Head of Capacity Building

Head of Capacity Building

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 opportunities, and supporting our annual State of the Sector research.
• 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
([email protected]).

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

To apply, send the following documents to Lisa West  ([email protected]):

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.