Research & Innovation Manager (Automation)

Join us, be part of more. We're so much more than an energy company. We're a family of brands revolutionising how we power the planet. We're energisers. One team of 21,000 colleagues that's energising a greener, fairer future by creating an energy system that doesn't rely on fossil fuels, whilst living our powerful commitment to igniting positive change in our communities. Here, you can find more purpose, more passion, and more potential. That's why working here is #MoreThanACareer. We do energy differently - we do it all. We make it, store it, move it, sell it, and mend it.

Energised Futures is Centrica's in-house science, research and innovation incubator, established to systematically explore the possible and catalyse Centrica's purpose of energising a greener, fairer future. To do this, we've built a dynamic and diverse team of researchers to perform cutting edge innovation across its core themes of flexibility, automation, connectivity, markets, engagement, and access, and pairing this with a strong support team to publish and promote research activities, engage with other research institutions and energy innovators, and grow our portfolio of activities.

The Role: Our Research and Innovation Managers lead and mentor teams of research professionals, oversee highly technical projects, and own the strategy and roadmap for their area, ensuring alignment with the company's strategic objectives. The Automation theme covers all methods and technology that bring digitisation and optimisation of energy to scale using complex algorithms based on data science, machine learning, and the full spectrum of AI techniques (e.g. generative, agentic, etc).

Specifically, the role entails:

• Leading and developing a team of research engineers
• Ensuring reliable delivery of high-quality research and innovation outputs
• Owning the Energised Futures' strategy around the automation pillar
• Collaborating and engaging with stakeholders, both across Centrica, the energy industry, startups and academia
• Supporting the wider business to adopt and deploy our outputs to maximise our impact
• Monitor and engage with industry and academia by engaging with conferences and journals

The ideal candidate: An adaptable, experienced data scientist or machine learning expert that wants to tackle complex challenges and push the state of the art for automation in the energy sector. Of course, we're also adaptable - if you think you'd be a good fit but don't have all of this then we'd still love to hear from you!

Key skills and experiences:

• 5+ years experience designing complex statistical algorithms or machine learning models: A PhD plus 2 or more years or a master's degree plus 4 or more years of research or equivalent industry experience in a domain such as Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Control Systems, or a related field
• Experience across a spectrum of libraries, frameworks and services: such as ML libraries e.g. TensorFlow or PyTorch; model servers such as AWS Bedrock; MLOps such as ML Flow or Sagemaker; agent / AI orchestration such as LangGraph or MCP libraries
• Strong programming skills, especially in Python (other languages like C++, Scala, Rust etc are bonuses). Practical experience implementing and deploying using various techniques including for (deep) supervised / unsupervised / reinforcement learning problems
• Strong mathematical skills and analytical mindset
• Energy industry knowledge is strongly preferred e.g. smart energy technologies and energy management, and connectivity challenges, energy markets and trading techniques, regulatory constraints and processes, etc

And key behaviours and competences:

• An adaptable growth mindset: Curiosity and a desire to learn and develop beyond current expertise. Proactive, creative, and collaborative approach to problem-solving, especially in the ambiguous, uncertain world of innovation
• Strong sense of ownership: taking initiative and being accountable for your work and the wider team
• Interpersonal skills: working effectively with in cross-functional teams
• Technical communication: e.g. in discussing and explaining technical concepts such as machine learning, energy systems, hardware control, and IoT devices
• Ethical integrity: Upholds high ethical standards in all research and innovation activities, striving for transparency and openness in all interactions

What we offer:

• An attractive salary and compensation package
• A highly competitive set of additional benefits, the exact nature of which will depend on being based in the UK or Belgium
• A very flexible hybrid working pattern - we get together twice a week in the office, but are generally quite flexible, especially if it relates to external factors, e.g. family situation
• Join a high potential and fast-growing energy technology company
• A high calibre team, where your creative input will have a high impact. We embrace diversity and actively seek to attract individuals with unique backgrounds and perspectives. To build a more sustainable future, we need the best team - a team with a diverse mix of people and skills, where everyone feels welcome and able to succeed. We are not looking for people to fit into our culture but to add to it!
• Contribute to a greener, fairer future for all, driving a responsible but rapid decarbonisation of energy

Why should you apply? We're not a perfect place - but we're a people place. Our priority is supporting all of the different realities our people face. Life is about so much more than work. We get it. That's why we've designed our total rewards to give you the flexibility to choose what you need, when you need it, making sure that you and your family are supported not only financially, but physically and emotionally too.

If you're full of energy, fired up about sustainability, and ready to craft not only a better tomorrow, but a better you, then come and find your purpose in a team where your voice matters, your growth is non-negotiable, and your ambitions are our priority.