North East and Yorkshire Regional Energy Strategic Planning Lead Job Leeds area,England UK,Engineering

About the Role

In April 2025 the National Energy System Operator (NESO) took on the exciting new role of being the UK’s Regional Energy Strategic Planner. We are responsible for developing 11 Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs) across nine English regions, plus Scotland and Wales. One of the RESP regions is the North East and Yorkshire, encompassing the North East, Tees Valley, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

Our North East and Yorkshire-based team will work with other NESO teams and with organisations at a local level (‘local actors’), including local government and gas and electricity networks, in developing the RESP. The purpose of the North East and Yorkshire Strategic Lead is to lead aspects of developing the North East and Yorkshire RESP.

This role will include a weekly team day in our Leeds office. Some travel will be expected (e.g., to NESO Warwick Office for team workshops or within the region to meet with key stakeholders). We are open to full time and part time applicants, as well as flexible working arrangements.

Key Accountabilities

The Strategic Lead role will be focused on supporting and gaining input from stakeholders in the region. Having an understanding and lived experience of the North East and Yorkshire will be key – as will having complementary energy expertise and experience to allow the North East and Yorkshire team to reflect the nation’s diverse society, environment and energy planning needs.

Role

The role accountabilities will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience, knowledge and interest. We need people that will contribute to or lead on the following accountabilities:

To represent NESO’s national/regional energy planning function at strategic level and deputise for the North East and Yorkshire RESP manager
To engage with specific key regional stakeholders within local government, gas and electricity networks, other local actors and whole energy system stakeholders to understand their views and requirements to ensure that RESP delivers value
To design, support and run workshops and engagement activity with the North East and Yorkshire RESP Strategic Board, working groups and other regional stakeholders to progress the RESP
To implement relevant parts of the RESP methodology in North East and Yorkshire and contribute to continuous development and consultation.
To be the subject matter expert in understanding specific aspects of North East and Yorkshire’s energy system and the interfaces with both internal NESO and external stakeholders
To define and lead on RESP work packages; working in a matrix style structure to ensure work your leading upon is coordinated with other national/regional and hub RESP teams
To produce and deliver clear, concise, short reports and slide packs in progressing the RESP. Ensure that the key messages are relevant, clear, and pitched appropriately for the audience.
To understand, engage and gain required and beneficial inputs from stakeholders in developing the RESP to the prescribed methodology; being able to clearly communicate and propose changes where needed to key assumptions
To create new ways to analyse and present problems and potential solutions, sometimes building on the work and experience of others to quickly develop sufficient understanding of unfamiliar topics in developing the RESP

About You

To deliver RESP requires a diverse team made up of individuals with a wide range of skills and knowledge which are unlikely to be present in a single individual. Key skills and experience we are looking for are:

Experience with in the energy sector, including technical energy knowledge
Experience of communicating with, and influencing, internal and external stakeholders at a range of levels
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Knowledge of energy project development life cycles and the ‘whole energy’ system – with advanced experience in at least one of the energy vectors (gas and/or electricity networks, heat decarbonisation, hydrogen, transport decarbonisation, etc)
Experience of working with or within Local Authorities and/or energy distribution companies, ideally in the North East and…