Head of Economic Regulation with Smart DCC

London only

24-month FCT

Role

DCC Licence was awarded in 2013 and has recently been extended to September 2027. This is an important time for the organisation to think about its role in the coming years and how it can support the future delivery and operation of the smart metering network. The energy industry has already made a significant investment in the DCC platform, creating a unique and secure network that will reach every home in Great Britain, and the DCC will continue to play a key role in the delivery of Government’s Net Zero agenda.

Energy policy will have a fundamental role in responding to the issues of climate change, the energy crisis (including fuel poverty) and ongoing cost of living challenges – and the role smart metering can play in responding to these. Our annual price control submission is one of the regulatory instruments (together with DCC’s Business Development Plan) that enables the company to articulate our strategic journey and how we intend to deliver it.

Under the current Licence, the price review process is conducted on an ex-post basis, whereby Ofgem reviews DCC’s costs after they have been incurred. Ofgem is currently consulting on the structure of the new Licence as well as the transition arrangements to deliver it, including an extension of the current Licence. The new Licence will include an ex-ante price control regime, whereby DCC’s forecast costs are reviewed and agreed in advance of undertaking activities. This is a fundamental change and requires DCC to build new capability, including within the Economic Regulation team.

DCC is therefore interested in recruiting an individual with significant experience of developing and operating price control structures, including the relevant performance management and incentive regimes. This role offers an exciting opportunity to deliver the high value price control process alongside shaping the future regime to ensure the transition from the ex-post to ex ante frameworks operates in a controlled and planned way. This will require proactivity, resilience, and agility of mind

Working closely with members of the ExCo, DCC’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the wider Strategy and Regulation (S&R) team, the Head of Economic Regulation will have the following key areas of accountabilities

What will you be doing?

·      To lead on the delivery of DCC’s annual price control reviews

·      DCC operates in a heavily regulated environment and will transition from ex post price controls to an ex-ante or hybrid structure in the near future. The Head of Economic Regulation will lead on developing, submitting and assuring DCC’s annual price control submissions under these structures.

·      The end-to-end process for delivering this will including preparing the annual submission, managing clarification questions, and responding to Ofgem’s consultation to influence Ofgem’s final determination of DCC’s allowable costs.

·      The Head of Economic Regulation will also lead on aspects of the ongoing process of reviewing and improving DCC’s internal price control processes and our approach to engaging with stakeholders (including Ofgem and customers) in relation to this.

·      The Head of Economic Regulation will attend the ExCo-level Price Control Risk Committee (PCRC), leading the price control risk assessment process and contributing to ensuring mitigations are identified and implemented.

·      The ex-ante price control process will require economic modelling to determine the “economic and efficient” cost base and associated KPIs, incentives and penalties and discussing this with Ofgem as part of the review process.

·      It will also require the development and implementation of new in-period processes for monitoring performance, ’re-opening’ the cost base, and conducting a retrospective ’true-up’ of costs at the end of the reporting period. The Head of Economic Regulation will play a key role in supporting the Director of Economic Regulation and Director of Ex Ante in designing and implementing these processes.

·      A key risk to DCC over the coming period will be managing the transition from ex post to ex ante price controls alongside the extension of DCC’s current license, and appointment of a new license holder on a ’not-for-profit’ basis. Managing this risk is a key success factor for this role and will require extremely close working across Economic Regulation, S&R colleagues, License Renewal, Finance and other internal stakeholders.

·      The Head of Economic Regulation will also oversee support provided by external partners in delivering these outcomes.

·      To engage, and support the Director of Economic Regulation in engaging, with the Board, CEO and ExCo members, for example via high quality briefing papers.

·      To support DCC’s engagement with Ofgem in relation to both price control and the changes required to DCC’s economic regulatory framework. This will need to be defined working closely with other areas of the S&R team.

·      To provide (proactive) expert advice across DCC on the current (and future) economic regulatory framework to ensure that the business fully understands the economic regulatory requirements within a regulated monopoly.

What are we looking for?

·      The successful candidate will have significant experience in providing strategic advice to senior level of decision-makers in regulatory business (or Government).

·      The successful candidate will be able to provide thought leadership for the development of new regulatory regimes / regulatory changes and the ability to advise on how best to achieve the organisation’s objectives whilst operating within the regulatory framework.

·      They will have excellent communication skills and senior stakeholder management expertise allowing them to tailor communications to explain complex issues concisely and clearly.

·      The successful candidate will have demonstrable experience of authoring high-quality documentation and briefing notes (including Board papers). They will be experienced at working in a complex and heavily regulated environment with multiple stakeholders, and in collaborating with multi-functional teams.

·      Candidates will need to demonstrate strong leadership and coaching skills to help others learn and be a