Overview

Do you want a career where you can make a real difference? Do you want to work in a government department that is at the forefront of current policy making decisions that will impact the UK and beyond? If yes then a career at the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) could be for you.

Here at DESNZ we are securing the UK’s long term energy supply, bringing down energy bills and halving inflation. We are seizing the opportunities of Net Zero to lead the world in new green industries 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.

The Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) is part of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and is responsible for:

  • Developing, administering and enforcing the environmental and decommissioning regulatory regime covering offshore oil and gas, offshore gas unloading and storage and offshore carbon dioxide storage (collectively referred to as offshore energy projects).
  • Handling domestic and international policy relating to developing the environmental regulatory framework for offshore energy projects.
  • The Department’s Strategic Environmental Assessment for offshore energy projects, which allows the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) to licence offshore areas for oil and gas, gas storage and carbon dioxide storage and the Crown Estate to lease offshore areas for offshore renewable energy developments.

Within OPRED, the Regional Delivery Programmes are responsible for developing, administering and ensuring compliance with the environmental and decommissioning regulatory regime in relation to offshore oil and gas.

Within the Regional Delivery Programmes, the Offshore Environmental Inspectorate works to protect the environment through the implementation of the United Kingdom’s offshore environmental regulations.

The OEI is responsible for regulating activities once offshore operations commence, by inspecting whether the requirements, restrictions or prohibitions imposed by the legislation have been, or are being complied with. This work includes the assessment of Oil Pollution Emergency Plans – including financial provision for accidents/incidents and emergency response (24/7 on call provision).

Reporting to the Head of Environmental Operations, and working closely with the other OEI Technical Lead, the successful candidate will provide strong technical leadership in respect of the full range of regulatory activities undertaken by the team. The OEI Technical Lead will be accountable for a number of discrete operational and policy work areas within the team, while also maintaining a sufficiently detailed awareness of the workstreams being overseen by the other OEI Technical Lead to allow them to provide resilience within the senior OEI management team.

To ensure consistency on technical matters across the Regional Delivery Programme Teams within OPRED, the OEI Technical Lead will also closely liaise with the Environmental Management Technical Leads and colleagues within OPRED’s Decommissioning Team.

The post holder will be responsible for:

  • Providing technical leadership to OEI on relevant environmental legislation and regulatory functions;
  • Overseeing the development or review of internal or external regulatory guidance;
  • Overseeing the production of the annual OPRED regulatory intervention plan;
  • Providing advice and direction, in liaison with the Senior Investigations Officer, on investigations into contraventions of environmental legislation and deciding on the appropriate enforcement action;
  • Providing expert advice and briefing on environmental matters relating to offshore energy industries to OPRED Senior Leadership, senior DESNZ officials (including liaison with Special Advisers and Press Office) and Ministers;
  • Representing and influencing OPRED’s views in various domestic and international environmental fora;
  • Working closely with the OPRED Policy team to provide technical support in relation to policy development and strategic direction on technical policy, regulation and operational matters;
  • Managing stakeholder engagement on technical matters, including liaison with other Government Departments, Public Bodies, Devolved Administrations, industry representative bodies and non-governmental organisations;
  • Providing technical input in relation to the performance management process for OEI technical staff;
  • Contributing to, producing and updating the annual Regional and Team business plans;
  • Undertaking or supporting technical and administrative recruitment exercises;
  • Providing input to the development and implementation of fee charging schemes;
  • Responding to environmental incidents or regulatory non-compliance events linked to DESNZ’s objective on secure energy supply, including maintaining and participating in an effective 24/7 on call response capability and providing advice and support to the on call Environmental Inspector, or providing briefings to Ministers and senior officials in respect of ongoing pollution incidents;
  • Deputising for the Grade 6 Head of Environmental Operations as required.

Requirements

Skills and experience

The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate two of the following criteria to meet the requirements of the role:

  • A proven track record of inspection, regulation or enforcement in the oil & gas or a related industry;
  • Demonstration of significant oil and gas experience in a relevant technical role such as combustion plant operations, production operations, drilling operations, well engineering, maintenance management, or
  • Previous management or leadership experience, in a relevant technical, regulatory or enforcement environment, including experience on developing and implementing organisational policy and procedures.

Successful applicants must hold or pass the Offshore Medical and Offshore Training Survival Courses.

Qualifications

The requirements for the role are two of the following three criteria:

  • A higher level education qualification in a science, engineering, environmental or related subject;
  • A proven track record of inspection, regulation or enforcement in the oil and gas or a related industry;
  • Demonstration of significant oil and gas industry experience in a relevant technical leadership role such as production, drilling, maintenance and subsea.
Alongside your salary of £77,935, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £21,042 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 average employer contribution of 27%.
  • 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.
  • The Department operates a discretionary Hybrid Working policy, which enables 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.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and any technical skills required. Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) to explain what you will bring to the role, this will be scored against the skills, experience and essential criteria required for the advertised role.

Applications will be sifted on CV, personal statement, and any technical skills required.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the lead technical skill.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions. We fully support adjustments throughout our recruitment process and we encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section. We do not have an exhaustive list of adjustments that we support but just some examples include additional time to complete your application form, behaviour questions up to 72 hours prior to interview and having extra time at interview.