Senior Analyst - Power Lead - Climate Change Committee

Summary

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) is seeking a high-performing, self-motivated, and enthusiastic analyst to lead our work on decarbonisation of the power sector. This will involve leading the CCCs analysis and policy advice in this critical sector, including building on our impactful Seventh Carbon Budget advice, developing and implementing a work programme in preparation for our advice on the Eighth Carbon Budget, and contributing to our annual UK progress reports to Parliament. This role will give the successful applicant the chance to work right at the heart of the decarbonisation and resilience challenge - driving forward analysis and advice on decarbonising our electricity sector, which underpins the delivery of Net Zero across the economy, whilst making sure our system is resilient to the changing climate. It also offers the opportunity to work directly with the Climate Change Committees, comprising some of the foremost experts in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Organisation Description

The Climate Change Committee is the independent expert statutory adviser to Parliament and the UK Government on climate change policy. It was created as a key part of the long-term legal framework set out in the Climate Change Act (2008). The Act sets a long-term target for 2050 (Net Zero, a 100% reduction in net emissions from 1990) and requires that carbon budgets (five-year caps on emissions) are set on a path towards the long-term target. These targets have been legislated in-line with the Committees advice. The Act also requires that the UK assesses and responds to the risks that it faces as the climate changes.

The CCC has established itself as a high-profile, high-impact expert body in the analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Its reports can be accessed from the CCCs website: www.theccc.org.uk . The CCC is comprised of two Boards, the Committee (covering expertise in mitigation) and the Adaptation Committee (covering expertise in adaptation); and an analytical secretariat. The Committees have a distinguished membership of leading experts from the fields of climate change, science, engineering and economics: https://www.theccc.org.uk/about/ . The Committees are supported by a secretariat of around 50, including economists, operational researchers, scientists and other analysts.

The CCC was the first body of its kind in the world and brings together different strands of expertise from its members, from government, the research community and business. It draws on existing information and undertakes its own analysis to provide expert advice to Ministers and to Parliament. It is required to give advice to Ministers on climate change matters covered by the Climate Change Act and on an ad-hoc basis as and when requested.

Role description

This role will sit in the mitigation team of the CCC secretariat, which develops analysis to inform pathways for decarbonising the UK economy and monitors progress towards delivering the Governments decarbonisation plans. The team develops analysis, research and policy advice and communicates the Committees conclusions through various outputs, including published reports. The mitigation team consists of central analytical teams who coordinate on cross-cutting issues and sectoral teams who lead our analysis of each sector of the economy. This role will sit within one of the sectoral teams, leading our work on electricity.

Decarbonising the electricity sector is strategically important because it unlocks emissions savings across the whole economy, as sectors such as transport and home heating switch from fossil fuels to electric power. The electricity sector has seen some of the most rapid and exciting decarbonisation developments in recent years, with emissions falling significantly over the past decade and costs plummeting such that wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of generation. The challenge will be meeting the growing demand for electricity as sectors such as heating and transport electrify (more than doubling electricity demand by 2050), while decarbonising electricity generation and enabling electricity prices to fall.

Efforts to decarbonise the system must go hand in hand with making sure it is resilient to the changing climate, covering climate hazards such as heatwaves, flooding, drought, wind and storms. This is now more important than ever, as we seek to build new infrastructure to generate and deliver low-carbon energy, undertaking a once in a generation overhaul of the energy system.

Last year, the CCC published advice on the level of the Seventh Carbon Budget, which has recently been passed into law. This was a high-impact piece of work, which has generated a lot of interest, especially in the power sector. We are now beginning the next analytical cycle, gearing up for our advice on the Eighth Carbon Budget. In parallel, the CCC will also be delivering policy advice to Parliament and to the devolved administrations in the form of progress reports. The successful applicant will have an important role in all these areas. More detail on each is set out below.

• The CCCs advice on the Seventh Carbon Budget, published last year, set out our latest assessment of a deliverable pathway for decarbonising the UKs economy, along with the costs, savings, and wider impacts that this could have. This advice has had significant impact, with the Government choosing to legislate the budget in line with its recommendation. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to represent the power sector elements of this advice in engagements with stakeholders across government, business, and the research community, and to explore work that we could undertake to build on it.

• We are now beginning the next cycle of our analytical work, gearing up for advising on the Eighth Carbon Budget (covering 2043-2047). The successful applicant will have the opportunity to scope out and implement a work programme to build the evidence-base required for this in the electricity sector. This is likely to involve considering what the key emerging issues are in decarbonising and expanding the power system, reviewing literature and developing new analysis to tackle these, and working with senior leadership and the Committee to agree focus areas for policy advice. This will require effective working and collaboration across the secretariat, given the wider relationships between electricity supply and other sectors.

• In addition to this deliverable, the successful candidate will lead the power sector contributions to the CCCs mitigation progress reports for the UK and the three devolved administrations, providing an assessment of Government progress against its plans for reducing emissions. This involves assessing emissions data, delivery indicators, and policy effectiveness.

The post-holder will report to a team leader (Civil Service Grade 6) who leads a team of around four sector leads and multiple junior analysts. The post-holder may also have the opportunity to line and task manage one analyst (Civil Service SEO/HEO Grade or seconded in from industry). The post-holder will work in close collaboration with the sector leads for other related areas (Civil Service Grade 7), including for buildings, transport, and fuel supply. We are an enthusiastic, friendly and inquisitive team, all committed to addressing climate change and to supporting one another in doing so.

Applicants with relevant experience, ideally including knowledge of the energy system, are sought. This is an analytical post so a degree or post-graduate degree in a numerate discipline (e.g. engineering, environmental science, economics) is essential. The CCC has affiliation with the Governments analytical professions (GES, GORS, GSS, or GSR) and it is possible for analysts to maintain these memberships at the CCC. If you are a member of one of these professions, please indicate this in your application. We also welcome applications from outside these professions.

The role is offered on a permanent basis, ideally starting as soon as possible after October 2026.

For further information about this role please contact: [email protected]

Technical skills

• Analytical skills: excellent analytical skills including the ability to apply appropriate quantitative analytical tools and techniques, and synthesise evidence from a range of sources, as appropriate. Assess the reliability and relevance of evidence and give objective evidence-based advice. Quality-assure models, challenge input data and assumptions, and interpret output data for the purposes of providing supporting evidence.

• Numeracy skills: excellent numeracy and spreadsheet skills. Some experience coding (for example, in Python or R) would be an advantage but is not essential.

General skills

• Communication skills: excellent communication and influencing skills both written (drafting clear, well-evidenced, and engaging ...