Job title: Non-Executive director (representing the interests of energy suppliers)

Time commitment: Preparation for and attendance at 6 Board meetings per year, the AGM, plus ad hoc supporting work. The total estimated time commitment is 1 day per month (average)

Remuneration: £500 per month plus reasonable expenses

Term: 2 years

Requirements: You must be an employee of an energy supplier or nominated by one to be considered for this position

Deadline: 11th October, 2024

Interviews: 17th October, 2024 (am)

Purpose of the job

Smart Energy GB is in an important phase of its life to support the rollout of smart meters to all homes and small businesses in the country.  It is working to complete this goal by 2025.  The Board oversees the development and implementation of the company’s strategy to meet this objective.

Smart Energy GB’s operations are focused on encouraging domestic consumers and microbusinesses to get a smart meter.  It also has a responsibility to increase the willingness of consumers to change their behaviour to enable them to more effectively and efficiently manage their consumption of energy. There is also a requirement that we communicate with customers in vulnerable circumstances to ensure they are aware of and understand the benefits of smart meters while assisting them to realise the benefits of smart meters.

All non-executive directors serve as full directors of the company in an individual capacity.  Consequently, they have a legal responsibility to exercise independent judgement and in all their actions as a non-executive director act in the best interests of Smart Energy GB and support the company in meeting its objectives.

Directors need to familiarise themselves with the full description of Smart Energy GB’s objectives, and the other requirements regarding the governance of the organisation which are set out in the supplier licences and in the company’s articles of association. 

The role of the board is to oversee the direction and outputs of the organisation.  It meets 6 times a year to oversee the development of the strategy and the in-year performance against it. It works closely with the executive team who manages the company’s day-to-day operations.

Key tasks and responsibilities:

• To prepare for Board meetings by reading papers provided in advance, and participate in discussions and decision making.
• To participate in the Board’s scrutiny of, and support for, the development of the annual business plan and budget
• Ensure that the company is using its reasonable endeavours to deliver on the results targeted in the Performance Management Framework (the document that details the metrics and targets that the organisation must meet) and doing so in a way that is most consistent with the objectives of the company as set out in the supplier licences and the company’s articles of association
• To be able to explain and support the Board’s collective decisions when discussing the activities of Smart Energy GB with stakeholders
• To attend the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) and, under instruction from the Chair of the Board, support the Chair of the Board and the Chair of Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) in their presentations to members
• To be responsible as a director to ensure that the Board meets all legal requirements of a limited company and is in full compliance with the company’s governing documents
• As a director to ensure the company has robust and reliable risk management and financial control processes in operation and is able to produce reliable audited annual accounts in a timely manner.
• To participate in any Board sub-committees (e.g. remuneration committee, ARC committee), at the request of the Chair and/or the Board
• To be available to provide ad hoc advice to the management team, on request, between Board meetings
• To ensure at all times any conflict of interest is avoided and to act and advise in the best interests of the company.

If invited to be a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, you will be expected to:

• To familiarise yourself with the Audit and Risk Committee’s terms of reference which contains details on the proceedings of the committee
• Attend circa 4 meetings a year (held at Smart Energy GB’s offices in central London)
• Read papers in advance of each meeting and contribute to the proceedings of the meeting

In addition to the above, a non-executive director representing the interest of energy suppliers, is required to Chair the two advisory sub-committees to the Board, which shall be tasked with developing the Performance Management Framework (one for domestic, one for non-domestic) as well as other duties as the Board sees fit.  The chair of these sub-committees will receive additional remuneration for this responsibility.

Skills, experience, and competencies:

• To be an employee of an energy supplier or nominated by one (required)
• A demonstrable understanding of, and commitment to, the delivery of smart meters and their benefits to British consumers
• An appreciation of Smart Energy GB’s role and responsibilities and its liaison with stakeholders across the smart meter implementation programme
• The ability to contribute to the Board’s oversight of for Smart Energy GB’s consumer engagement activities; probing and constructively challenging the executive management team on their reports to the board and in the performance of their responsibilities; and offering positive support where appropriate
• The ability to contribute constructively to the Board’s scrutiny and agreement of Smart Energy GB’s annual plans, and delivery against those plans
• It is expected that the ability to provide effective oversight of Smart Energy GB’s activities will include experience in some of the following areas of expertise: marketing and communication, smart metering (domestic and/or non-domestic), behaviour change, engagement with consumers in vulnerable circumstances and other areas relevant to overseeing the work of the company
• The ability to interrogate annual budgets and the ongoing financial management thereof to ensure good value for money is achieved across the organisation
• An active interest in, and knowledge of, good practice governance arrangements and the role of a non-executive Board
• Excellent communication skills (verbal/writing)
• A demonstrable commitment to supporting the delivery of our work to the full diversity of communities and people around Great Britain, including those in vulnerable circumstances
• Appreciation of the objectives and activities of Smart Energy GB

