Senior / Principal Consultant – Clean Energy Infrastructure

Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world. Ricardo plc is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and employing close to 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional levels of expertise in delivering leading-edge and innovative cross-sector sustainable products and solutions. Every day, we enable our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world.

The Energy Infrastructure Transition Practice carries out projects on behalf of a mixture of private organisations, industry associations and public sector clients, to help them transition their energy infrastructure towards a future-proofed, net-zero future.

Infrastructure Implementation

This role will contribute to our expanding portfolio of projects which aim to enable large energy users and energy hubs to transition energy infrastructure for the future, including power demand and generation and clean fuel transition. Sites might include maritime, rail and other bulk transport, industrial users, communities etc. We also work with power utilities and industry stakeholders to deliver network innovation via designing and implementing trials, conducting research and analysis (including power systems analysis and technoeconomic modelling), and delivering programme management, and industry stakeholder engagement. This involves, for example, assessing the constraints and opportunities for decarbonisation with a given client context, and considering the grid related impacts and pathways that may exist. Recent examples include investigating the intersection between rail and power systems, and analysing how to expedite renewable and low-carbon fuels and technologies for maritime clients, including the development of a digital tool.

Technical Services to utilities and industry

In addition, the team supports utilities with technical services in generation connection compliance (Power Quality assessments) and conducts reviews of technical standards for industry association stakeholders. Demonstrating both technical expertise and interpersonal, customer-facing strengths, you will play a key part in the team activities, including providing technical leadership and excellence within the delivery team, as well as supporting business development activities such as project ideation, bidding for public tenders, and customer facing presentations. You will have the opportunity to work across a range of projects and with different clients, industries and locations. You'll join a team helping clients to assess, design and implement technical solutions, effective strategies and roadmaps to decarbonise energy infrastructure and power systems all over the world, and there will be need to support these wider projects as the business unit develops.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to developing and delivering our growing portfolio of clean energy infrastructure projects.
• Working on behalf of a mixture of private organisations, industry associations and public sector clients, deliver time sensitive technical analysis to an excellent standard.
• This involves working within teams to achieve client satisfaction, timely delivery, strong project financial performance and high quality technical outputs.
• Project management and task lead for projects within the Clean Energy Infrastructure field as part of consultancy business in line with processes and governance, working in a matrix team environment.
• This includes project team mobilisation and leadership, project governance, technical and financial reporting, client liaison, and technical quality assurance.
• Contribution to wider energy infrastructure transition projects, supported by expert consultants within the wider team.
• Lead the development of technical proposals within the energy sector with ad hoc support across the wider team.

Client Relationships & Thought Leadership

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities.
• Develop and maintain strong client relationships and networks, though project delivery as well as through sector networking.
• Support key account management to maintain and grow client relationships.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of sector technology developments, trends, challenges and regulations.
• Provide thought leadership on energy infrastructure transition topics and trends, including where possible at industry events.

Additional/special features of the role

Some domestic and/or international travel may be required, for example for project meetings, sector conferences etc.

Essential Skills and qualifications

• Degree level or higher in a related discipline such as electrical engineering, renewable energy, energy transition (supported by technical/infrastructure experience), sustainable infrastructure or power systems.
• Demonstrable expertise and experience of technical delivery in the renewables and/or power sector, with particular interest in energy (including power and/or fuels) infrastructure, or project implementation.
• Experience in consultancy, or demonstrable experience and skills relevant to delivery of consultancy projects.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in order to work with a multidisciplinary team located across multiple geographies.
• Confidence presenting to a variety of audiences, including to senior customer representatives.
• Excellent time management with the ability to juggle time across multiple projects and prioritise deadlines seamlessly.
• Fluency in English and excellent reporting writing skills.
• Experience in managing complex consultancy or implementation projects.
• Experience in building projects and securing new work, via proactive business engagement, and/or via bidding for tenders.
• Ability to utilise existing sector contacts to support new opportunities and build trust-based relationships with clients and potential partners.
• Familiarity with technical analysis methods and tools including Cost Benefit Analysis, quantitative scenarios and modelling.
• Experience with renewable energy systems, and/or smart port technologies is highly desirable.
• Fluency in other languages (particularly Spanish or other European languages) is a bonus but not essential.

Working here

You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place. We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.

Work life balance

We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential.

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach. We value diversity; recognising that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment. Diversity also drives innovation, by allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service that we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees to ensure an inclusive culture, we are recognised as a 'disability confident' employer.

Benefits

We want you to know how much you are valued. Your remuneration and benefits package will reflect that. You will receive a range of benefits which include support for your physical and mental health.

Next steps

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date. Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via recruit@ricardo.com if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.