Policy Researcher

Location: Blended between office and home (England and Wales). Time in office negotiable

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

We are recruiting for two Policy Researchers to join our energy team. This is an exciting opportunity to work on one of the biggest issues facing people across the UK today - within a dynamic organisation with a relentless focus on fixing the underlying causes of people’s problems.

You’ll be joining a team that gets to the heart of complex challenges facing energy markets and the energy system, at a time when the industry is reacting to the challenge of net zero and supporting people through the cost-of-living crisis.

One of these roles sits within the Net Zero Homes sub-team. The government’s target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 requires changes both to our homes and the energy market more widely. We’re advocating for a net zero transition that is fair and inclusive for all consumers.

We want to see consumers benefit through cheaper bills, warmer homes and to ensure that people are protected from any risks while we transition to a net zero energy system. This includes pushing for the enforcement of Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the Private Rented sector, a simple and effective set of protections for consumers upgrading their homes with insulation and low-carbon technologies and ensuring consumers can access independent advice about their rights.

You’ll join us at the start of a new Government, where we’re positioning ourselves as a trusted voice on how to ensure the net zero transition works for consumers.

One of the roles is in our energy retail team. In recent years consumers have been rocked by rising energy bills and the failure of multiple energy suppliers. Looking ahead, the transition to net zero will see new types of products and services emerge, carrying with them new opportunities and risks. Citizens Advice is helping to shape the narrative and expanding our work to advocate for domestic and small business consumers.

Our recent research has looked at solutions to the energy affordability crisis, options for making the retail market work better, and highlighted the injustices faced by customers on prepayment meters. We’re looking for a Policy Researcher to help us develop our insight and find solutions to complex, important issues like these.

You’ll use a wide range of research methods and create outputs including blogs, reports, presentations and events to influence policymakers and stakeholders.

The data and insight we gather helping millions of people across the UK and our strong brand will give you unique opportunities to engage with those who have the power to make change. You will feed into our work influencing parliamentarians, the civil service, regulators and industry and you will work closely with our world-class news, campaigns, public affairs, and data teams.

We welcome applicants from a wide-range of career backgrounds, not just those with policy experience. We are looking for exceptional individuals with strong research, analytical and communication skills who have the curiosity and ambition to achieve real change on behalf of our clients and consumers.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives from debt to evictions to trouble at work and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

If you are interested in applying please demonstrate the following criteria in your cv and covering letter:

• Excellent experience of research methodologies and their application in situations when resources are limited.
• Good ability to think creatively and pragmatically about policy at both big picture and detailed implementation levels to identify authentic and empowering solutions.
• Understanding of what really makes decision makers change policy and practice, using both formal and informal routes.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service.

Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ+ people and disabled people. We follow the social model of disability. We will offer an interview to disabled candidates who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident Interview Commitment where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

We’re a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who’d prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance, many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home we’re open to being flexible on location, occasionally a role may require you to be based in a certain location if that's the case it will be detailed in the advert or job description. This can be discussed in more detail during your interview.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds, therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales.

Our commitment to colleague wellbeing is reflected in us being awarded Gold in the Health & Wellbeing category, as well as Overall Winners, at the Employee Experience Awards 2022.

Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

In the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early.

This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.

For more information about the organisation, our values and benefits please see the following link - Information, values and benefits

Need help with your application, see our useful how to guides on the following page - Guidance notes for applicants