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JOB SUMMARY – Community Energy Co-ordinator

Part-time, flexible, £29,812 per annum pro rata

Fixed term until Summer 2026

 

 

Whitley Bay Big Local (WBBL) is a community led charity, which aims to reduce loneliness, tackle financial disadvantage and take action locally to tackle global climate concerns. The charity operates from a three-storey building in Whitley Bay. The ground floor is made up of a community cafe and shop, with room hire, meeting rooms and activity spaces on the upper floors.

 

The Community Energy Co-ordinator role is a new role for Whitley Bay Big Local. The successful candidate will take a lead role in engaging local people as well as running information events, pop up energy cafes and other similar projects to engage local people in energy conversations.

 

One of the key tasks for the Community Energy Co-ordinator will be to lead Whitley Bay Big local’s participation in a Northern Powergrid funded community energy trial. Over the next 18 months the project will develop and trial approaches to enable communities to work with Northern Powergrid as their local electricity network operator to deploy Smart Local Energy Systems, whilst building resilience and capacity for vital local electricity networks. To succeed in this role you will need to be a great people person as well as a passionate and experienced energy champion.

 

Our goal is to include everyone, across our trial community – roughly 400 properties including homes, businesses and other energy users connected to the same sub-station in Whitley Bay. We want to understand how people interact with the energy system and tackle the societal challenges of changing consumers behaviours, so that they become more flexible. 

 

The role is advertised as part-time, flexible. We anticipate the role being a minimum of 20 hours per week, with the potential for this to grow, subject to funding and the demands of the role.

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JOB DESCRIPTION

 

JOB TITLE

Community Energy Co-ordinator

SALARY

£29,812 pro rata

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REPORTS TO

Chief Executive

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LOCATION

Whitley Bay, North Tyneside

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TERMS & CONDITIONS

Part-time, flexible, minimum 20 hours per week

 

 KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

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Engaging local Households:

• Recruit trial energy community members by developing and delivering a communications strategy for all properties connected to the Whitley South trial substation.

• Sign up trial energy community members as trial participants through promotion of financial and other incentives

• Develop and deliver sessions at the hub to engage local people in conversations about local energy systems

• Provide energy advice and support properties connected to the trial substation to facilitate implementation of low carbon technologies

• Evaluate numbers of participants and agree shape of engagements in the trials

• Gather timely feedback from participants to refine trials to achieve overall objectives

• Liaise with trial participants throughout the trial to ensure high levels of satisfaction and engagement

• Feedback any areas of concern to enable timely redress

 

Representation:

• Representing Whitley Bay Big Local at relevant meetings

• Attending training and other meetings in person and online as required

• Liaising and reporting with stakeholders

 

Reporting:

• Maintaining confidential records of all participants

• Completing progress reports and evaluation as required

 

Financial:

• Maintain a budget for the programme and complete financial reporting as required by the partnership

• Identify opportunities for additional or complimentary funding and support CE to apply

• Identify and develop opportunities for sustainable income generation or trading

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PERSON SPEC:

This role would suit a person with:

• A strong commitment to environmental sustainability. Genuine interest in the latest trends and advancements in energy management

• Confidence and resilience

• Ability to inspire and motivate local people to take action

• A proactive approach to identifying opportunities for the community to reduce energy use

• Willingness to understand and promote different technologies to understand and manage energy use

• High ethical standards and integrity in all professional dealings.

 

 

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

• The duties and responsibilities in this job description are not exhaustive. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties that may be required from time to time within the general scope of the post.

• Duties and responsibilities outside of the general scope of this grade of post will be with the consent of the post holder. 

• The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the company’s Equal Opportunities Policies

• A commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults, and reporting any concerns.

 

 

TO APPLY:

• The closing date for applications is Friday 21 March. Interviews will be held in the first week of April.

• For an informal discussion about the role, contact David Carnaffan on 0191 2523570 or by email david.carnaffan@whitleybaybiglocal.org

• To apply, send a letter of application and a copy of your CV to david.carnaffan@whitleybaybiglocal.org . Include a brief outline of the reasons you’re interested in the role, and how you meet the requirements in the person specification. Where possible, use specific examples from your professional experience to highlight your experience.