Head of Capacity Building
Applicant information pack
Salary: £37,100 - £42,700 p.a. (pro rata if part time), with scope to increase to £47,700 per
year as the role develops
Hours: 35 hours per week (requests for 28 hours per week and above will be considered, as
well as variable and compressed hours)
Contract period: 3.5 years (extension subject to funding)
About us
Community Energy England (CEE) is a membership association for and created by the
community energy sector. Our mission is to create the conditions within which community
energy is able to thrive and scale. We do this by:
* Supporting a pipeline of community energy organisations across England to grow in
scale and impact;
* Advocating for a policy and regulatory environment that supports the growth of
community energy;
* Facilitating opportunities across private, public and community sectors for new
collaborations and investment.
We have a growing network of over 300 member organisations, including community energy
enterprises and other supportive organisations from the private and public sectors, and we
work with a wide range of other associations and networks.
We are a small, dynamic and collaborative team. Working for us means you’ll be making a
direct contribution to tackling climate change, increasing community resilience, and making
the future energy system fairer.
You can find out more about us and what we do on our website.
About this role
We are seeking an experienced project and people manager to develop new workstreams to
increase the scale and impact of community energy in England and to respond to the needs of
our growing membership.
This new role will lead on the design and delivery in England of a new UK-wide Energy Learning
Network that aims to empower communities to deliver innovative and impactful energy
projects and services, and to ensure a long-term, sustainable route for community energy
across the UK. The Network is led by Ashden and delivered in partnership with Community
Energy England, Community Energy Scotland, Community Energy Wales, Action Renewables
and Centre for Sustainable Energy.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in the growth of community energy across
the UK as well as to help to shape the future role of Community Energy England. The role will
suit someone with experience of community energy and a passion for securing progress
towards a people-centred, zero carbon energy system.
As a member of the CEE team, you will be given the opportunity to continue developing your
skills and contribution to the organisation and the sector. Community energy has broad and
exciting impacts and this role will provide varied experience and national reach.
Principal roles and responsibilities
Strategic development of CEE
Working with the Chief Executive, you will be responsible for developing a new workstream
for CEE to increase the capacity of our members, and build new skills and pathways for
employment. Initially, this will mainly be shaped around the Energy Learning Network but will
expand to include developing new opportunities for collaboration and business development.
Energy Learning Network
You will lead on designing and delivering CEE’s part of a new UK-wide Energy Learning
Network. Supported by the wider team, your responsibilities will include:
* Strategic oversight of our capacity building work and how this area of our activity
contributes to our other strategic priorities and the broader Energy Learning Network.
* Building and maintaining effective relationships with the Network partners, our
members, and key collaborators.
* Evidence gathering and analysis e.g. stakeholder mapping, analysing barriers, risks and
* Building a comprehensive catalogue of existing resources, events, training packages,
innovation, and peer to peer learning in England. Making strategic decisions about
which to share, prioritise and replace, then planning and executing delivery of these
actions.
* Enhancing CEE’s website resources and contributing to the development of CEE’s new
website later this year.
* Developing and implementing a communications plan and strong narrative for
community energy that can be tailored for different organisations.
* Supporting our members to identify opportunities for collaboration and making
strategic choices about how we provide capacity building support to enable this, e.g.
development of shared services, rolling out of innovation projects, exploring
innovation lab techniques.
* Creating workshops and/or online seminars drawing on the experience of our
members and the wider Network.
* Speaking at a wide range of events about the multiple benefits of community energy in
all its forms.
People management and team working
You will form part of our small senior leadership team and be an integral support to the Chief
Executive. As we are a small organisation, this role will by necessity be a hands-on role too;
“doing the doing” will be an important part of enabling you to develop this area of our activity
and impact. You will line manage our new Heat and Retrofit Coordinator, ensuring that
learning is shared between the Energy Learning Network and other projects that we are
supporting, such as the Net Zero Terrace Streets project. You will work collaboratively across
the team and with our members to ensure that we work effectively and strategically. You will
work with the Chief Executive to grow the team to enable us to continue to impactfully
support our growing membership.
About you
You will thrive in this role if you:
* Are an experienced manager and able to think strategically and develop work areas
that progress the organisation’s objectives.
* Are a persuasive communicator who can convey complex information effectively to a
diverse range of people, organisations and stakeholders.
* Thrive on managing people and developing effective partnerships to deliver high
quality work and be responsive to the evolving landscape our sector operates in.
* Are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the role of community energy across the
UK to deliver positive local change.
* Are able to design and deliver a range of knowledge sharing activities such as
workshops, seminars or case studies to support others to learn quickly.
* Are excited by the opportunity to grow and enhance the impact that both CEE and our
members have.
* Are confident making decisions and good at judging when to take action and when to
escalate an issue or decision.
* Are good at planning ahead and keeping track of your work, and adapting as new
opportunities arise and priorities shift.
* Are willing to take accountability and work in a self-managed way as well as working
and collaborating with team members and partners.
Why Us?
Working at CEE is purposeful, collaborative and creative. We value diverse perspectives and
believe that ideas and solutions are best achieved through collaboration among community
organisations and with other sectors.
We value communication and helping colleagues by sharing knowledge and ideas. We are a
friendly team of seven spread across England, so we’ll trust you to manage your own time. That
means you can work around childcare or other responsibilities if a standard 9-5 work day
doesn’t work for you. We do have weekly virtual team meetings on Tuesdays which all team
members attend.
We recognise that a diverse workforce is an asset and it’s important to us that every member
of our team feels able to bring their whole self to work. We’ll listen to what you tell us about
your circumstances and provide the support you need to do your job well and feel confident at
work.
We’re a small organisation so being willing to pitch in and adapt is really important. This also
means that you will get the opportunity to gain experience in a broad range of skills as well as
develop strong networks across the UK.
Salary, benefits and conditions
* Location: Working from home with the option to work in our Sheffield co-working
space. There will be the need for occasional travel to other parts of the country such as
CEE’s base in Sheffield.
* Hours: 35 hours per week (full-time). We are also open to requests for 28 hours per
week and above, as well as variable and compressed hours. Occasional
weekend/evening travel and working (with notice) may be required, for which you’ll get
time off in lieu.
* Salary: £37,100 - £42,700 (pro rata if part time), depending on skills and experience
with scope to increase to £47,700 per year as the role develops
* Contract Period: 3.5 years (extension subject to funding).
* Start date: ASAP.
* Reporting to: Chief Executive (Emma Bridge).
* Leave: 25 days paid holiday a year plus bank holidays (pro rata if part-time), with an
additional day after 2 and 5 years.
* Pension: 7% employer pension contribution.
Other Benefits:
* Cycle to Work scheme.
* Climate Perks (extra annual leave for staff who choose low-carbon holiday
travel).
Application process
If you need specific support to fully engage in the recruitment process, or would like an
informal conversation about the role or organisation before applying, please email Lisa West
(l.west@communityenergyengland.org).
Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.
To apply, send the following documents to Lisa West
(l.west@communityenergyengland.org):
1. CV (no more than 2 pages)
2. Covering letter of no more than 3 pages clearly demonstrating why you are interested
in this role, and how you meet the “About you” criteria.
The closing date for applications will be 9am, Tuesday 25th June. Late submissions will not be
considered. All applications will be acknowledged, but only shortlisted candidates will be given
feedback. Interviews will likely take place online w/c 8th July.