Please note that Board meetings are currently scheduled for:

• 26^th November 2024 (pm)
• 5^th February 2025 (am)
• 12^th March 2025 (am)
• 7^th May 2025 (am)
• 9^th July 2025 (am)
• 24^th September 2025 (am)
• 12^th November 2025 (am)

Welcome to Smart Energy GB. It’s our task to engage everyone in England Scotland and Wales with the national rollout of smart meters - and we are all thrilled to have this once-in-a-career chance to communicate with the whole of our diverse nation.

Every British home and microbusiness has the opportunity to upgrade to new gas and electricity smart meters, which will utterly transform the way we all buy and use energy and pave the way to a smarter, more energy efficient future. It’s one of the biggest technological and infrastructural investments of our time, the smart meter rollout has already converted just over 50 per cent of British households. The goal for this voluntary technological upgrade is to engage every household in Great Britain, and so there is a continuing critical role for Smart Energy GB in the years ahead (government has recently indicated that Smart Energy GB’s campaign should continue until at least 2025, and potentially beyond).

Our campaign is one of the most far-reaching of any campaign in the country. We are talking to consumers from all backgrounds, across the whole of Great Britain. Our legal duties mean that we have a particular need to make sure that consumers who are harder to reach or need greater support are not left behind (already an important part of our responsibilities and likely to be an increasing focus over the period leading to 2025).

It’s an exciting time to join one of the most talented and creative teams in the country. We have an exciting mission, and we pride ourselves on having a fully inclusive working environment.

We love what we do. We are flexible, eager to learn and hugely motivated by this chance to be part of one of the biggest-ever behaviour change campaigns, which brings with it benefits for both individual households and the environment.

We’re looking forward to meeting you, and hope you’ll be as fired up about the challenge ahead as we are.

The Smart Energy GB team

Smart Energy GB is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We use data to measure the effectiveness of our attraction and selection methods to ensure that they are fair and equitable and that opportunities at Smart Energy GB are accessible to people from all backgrounds.

We actively encourage applications from currently under-represented groups. We have identified ethnic minority, lower socio-economic background, disability and gender as the key areas we would like to focus our recruitment efforts in.

What do we do at Smart Energy GB to promote diversity and inclusion?

Every person who applies for a role at Smart Energy GB is asked to complete a diversity questionnaire and they are asked whether or not they consent to their diversity data being taken into consideration at the shortlisting stage.

Disability Confident Scheme

We have the Disability Confident Leader status and we are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive and fair as possible for all applicants. Disability Confident is a government scheme designed to help us make the most of the talents of those with disabilities and/or health conditions in the workplace.

All disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements of the job as set out in the job description and person specification will be guaranteed an interview. If there’s anything we can do to make our interview process or working environment more inclusive and to meet your particular needs please let us know. Our offices have full wheelchair access.

We consider our commitment to the Disability Confident scheme in many aspects of our work life, including our offices. We moved to a new London office in September 2021, and having an accessible layout was a high priority in this search.

All In Champions

We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels like they belong. That’s why we’re proud to be one of the first organisations awarded All In Champion status, as part of the Advertising Association, ISBA and IPA’s initiative. To achieve this, we provided evidence that we have adopted the first six actions from the All In Action Plan – improving the experience and representation of:

• Black talent
• Disabled talent
• Working-class talent
• Women
• Asian talent
• Older talent

You can read more about how to become an All In Champion and what it means here.

Rooney Rule

We are building a team that is able to understand the needs of and effectively communicate with the whole of our diverse nation. We want our team to reflect the diversity of the wider population. This includes the representation of people from ethnic minorities and lower socio-economic backgrounds. We apply the Rooney Rule to achieve this.

Subject to consent, out of the candidates who meet the essential selection criteria for the role and who are from ethnic minority or lower socio-economic backgrounds, at least one will be shortlisted for the next stage in the recruitment process, which is usually an interview.