Graduate Consents Officer, Electricity Transmission Strategic Infrastructure - National Grid, Leeds

About us

National Grid is at the heart of the UK energy network keeping people connected and society moving. We develop, own and maintain the physical infrastructure, such as pylons and cables needed to move the electricity generated from windfarms and power sources around the country. Every time a phone is plugged in, or a switch is turned on, we’ve played a part, connecting you to the electricity you need - and we’re leading the transformation towards a greener future, dreaming bigger to bring a more affordable energy future to everyone.

But it’s our people that provide our true superpower. They drive and sustain our growth, their unique differences only making us stronger. But it’s no small feat – and we need the best to join us in our mission. So, join us and power the future of energy.

Strategic Infrastructure is a part of National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and is responsible for delivering 17 major new projects to connect more clean, low-carbon power to the transmission network in England and Wales. These projects, delivered under the regulator’s Accelerated Strategic Transmission Investment (ASTI) framework, play a vital part in achieving the UK Government’s ambition of connecting 50GW of offshore wind by 2030.

As a Graduate Consents Officer, you'll work collaboratively with the Consents team to ensure that project consents are delivered economically and in accordance with current legislation, regulations, and guidance. Following internal best practice, process, and guidance, you'll play a key role in enhancing National Grid's reputation by adhering to specifications, program cost, and established practices.

You'll have the opportunity to lead, manage, and co-ordinate the delivery of minor project consents and allocated consenting activities for major projects. Your expertise will be crucial in challenging, advising, and guiding project teams on the design and development of projects, specifically focusing on the program, cost, and reputational impacts of making changes.

In this role, you'll be responsible for preparing, updating, and effectively communicating comprehensive Consents (& Land) Strategies for projects. You'll also ensure that project resource requirements are identified, procured, and sufficiently embedded within the project team ahead of need. Proactively managing the project consents resource, you'll provide current financial information to the Project Manager, ensuring value for money and offering appropriate challenge to the project teams to deliver successful outcomes.

You'll additionally play vital role in identifying project-specific good practice and lessons learned, recording them for the purposes of consenting process improvement and formulation of positions and guidance for Consents Officers and the wider business, all with the aim of obtaining project consents and undertaking stakeholder engagement.

As you progress in this role, you'll have the opportunity to escalate more complex consents issues to and obtain support from senior colleagues (Senior Consents Officers) where necessary. You'll also proactively develop relevant skills and consistently build capability in the consenting and environmental assessment disciplines, contributing to more effective project delivery.

Our Graduate Programme

As you’ll be joining our 18-month graduate programme, you’ll have a tailored development pathway to support you as you develop a wide range of leadership, business, and technical skills. You’ll attend in-person and virtual development sessions throughout your programme to equip you with the essential skills required, as you begin your career at National Grid. We’re committed to the personal development of our colleagues so as well as the support from your line manager as you navigate your new role, you’ll also have access to 121 coaching and a mentor, from a previous cohort to help you transition from campus to corporate life.

All graduates complete the core development programme to develop key skills such as how to make an impact, giving feedback and presentation skills. Aligned to this role is our Commercial pathway, where you’ll further develop commerciality skills and gain important insight of engineering and electricity to increase your understanding of our business and industry. Dependent upon your role you may complete a formal qualification such as (Chartered Institute of Professional Development) CIPD.

We believe in the importance of getting as much on-the-job experience as possible and to do this, you will complete three 6-month placements, across the UK, designed to deepen your understanding of your speciality but to also broaden your knowledge of our business. At the end of your 18-month programme you’ll return to your initial placement area to kickstart your superpowered career.

What you'll need to apply

You'll need to achieve a minimum 2:2 in an degree relating to Town & Country Planning, Environment Assessment or Sustainability. It doesn’t matter when you graduated or if you are currently working towards your qualification. We just need you to be eager to apply your knowledge in a real-world setting.

You’ll need flexibility to travel within role and throughout your rotations as required.

To be eligible to apply for this role, candidates must be able to demonstrate that they will have the legal right to work in the UK for the duration of the graduate programme. If you do not currently have the right to work in the UK, or your visa is due to expire during the period of the graduate scheme, please indicate this in your application and we will consider your eligibility for visa sponsorship and whether it would be appropriate to take your application forward.

This role is based in Leeds offering flexible hybrid working, where possible. As part of the role you will also be expected to travel.

Please note; we also have a similar role based in Bristol (req.61075), Warwick (req.61079) or London (req.61080).

We are proud to offer a graduate starting salary of £34,895.

Not only will you receive a tailored development programme to progress a superpowered career at National Grid, we also offer some great rewards and benefits too:

• £2,000 bonus, once joined and started on programme 
• 26 days holiday 
• £2,400 payment on successful completion of the programme 
• Up to £200 per month accommodation allowance as you move around the business, and additional annual leave for when you move between placements plus assistance with moving personal belongings
• Other benefits include pension and share-option schemes, Flexible Benefits, close mentorship and regular feedback & volunteering opportunities.

We recruit on a rolling basis and reserve the right to close our vacancies once we have enough applications/based on volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as early as possible to ensure you obtain the place you want in the application process.

You can only apply for one graduate opportunity during this recruitment cycle. We kindly ask that you review all our graduate opportunities and apply for the one that aligns closest with your aspirations and interests.

Assessment centres will be held in Warwick across March/April 2025.