About the job

Summary

Our Mission

At BEIS, we are leading the UK’s recovery from coronavirus and are building a stronger, greener country. Our varied work makes a real difference to people across the UK and internationally. This is a fantastic opportunity to become part of the BEIS team and our exciting mission!

We lead on the UK’s commitments to tackle climate change and drive green economic growth. We support businesses to create jobs and increase opportunity in regions across the UK. We also encourage investment and innovation to make the UK a science superpower producing research that will improve lives.

Our Inclusive Environment

We are building an inclusive culture to make BEIS a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, not only because we believe it is the right thing to do, but because it will help us be more innovative and make better decisions.

We offer first-class flexible working benefits, excellent employee well-being support and a great pension. We are fortunate to have a range of excellent staff networks and are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We will support talented people from all backgrounds to build a career and thrive.

We actively welcome applications from anyone who shares our commitment to inclusion. We will fully support candidates with a disability or long-term condition who require adjustments in our recruitment process.

Job description

BEIS’ Climate Science Team sits within the Science and Innovation for Climate and Energy (SICE) Directorate. The team is responsible for providing scientific advice on issues including the climate system, climate risks, bioenergy and greenhouse gas emissions in support of BEIS' international and domestic policy.

We are looking for a knowledgeable and motivated scientist to provide analysis and advice on greenhouse gas removals, and to work with the Greenhouse Gas Inventory team to support their work on estimating UK emissions. This work will support both UK efforts to reach net zero, and broader global climate action. The successful candidate will provide advice to Government on a wide range of zero-carbon technologies - both engineered and nature-based. This will include establishing the risks and co-benefits of different approaches, and their potential contribution to net-zero targets. You will work closely with policy colleagues in BEIS and other government departments, and also with the academic community.

BEIS is a modern and diverse workplace, committed to promoting and ensuring equality and valuing diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We are an equal opportunity employer, welcoming applications from scientists from any background, and we value diversity. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process. Please see the 'Reasonable Adjustment' section below for further details. We offer excellent employee benefits, including specialist pay to reflect your scientific skills and expertise. We champion work-life balance, which makes our team an excellent one to work in! This role is an excellent opportunity to have an impact on UK and international climate policy. We look forward to hearing from you!

Responsibilities

- Following developments in the latest scientific understanding of greenhouse gas removals and solar radiation management, and maintaining our knowledge management system so that this understanding is readily accessible to those colleagues who need it.

- Providing scientific support to teams developing greenhouse gas removal policy, critically reviewing diverse sources of information and explaining complex scientific information in forms suitable for non-scientists.

- Drafting responses to official correspondence, Ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information requests.

- Working with other scientists to support the development of an improved inventory, fit for net-zero.

- Identifying gaps in the evidence base and providing guidance to the scientific community on policy-relevant research needs.

- Contributing to the UK’s contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. You will review draft report text and summaries for policy makers, and shape the future work programme.

Skills & Experience

We would love to hear from you if you have a natural science degree and a relevant post-graduate degree or equivalent work experience.

You will have an understanding of climate science and particularly climate change mitigation options and the drivers of greenhouse gas emissions.

You need to be able to critically appraise the claims of a broad range of stakeholders, and have demonstrated experience of presenting technical information to non-specialists in both oral and written form.

You will organise your time efficiently and will be able to work flexibly and independently on various pieces of work.

Technical Skill

1. Applying scientific knowledge assessed at interview

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-science-and-engineering-career-framework

Will be able to provide evidence of, while working in a scientific setting, experience of:

• A commitment to professional development by continuing to advance knowledge, understanding and competence

• Use of specialist knowledge and broader understanding

• Exercising judgement in the absence of complete information

• Critical evaluation and generation of original solutions

Qualifications

Natural or physical science degree (minimum of 2:1 unless a relevant post-graduate degree is held) AND a relevant post-graduate degree or equivalent work experience (minimum two to three years).

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Applying scientific knowledge