Sustainability and Utilities Officer

Welwyn Garden City, East of England, AL7 1HE : Birmingham, West Midlands (England), B3 1AQ : Worthing, South East England, BN11 1LD : Bristol, South West England, BS1 5AH : Workington, North West England, CA14 2DD : Carlisle, North West England, CA3 8DX : Cambridge, East of England, CB2 2DR : Cardiff, Wales, CF14 7YU : Chelmsford, East of England, CM2 5PF : Crewe, North West England, CW1 6GJ : Blandford Forum, South West England, DT11 8ST : Exeter, South West England, EX2 7LQ : Lincoln, East Midlands (England), LN2 4DW : Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humber, LS11 9AT : Manchester, North West England, M4 3AQ : Maidstone, South East England, ME16 0LU : Wrotham Heath, South East England, ME19 5SH : Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, NE4 7AR : Alnwick, North East England, NE66 2PF : West Bridgford, East Midlands (England), NG2 5FA : Kettering, East Midlands (England), NN15 6JQ : Norwich, East of England, NR3 1UB : Lowestoft, East of England, NR33 0HT : Oxford, South East England, OX2 0AX : Peterborough, East of England, PE1 1NG : Peterborough, East of England, PE2 8YY : Brampton, East of England, PE28 4NE : Bodmin, South West England, PL31 1EB : Reading, South East England, RG1 1AR : Rotherham, Yorkshire and the Humber, S60 1BY : Sheffield, Yorkshire and the Humber, S9 4WF : Carmarthen, Wales, SA31 2NF : Romsey, South East England, SO51 8DU : City of Westminster, London (region), SW1P 4DF : Shrewsbury, West Midlands (England), SY3 8BB : Bridgwater, South West England, TA6 4YS : Threemilestone, South West England, TR4 9NY : Warrington, North West England, WA4 1HT : Worcester, West Midlands (England), WR5 2NP : York, Yorkshire and the Humber, YO1 7PX Job Summary As a key member of the Property Sustainability and Energy team, you will assist in a range of activities to ensure the provision and payment of utilities (inc. gas, electric, water) for Defra Group and Environment Agency Properties. This Will Include: Collating invoices, working with colleagues to arrange payment of c.£3m of energy bills per month Updating data sheets to reflect changes in property ownership/ utility meter Allocation and distribution of costs between sites Driving efficiencies in our team processes, including through the use of AI/CoPilot. Reporting performance on the Greening Government Commitments (government sustainability targets) Assistance in wider sustainability, energy efficiency and resilience projects as required Job Description The Property Sustainability & Energy team reports to Defra’s Chief Sustainability Officer and is part of the Centre for Environmental Resilience and Efficiency in Government (CEREG). Collectively, we are responsible for driving positive environmental change within Defra, including energy management, decarbonisation, nature recovery and climate change adaptation. As a key member of the Property Sustainability and Energy team, you will assist in a range of activities to ensure the provision and payment of utilities (inc. gas, electric, water) for Defra Group and Environment Agency Properties. This Is Likely To Include: Collating invoices, arranging payment of c.£3m of energy bills per month Updating data sheets to reflect changes in property ownership/ utility meter Allocation and distribution of costs between sites Driving efficiencies in our processes, including through the use of AI/CoPilot. Reporting performance on the Greening Government Commitments (government sustainability targets) Assistance in wider sustainability, energy efficiency and resilience projects as required. You will be part of an immediate team of 7-8 people, working together to deliver our goals. The wider CEREG team has around 35 FTE. Our team are passionate about our work, investing in our people to increase capability and professionalism in Environmental Sustainability (and related fields). The Property Sustainability & Energy team reports to Defra’s Chief Sustainability Officer and is part of the Centre for Environmental Resilience and Efficiency in Government (CEREG). Collectively, we are responsible for driving positive environmental change within Defra, including energy management, decarbonisation, nature recovery and climate change adaptation. As a key member of the Property Sustainability and Energy team, you will assist in a range of activities to ensure the provision and payment of utilities (inc. gas, electric, water) for Defra Group and Environment Agency Properties. This Is Likely To Include: Collating invoices, arranging payment of c.