hydrogen could be a versatile replacement for high-carbon fossil fuels used today – helping to bring down emissions and provide flexible energy for power, industry, transport and potentially heating. 

About the Job

The Mega-Project Lead will be engaged in providing expert advice to enable the successful delivery of CCUS and Hydrogen projects and programmes across the government Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). The focus will be on those projects that contribute to delivery against the government's Growth and Clean Energy Missions, the proposed 10 year Infrastructure Strategy and Industrial Strategy, and are on the Government's Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP), which acknowledges their scale, complexity, high risk and strategic significance. Within the GMPP there are a small number of projects that have been identified as ‘Mega-Projects’ and are assigned a dedicated subject matter expert; Mega Project Lead, who will act as the single point of contact/accountability and be responsible for coordinating all NISTA/IPA activity in relation to that project. This includes the provision of professional advice and support to DESNZ, who are leading an expanding programme to deliver CCUS and low carbon hydrogen on behalf of the government, briefings to HMT, CO, No10 senior staff and Ministers alongside tasking within NISTA/IPA. Existing projects that fall into the classification of Mega Project include; Sizewell C, New Hospitals Programme, CCUS/Hydrogen.

Responsibilities and Duties

  • Senior government official providing impartial, expert "critical friend" advice on programme delivery and longer-term policy to both DESNZ and HMT. The successful candidate will be responsible for establishing and implementing the NISTA/IPA's position on the relevant programmes.
  • Member of decision-making Boards across Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage, Hydrogen and Greenhouse Gas Removals covering policy development, programme delivery and negotiation with industry.
  • Expected to "dive deep" into all levels of the programmes, particularly to understand the underlying government business models and support their integration and continued development.
  • Act as an integrator across DESNZ, HMT, Cabinet Office, Number 10 to support efficient cross Government decision making. Providing regular briefings to Cabinet Office and HMT ministers where required.
  • Managing and developing effective relationships with senior stakeholders in public, institutional and private sectors - currently this involves steering CCUS Track 1, Track 1 extension, Track 2 and long term Vision; electrolytic Hydrogen Allocation Rounds; Hydrogen Transportation & Storage; Hydrogen to Power; Greenhouse Gas Removal.
  • Lead the support that the IPA gives to DESNZ / HMT by drawing on the necessary skills from within the IPA's matrix structure.
  • The successful candidate will be part of a wider team and expected to make a contribution across the IPA by sharing knowledge, capacity building, mentoring and coaching staff, as well as contributing in other sectors through e.g. Assurance Reviews, Opportunity Framing workshop, Peer Reviews etc.

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Jon.Loveday@ipa.gov.uk.

Person specification

Your application will consist of a CV and a 750-word personal statement.

Your CV should consist of your career history, including key achievements in each role. Your personal statement should demonstrate evidence of how you meet the criteria listed below. The panel will consider the evidence jointly presented in both your CV and personal statement and provide one overall score from 1-7.

  • Significant leadership experience of large scale, multi-year programmes in a complex technical and commercial context.
  • Energy sector experience is essential, ideally in oil & gas. Previous experience in CCUS or Hydrogen would also be highly welcome, but not essential, similarly experience in high CO2 emitting industries.
  • Experience with one or more of the following would be welcome: complex multi-party negotiations, major EPC contracting, working with industry regulators, raising debt finance.
  • Leadership gravitas to bring weight to insights and recommendations, essential in shaping opinions and decisions at the most senior levels. Equally important to be able to engage with junior staff - learning from their perspectives and thereby gaining a greater integrated understanding of the programmes.
  • Able to manage a high volume of complex and interconnected commercial and technical matters, often with high degree of ambiguity or imperfect information. Needs to be able to readily move between details and high level concepts to provide sound, integrated, insightful advice.
  • An interest in mentoring, coaching and developing others, seeking to further build in-house government capability in energy transition delivery.
  • Confident in dealing with senior stakeholders, building relationships whilst knowing what can and cannot be shared.

Desirable Memberships:

  • Membership of a recognised profession (e.g. law, engineering, projects, property, accountancy) is desirable but not essential.

These criteria have been identified as the essential skills or experience for the role, so it is important that you include evidence to demonstrate you have the skills or experience we are looking for. You should not include any personal identifying information within your CV or personal statement. 

Memberships

Membership of a recognised profession (e.g. law, engineering, projects, property, accountancy) is desirable but not essential.

Behaviours

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

  • Changing and Improving
  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Leadership
  • Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £95,000, HM Treasury contributes £27,521 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

  • 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant) 
  • Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours) 
  • Generous parental and adoption leave package. 
  • A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 28% 
  • Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room 
  • Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving 
  • Access to a retail discounts and cashback site 
  • A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes 
  • A range of active staff networks, based around interests and diversity

Flexible Working Arrangements

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they can enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; part-time, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees the flexibility to adjust their working patterns throughout the week which is subject to operational needs and line management approval. 

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it’s important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff can realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance. 

HM Treasury operates an office based working approach across all Treasury sites - Darlington, London, and Norwich, and along with the rest of the Civil Service, has an expectation of a minimum of 60% attendance in the office, along with working remotely. This blended working approach allows you to work collaboratively, meet stakeholders face to face, support others and promotes a healthy work life balance (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. All our offices have been recently modernised and designed to collaborate and connect with colleagues as well as desk and quiet space to allow a range of ways to work.

The office working expectation is linked to the location of the role. If you apply to a post in a single location, then you will not be able to meet this expectation at any of our other sites or move your role to another location. 

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 : Jon Loveday
  • Email : Jon.Loveday@ipa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

  • Email : hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Process: Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email at: hrrecruitment@hmtreasury.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.

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Confirmed 30+ days ago. Posted 30+ days ago.

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