An opportunity is available for a secondment for up to 12 months as a Control Support Engineer based at the Castle Donington Control Support Office.

This role is with the Control Operations team within our Asset & Operations directorate.  Our Control Centres are critical to ensuring the safe operation of our electricity networks from 11kV to 132kV, as well as interfaces with other key stakeholders including customers, distributors and transmission businesses.

Working as part of a team, your role will be to ensure that we plan to effectively and safely manage our networks during outages that are required for a variety of reasons.   Liaising with our Field Operations colleagues, you will also ensure that we coordinate requests from different geographical areas and calculate risks and mitigations to safeguard the security of supplies. 

Reporting to the Control Team Manager and working within the Control Support Team, the successful person will receive training and development to undertake Outage Planning and assist with the management of sequential switching programs. The hours of work will be an average of 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday. 

The successful candidate is required to have Grade A-C/4-9 in English and Maths, to have a minimum qualification of Level 3 City & Guilds 2339 (or equivalent) and will be required to undertake studies to gain a BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Electrical  and Electronic Engineering, 

Evidence of your qualifications will be required prior to appointment.

*Please note the successful candidate may initially be appointed at a lower salary until all relevant courses and training are complete.

We’re National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED), the owner and operator behind the electricity distribution systems for the Midlands, the Southwest of England and South Wales. Serving communities of more than 8 million people, our expert teams deliver heat, light and power for homes and businesses.

National Grid employs over 29,000 people worldwide. We are building an inclusive workplace, a place to actively celebrate the cultures, personalities and preferences of our colleagues – who in turn help to build the success of our business and reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. 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 that are renewable, low carbon, and improve efficiency to meet demand.

The teams in Control are focused on ensuring the network is secure, contingencies are in place and lost supplies are restored as quickly as possible, minimising customer minutes lost and customer interruptions. 

Based within our two Operational Centres, our Control Centres are the heartbeat of our operations, monitoring the system in real time, minimising risk of danger and managing security and faults. Control Centre teams also liaise with the Government to manage national network demand and monitor the potential for incidents or emergencies. 

• Outage Planning - Ensuring that access to the 33kV, 66kV and 132kV systems are planned to ensure that system security is maintained, and compliant with statutory and technical requirements.
• Assist in the re-assessment of the outage programme with respect to system faults, short term working requirements and any necessary contingency plans.
• Operational co-ordination with Network Services Teams, National Grid ET / ESO, Generating Stations, neighbouring DNO’s, HV connected embedded generators and HV connected customers.
• Ensuring that SQC schemes identified are written, tested, implemented, monitored and, where necessary, suitably modified
• Other duties appropriate to the grade

Additional training may also be given to suitable candidates to undertake the following duties:

• Supporting IIS compliance and associated audits within the Control team

The successful candidate should be a team player who also has the ability to work on their own initiative.  Whilst able to pay attention to detail, it will be necessary to communicate effectively across the business at all levels.  You should have an aptitude for computer based technology whilst experience or knowledge of operations on an electricity distribution network are essential.

There may be an occasional need to work overtime hours during the key outage planning windows, this will be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the Team Manager.

As the post you are applying for attracts a National Security Vetting clearance there are further eligibility requirements, information can be found on the gov.uk website. To meet national security vetting requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 5 years for Security Clearance (SC) prior to the date of application. There are exceptions to this however and examples of these include:

• you have been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
• you were studying abroad
• you were living overseas with parents

If you have any further queries relating to National Security Vetting, please email nged.recruitment@nationalgrid.co.uk

The successful candidate will usually be appointed on a lower salary, having the opportunity to achieve the higher salary when they are able to independently operate within the role and possess the academic qualifications applicable.  Upon commencing, a criteria for progression will be outlined to the newly appointed person. 

Joining the UK’s leading electricity distribution business means plenty of career opportunities and well-deserved recognition. We reward hard work and encourage ambition. So, as well as a competitive salary, you will also benefit from:

• 26 days paid leave plus 8 bank holidays, up to 28 days with continuous service
• Competitive contributory pension scheme (we double match your contributions up to a maximum of 12%)
• Annual Share Save plan
• Contributory private healthcare scheme for you and your family
• Support via our Employee Assistance Programme, including musculoskeletal and physiotherapy services
• Free on-site parking at all our main sites

Things you need to know

As an equal opportunities employer who is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we celebrate individual difference and are actively bringing in more employees from diverse backgrounds to build on our inclusive culture. We anonymise all applications in our recruitment system so we can eliminate unconscious bias and be a workplace that reflects the community we serve. Hiring managers only have access to necessary information at interview stage. If you require additional support to complete your online application, please email nged.recruitment@nationalgrid.co.uk

Recruitment correspondence is usually sent by email, please check your email account including spam/junk folders regularly after the closing date.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should sufficient numbers of suitable applications be received, so it would be best to apply as soon as you can.