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Digitalisation & Data Engineer

Employer
National Grid Electricity Distribution
Location
Bristol, Castle Donington or Tipton
Salary
£63,508 *Please note in job description
Closing date
25 Sep 2022

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Job Details

About Us

Western Power Distribution is a 6500 strong team of operational and support staff constructing, maintaining, repairing and upgrading the electricity distribution network that serves 7.9 million customers across the Midlands, South Wales and the South West.

We keep the lights on in cities such as Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff and we take power to the furthest reaches of our rural landscape across the Brecon Beacons, Dartmoor and the Peak District.

As owners and operators of one of the largest electricity distribution networks in the UK, we take great care in looking after every element, from underground cables to overhead lines and substations operating from 230V to 132kV.

The UK has a clear commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. This is leading to unprecedented changes in the way customers use, generate, and distribute energy. Digitalisation of the energy system is at the heart of Western Power Distribution’s (WPD) transition to build a smart and efficient energy system. We operate the network for our customers, so it is essential we respond to their changing use of the network and adapt our operations to continue to deliver excellent customer service, reliability, and value for money. At WPD, we are seeing significant increases in distributed renewable forms of generation connecting directly to our network, such as solar, wind, and energy storage along with increasing levels of Low Carbon Technologies (LCT), most prevalently electric vehicles and heat pumps. As a result we are seeing our role as a Distribution Network Operator (DNO) shift to become a Distribution System Operator (DSO) to manage real-time energy flows, and use technology, innovation and commercial arrangements to make optimal use of existing network capacity.

Job Introduction

Moving from today’s analogue system to a modern, digitalised energy system, is a critical step in enabling the UK’s transition to net zero carbon emissions while keeping the lights on for customers. The availability and utilisation of good quality and accessible data is key. This means providing increased access to the right data at the right time within our organisation and through open access to our customers and interested stakeholders

The role of Digitalisation & Data Engineer will be responsible for developing and delivering data driven solutions focussed both internally and externally to meet and exceed the recommendations of the Energy Data Taskforce Report. These will focus on master data improvement and management, driving data insight and operation and ensuring data is presumed open.

Are you passionate about the future of the electricity and wider energy industry?  Are you dedicated to playing an active role in the support the modernisation of the energy industry? Are you excited by the opportunities about driving value from large network datasets?  If so, we’d love you to join us in Western Power Distribution. 

The base location for this position could be Bristol (BS2 0TB), Castle Donington (DE74 2TU), or Tipton (DY4 0HH), however as you would expect with the UK’s largest DNO there is significant business travel required.

As part of our hybrid working approach and in line with our policy, this role allows you to apply for a mix of office and home working. Hybrid working can only be considered once your initial training is complete and subject to business need.

Interviews for this role will be held on Monday 3rd or Tuesday 4th October.

If you are offered a position, you will be required to complete and provide a satisfactory basic DBS check that shows any unspent convictions or conditional cautions.

* Salary progression is available.  Please note the successful candidate may initially be appointed to a lower salary range until all relevant training is complete.

Main Responsibilities

  • Translating data in to value for the business and third parties by identifying and using appropriate analytical techniques, including data improvement and open data access
  • Understanding data governance and ensure solutions are developed and delivered in line with emerging data governance processes
  • Recognising and exploiting business opportunities to ensure more efficient and effective performance of the organisation
  • Producing data models and understand where to use different types of data models
  • Developing and setting data standards for the business, demonstrating the need and value of these standards
  • Designing and maintaining the appropriate metadata repositories to enable the business to better under existing and future datasets
  • Communicating effectively across all WPD business areas and externally, ensuring all required areas are engaged to support and deliver timely and effective project outputs and business improvements
  • Project management activities, aligned to Prince2, such as developing, maintaining, communicating and tracking of project plans, action and risk logs to develop and deliver successful projects.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will have a passion for digitalisation and data and supporting the modernisation of the energy system. They will have experience of delivering and implementing complex and innovative digitalisation projects and advanced solutions in an agile and dynamic manner, with an understanding of the regulatory framework DNOs and other organisations within the sector operate within.

An appetite to challenge the ‘norm’ and do things differently is essential as well as acting as a positive disrupter within our business and the wider industry.

A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject is essential along with:

  • Detailed understanding of standard data structures, models and metadata;
  • Experience of developing and managing Data Catalogues;
  • Understanding and experience of working with relational databases;
  • Detailed understanding of a variety of data systems and IT and OT standards;
  • Knowledge of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and electricity distribution management systems would be advantageous;
  • Experience of delivering data related projects in an agile and dynamic manner;
  • Experience of managing and working with a wide number of third parties;
  • Strong interpersonal skills when dealing with all parties at all levels of seniority;
  • Strong ability to successfully communicate with an ability to present to large and senior audiences;
  • Qualifications in data science, electrical engineering or ICT are ideal;
  • Strong interpersonal skills when dealing with all parties at all levels of seniority;
  • Ability to grasp new and developing topics to deliver optimised business outcomes;
  • Experience in translating detailed technical topics to wider business stakeholders to enable business engagement and change;
  • Experience of developing and working within data governance processes;
  • Significant experience in using the written word to report on activities and articulate delivery outcomes and disseminate successfully;
  • A formal project management qualification is desirable;
  • Willingness to travel extensively throughout our licence areas and wider as required

Company

National Grid Electricity Distribution is the new name for Western Power Distribution. This is a very exciting time to be part of the largest UK electricity transmission and distribution business. We’ve changed our name, but our people and focus on providing great service to customers remains unchanged. We connect 8 million customers across the Midlands, South West England and South Wales and serve a population of over 18 million people. We do this whilst maintaining safety, reliability and excellent customer service.

National Grid employs over 29,000 people worldwide. Our vision is to be at the heart of a clean, fair and affordable energy future and we are doing this in a fast-moving industry with an increasing focus on tackling climate change, exploring new energy sources which are renewable, low carbon, and improve efficiency to meet demand.

We are an equal opportunities employer. Our desire is to bring in more employees from diverse backgrounds to build further on our inclusive culture. We value and celebrate individual difference and we believe that an inclusive culture will help the business grow as a positive, strong and innovative company.

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