Lead Financial Advisor in Cardiff

We are seeking a highly analytical and collaborative finance professional to support Ofgem’s oversight of financial resilience across the retail energy market. In this high-profile role, you will provide clear, evidence-based analysis to inform regulatory decision-making, assessing supplier financial performance, risk reporting and emerging market trends. Working closely with policy, supervision and operational teams, you will evaluate new licence applications, ownership changes and supplier growth, identifying risks and recommending appropriate regulatory responses. You will also deliver targeted analysis for senior stakeholders, support external enquiries and contribute to the continuous improvement of monitoring frameworks, governance and reporting. This is a varied and impactful opportunity for someone who can interpret complex financial information, build strong stakeholder relationships and translate insight into clear, actionable recommendations.

Ofgem has a culture of inclusion that encourages, supports and celebrates the diverse voices and experiences of our colleagues. It fuels our innovation and helps ensure we can best represent the consumers and the communities we serve. Everyone is welcome - as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.

Key Role Responsibilities

• Design tailored financial analysis of regulated entities in order to appraise prospective risks to financial resilience (SLC 4A & 4B). When designing analysis, set out a hypothesis and outline your scope, methodology, data dependencies, findings, conclusion and any next steps/further work. Ensure work is clear, organised and referencable.
• The focus of the tailored financial analysis will be dependent on (but not limited to: retail energy market conditions, licensee forecasting assumptions, licensee behaviour, wider energy market risks.
• Describe and explain the relationship between financial information used to conclude on the findings (and severity) of any risks & impacts to SLC4A & 4B.
• Describe, explain and clearly document the limitations and assumptions used in financial analysis, making these abundantly clear to any decision maker who uses your conclusions to inform any subsequent policy decisions.
• Where possible, identify sensitivities to other variables considered in your analysis.
• Take ownership and responsibility for presenting findings of specific analysis to relevant forums (e.g. FRC Stock take / Policy forum). Convey the implications of a market wide picture of the impacts wherever possible. Document any questions/actions, and ensure these are followed up after the event if not resolvable at the time.
• Where data inconsistencies or quality issues are identified in either RFI data sets, or wider RMIS team outputs – elevate these issues to the responsible owner of these records/outputs, escalating via your line management chain where appropriate.
• Consider whether there are any other suitable datasets (whether internal or external) which may assist in supporting/corroborating any conclusions from your financial analysis. Draw on any such examples to strengthen your evidence basis.

Key Outputs and Deliverables

• Support analysis of qualitative or quantitative data for the purposes of producing evidence for policy advice.
• Assess the reliability and relevance of evidence and give objective advice.
• Support on the review of analytical / financial models, challenge input data and assumptions and interpret output data.
• Ensure that all assumptions are transparently presented with results and that key risks and sensitivities are assessed (caveats/limitations associated with conclusions up front).
• Contribute to producing both internal and external documents specifically presenting or communicating analysis in ways which non-financial colleagues can readily understand.
• Work to mutually agreeable SLAs on a project specific basis, informing the project lead/PMO of any delays in deliverables.

Person specification

• Achieved a CCAB accounting qualification OR CFA Level 2 and (or working towards) Level 3 (Lead)
• Relevant corporate finance, or accountancy work experience demonstratable against the role responsibilities.
• Great quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, along with a proven record of high performance and achievements in past positions.
• Contribute to complex projects and financial data tasks under appropriate supervision, while independently delivering smaller projects or workstreams with minimal oversight, ensuring all outputs are completed to a high standard and on time.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to communicate effectively complex data and analysis to non-expert audiences with the ability to build effective relationships and successfully influence and challenge external stakeholders.
• Evidence of continuous improvement in your work and approach to financial analysis.
• Previous knowledge/experience of the UK energy market.

Qualifications

Fully qualified CCAB OR Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 2, and (or be working towards) Level 3

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• You’ll be asked to complete a technical case study assessment at interview stage