Senior Policy Researcher x 3

Location: Blended between office and home (England and Wales). Time in office negotiable

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives from debt to evictions to trouble at work and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

We are recruiting for Senior Policy Researchers to join our energy team. This is an exciting opportunity to work on one of the biggest issues facing people across the UK today - within a dynamic organisation with a relentless focus on fixing the underlying causes of people's problems.

You'll be joining a team that gets to the heart of complex challenges facing energy markets and the energy system at a time when the industry is reacting to the challenge of net zero, and supporting people through the cost of living crisis.

1 of these roles sits in our Net Zero Homes team. This is an opportunity to ensure the interests of consumers are represented in the net zero transition. This will involve:

• Considering how consumer segmentation impacts people's ability to engage in the net zero transition and exploring how we can best deliver outcomes fairly
• Understanding how different net zero technologies and support needs to work for consumers to drive meaningful change
• Building cross-sector relationships on net zero
• Working closely with colleagues across the energy team to understand the wider impacts of net zero to develop effective policy solutions to deliver on the net zero targets

1 of these roles sits in our Energy Networks and Systems team. This is an opportunity to ensure the interests of consumers are represented as the energy system transforms. This will involving considering how the energy system can be centred around the consumer:

• Exploring how to reward consumers who can be flexible with how they use energy, whilst protecting those that can't
• Ensure all consumers benefit from the new energy system
• Make sure investment costs funded by consumers are fair
• Build relationships including with the new organisations that will shape the future, such as the National Energy System Operator

1 of these roles sits in our Energy Retail Team. This is an opportunity to work on key issues like energy affordability and consumer protection as the market recovers from the energy crisis and undergoes significant reform to deliver net zero. This will involve:
Using our research and insight to keep consumers at the centre of reforms, including those to digitalise energy systems to enable innovative and low carbon energy services.

• Developing solutions that consider the experiences of vulnerable and marginalised consumers, support them to benefit from the market and protect from additional risks that they face.
• Building relationships with stakeholders in the energy regulator, government and industry as they develop these reforms and new consumer protections.
• Working closely with others across the energy team and wider organisation to maximise the impact of our policy solutions, so they contribute to lower costs and higher service standards in essential markets.

You will be given an opportunity to express a preference for which team you would like to join if you are invited to interview.

You'll use a wide range of research methods and create outputs including blogs, reports, presentations and events to influence policymakers and stakeholders. The data and insight we gather helping millions of people across the UK and our strong brand will give you unique opportunities to engage with those who have the power to make change. You will feed into our work influencing parliamentarians, the civil service, regulators and industry and you will work closely with our world-class news, campaigns, public affairs, and data teams.

If you're interested in applying please demonstrate the following essential criteria in your cv and covering letter:

• Proven ability to think creatively and pragmatically about policy at both big picture and detailed implementation levels to identify authentic, empowering solutions, including the ability to adapt flexibly to working in new policy areas and constructively challenge policy and service delivery approaches in unfamiliar areas.
• Ability to contribute to the development of an influential policy research programme, under a broad work theme, in which equality and diversity is appropriately integrated.
• Strong understanding of what really makes senior decision makers change policy and practice, using both formal and informal routes.
  
  

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service.

Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people. We follow the social model of disability. We will offer an interview to disabled candidates who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident Interview Commitment where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

We're a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who'd prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance, many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home we're open to being flexible on location, occasionally a role may require you to be based in a certain location if that's the case it will be detailed in the advert or job description. This can be discussed in more detail during your interview.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds, therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales.

Our commitment to colleague wellbeing is reflected in us being awarded Gold in the Health & Wellbeing category, as well as Overall Winners, at the Employee Experience Awards 2022.

Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

In the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early.

This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.

For more information about the organisation, our values and benefits please see the following link - Information, values and benefits

Need help with your application, see our useful how to guides on the following page - Guidance notes for applicants