Senior Researcher (Energy)

The House of Commons is a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system. Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days' annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year).
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• Access to training and development.
• Flexible working.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

The Research and Information team is home to the House of Commons Library and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. We make sure that MPs and their staff have accurate, reliable information at their fingertips. Our mission is to keep trusted information and analysis at the heart of Parliamentary democracy. We also publish our impartial research on our websites, which are viewed around 19 million times a year.

The postholder will work in the Science and Environment Section, which is made up of 12 researchers, in addition to the section head. It is a busy but supportive team to work in. SES briefs MPs and their staff on topics such as energy, climate change, agriculture, flooding, telecommunications, planning, artificial intelligence, science and technology, medicine and public health.

The core work of the role will involve providing briefings for MPs and their staff on energy. The energy portfolio spans a wide range of topics including large scale energy infrastructure, energy efficiency, consumer energy bills, energy trading and markets. Alongside briefing on this core area, the postholder will be expected to cover other related areas as required by business need, with a particular emphasis on planning. The postholder will need to have excellent knowledge of energy policy and legislation. Support and training will be provided to the postholder to build skills and subject knowledge of planning policy if necessary.

The work is often fast paced as we respond to the changing needs of MPs and the demands placed on them. We provide information and briefing to MPs and their staff to support their parliamentary duties. This includes helping MPs' staff with constituency casework and the impact of national policy on constituents.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Research and briefing work on energy policy and legislation within the Commons Library, including providing accurate, impartial, clear, fit-for-purpose written and oral briefings on legislation and topical issues on relevant subjects, in response to specific enquiries from Members and their staff.
• Preparing and publishing new briefing papers as required (e.g., on topical issues, in advance of second reading and report stages of major bills, and on matters of interest to Parliament) and updating them as appropriate. This includes collaborating with colleagues when appropriate and commenting constructively on others' work.
• Supporting the broader work of the Science and Environment Section, which may include research work on any of the subjects covered by the team.

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Excellent knowledge and experience of energy policy and legislation.
• Good knowledge of current affairs and UK public policy.
• Ability to absorb complex, technical material, relevant to a subject quickly, and can analyse, interpret and present it clearly and accurately for a non-specialist.
• Experience of using reliable, accurate and relevant information sources and research tools with the ability to assess their value using sound judgement.
• Ability to explain complex information clearly and succinctly using excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to communicate demonstrating strict political impartiality and authority, and in line with the needs of the audience.
• Ability to deal with a changing portfolio of work or cover for colleagues.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and organise your workload to meet deadlines, and other competing demands.
• Ability to maintain high quality standards whilst working under pressure.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and build and maintain working relationships with a wide range of people.
• Ability to share skills, knowledge and learning with colleagues, with the ability to informally coach others and uphold principles of equality, diversity, inclusion at all times.

If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an application providing evidence against criteria 1-5 in the Job Description. More information on the application process can be found in the Application Support Pack attached. If you are invited to interview, the interview questions will be shared with you in advance.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.

As part of the process, we will be running virtual information sessions on MS Teams for you to find out more about this role and working at Parliament.