Role: Head of Implementation Location: UK or Spain Flexible Role ID: Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world Ricardo plc is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and employing close to 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional levels of expertise in delivering leading-edge and innovative cross-sector sustainable products and solutions. Every day, we enable our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world. Purpose The success we are having as a business means there are significant opportunities to expand our services and delivery, so we are seeking to recruit a highly experienced consultant at Associate Director or Technical Director level to lead, expand and develop our offer to implement net zero for our clients. This means coordinating and driving the implementation growth agenda across the Energy Decarbonisation practice. The role reports to the Global Practice Director for energy decarbonisation and would suit a highly client orientated person with significant implementation experience, as a chief engineer in a related disciplined e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical engineering background who has experience of working with clients to implement multiple projects. The details of the focus of the role will be developed by the candidate working closely with key stakeholders but the focus is commercial growth. The following bullets provide context and objectives for this role: Context: Ricardo has significantly increased our work to develop net zero plans for our private and public sector clients. These plans identify investments to meet these targets. Investment returns are improving as energy prices increase. Ricardo has already supported clients to specify, procure and implement a range of these investments.These include solar PV, energy storage, biomass, heat pump, biomethane, hydrogen, CCUS, energy efficiency and other solutions. Ricardo s Sustainable Energy Systems team has been working on smart grids solutions for many years, solutions which are needed urgently to enable the electricity, heat and transport sectors to decarbonise. Ricardo s hydrogen team are working on a number of early stage projects to use hydrogen for transport and heat. Ricardo s renewable teams are working on PV and wind feasibility studies. Objectives: The primary objective is lead and co-ordinate the growth of this capability into multi-million pound business areas and incorporate them into the practice as business as usual activities. Our clients need our support moving from netzero plans and strategy to implementing transition plans and moving to a decarbonised future. There is growing momentum and companies making actual investment and change. Ricardo want to be at the forefront of supporting clients on this journey; Implementation of renewables and battery storage - wind, PV, heat pumps, district heating Implementation of waste technologies Implementation of hydrogen and other low carbon fuels infrastructure. The secondary objectives which have already been set in motion and have good internal stakeholders to lead on much of this include Working with the delivery team to ensure our internal processes, QA, QC, case studies, joined up approach etc is fully optimised. Working with the consultancy teams to build the track record and skills needed for delivery. Working with marketing team to promote the enhanced services in supporting implementation. Support the recruitment of other experts into the business with these skills to scale our delivery. Key competencies and experience Have a proven track record of delivery of energy infrastructure projects (electricity generation, heat, renewables) Have consultancy experience in the assessment of the technical and business case for these types of energy infrastructure projects. Have commercial experience of the forms of contract and responsibilities of each party (e.g. FIDIC, Silver Book, JCT, NEC4 etc.) Have practical experience of delivering projects through RIBA stages or equivalent having been technical project lead, project manager or contracts manager. The suitable candidate will have worked in one or more of the following: Energy Consultancy delivery of studies that deliver energy infrastructure projects; Energy Consultancy owners engineer services for energy infrastructure projects; EPC contractor project management or contract management; Large energy user managed the client side of energy infrastructure projects. The broader experience that will be needed includes: Have a higher education qualification (Bachelor s Degree) in an environmental or engineering; discipline, or otherwise to have a good track record working in an environmental role; Ideally have experience of working in the consultancy sector, to demonstrate that you have the necessary commercial awareness; Implementation of net zero plans in the private or public sectors; A deep understanding of the links between climate change, business risk and value creation; Experience of identifying and developing business opportunities; Driving licence. Skills and behaviours Business skills on the business case for energy infrastructure projects and the factors that ensure their success; Managing risks in the delivery of energy infrastructure projects; Analytical skills with ability to identify, develop and implement solutions; Strong client and stakeholder communication skills e.g. influencing, negotiation, presentation and relationship management skills; Team working and leadership and ability to coordinate and prioritise activities to ensure delivery of agreed targets; Assisting with the development of energy decarbonisation thought leadership, our external profile and also with clients; High levels of drive and commitment; a self-starter, problem solver with the ability to turn ideas into reality; Assisting with mentoring others to support the growth our support for energy infrastructure projects; High level of computer literacy, including familiarity with the full Microsoft Office software suite and potentially industry analysis tools; A flexible approach able to see where help is needed and support colleagues as necessary; Be comfortable juggling a variety of tasks in a sometimes fast-paced operational environment. Working here You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place. We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on. Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable. Work life balance We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential. Benefits We want you to know how much you are valued. Your remuneration and benefits package will reflect that. You will receive a range of benefits which include support for your physical and mental health. Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion statement We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours. We have an ambitious diversity, equality, and inclusion approach as explained here. We value diversity; recognising that a more diverse workforce creates a richer and more varied working environment. Diversity also drives innovation, by allowing us to offer our clients the best consultancy service that we can. As part of our commitment to engage positively and pro-actively with all our employees and to ensure an inclusive culture, we are a recognised as a 'disability confident' employer. Next steps Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date. Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.