£3m of energy bills per month Updating data sheets to reflect changes in property ownership/ utility meter Allocation and distribution of costs between sites Driving efficiencies in our processes, including through the use of AI/CoPilot. Reporting performance on the Greening Government Commitments (government sustainability targets) Assistance in wider sustainability, energy efficiency and resilience projects as required. You will be part of an immediate team of 7-8 people, working together to deliver our goals. The wider CEREG team has around 35 FTE. Our team are passionate about our work, investing in our people to increase capability and professionalism in Environmental Sustainability (and related fields). Person specification Experience of data management/ interpretation, Excel, Power-BI, or similar. Excellent written, IT based professional and verbal communication skills. Experience with managing large data sets Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Managing a Quality Service Delivering at Pace Communicating and Influencing Making Effective Decisions We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Managing a Quality Service Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Making decisions/recommendations using data Alongside your salary of £30,681, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £8,888 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window). Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Flexi Time Policy. Our Flexi-time policy allows you to vary your hours from day to day, within the requirements of your role, to suit your needs and to offer a better work/life balance. Leave . If you work full time at Defra you are entitled to 25 days’ leave (rising, over 5 years, to 30 days’). If you work part time it will be pro-rated. Privilege day . You are also entitled to a privilege day off in May to mark the King’s birthday (date varies), plus time off for the 8 public holidays a year. Career breaks . We recognise that your work-life balance can extend beyond the short-term to the longer-term, and to support this you are able to apply for career breaks. These are unpaid extended breaks from work, granted at the discretion of the department. Volunteering leave - 3 days paid volunteering leave every year (pro-rata). Once you have passed probation. Season ticket loan – for an interest free season ticket loan, if you have worked within the Defra for more than three months. This can be used to purchase train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking. Tenancy deposit loan – for an interest free loan, to assist you in meeting the deposit costs for your privately rented home. Salary advances and loans for other circumstances – for salary advances and loans in the following circumstances: for new entrants, for the purchase of bicycles, holidays and religious holidays. Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme – Since the closure to new entrants of the employer childcare voucher scheme, the government introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. In this scheme, working parents open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Support to buy a bicycle – we run two schemes that can help you buy a bicycle for your commute: The Cycle to Work Scheme –you can apply for a bicycle for your commute, up to the value of £6,000, which is recovered from you through salary sacrifice, as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the repayment period, you have the option to buy the bike if you wish, saving around 30% of the original cost. Bike loan – if you are not eligible to apply for the Cycle to Work Scheme, you can apply for a loan of up to £1,000 towards the cost of a bike using the Bike loan scheme. This however is not a salary sacrifice scheme. High-street and online discounts . Offers through SmartSpending™ which is accessed through the StaR platform. Accessible 24/7, you can save at hundreds of top retailers. Maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave . We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave – a total of 52 weeks leave to look after your new baby, regardless of your length of service. Most mothers are entitled to 39 weeks of paid leave, and a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. Most partners are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave. Shared parental leave arrangements are in place, allowing parents to divide their leave with each other. Professional Membership . Defra group will fund one professional membership for each permanent employee which is relevant to their role. Eye care scheme . If you use a computer screen in connection with your job, we will pay for a regular eyesight test, and you may also be entitled to help towards purchasing new glasses, if they are needed for computer use. The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free 24/7 confidential telephone advice service, available to all of our staff throughout the year. Civil Service Sports Council . The opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council. Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills. As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement, & behaviour statements. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Sift Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted on the lead behaviour Managing a Quality Service. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview. Sifting will take place 5th/6th November Interview If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on behaviours, technical skills and strengths. Interviews are currently scheduled to take place w/c 16th November but may be subject to change. A presentation or other assessment may be used. Near miss Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Defra which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match. Location As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent p