Head of Office of the CIO Full Time

UK Power Networks (Operations) Ltd
Head of Office of the CIO

Reference Number – 79149

This Head of Office of the CIO will report to the Chief Information Officer and will work within the Information Systems directorate based in our London office. You will be a permanent employee.

You will attract a salary which will depending on your experience and a bonus of 15%. This role can also offer blended working after probationary period (6 months) – 3 days in the office and 2 remote

Close Date: 07/07/2024

COMPANY OVERVIEW

UK Power Networks (UKPN) is a distribution network operator for electricity covering Southeast England, the East of England and London, serving 8.3 million domestic homes and businesses, and some 20 million customers.

Employing approximately 6,000 people, UK Power Networks’ primary role is to ensure the infrastructure that brings power to homes, businesses, hospitals, schools, and other public services delivers reliable, safe and sustainable electricity to customers, irrespective of their chosen commercial supplier. Its responsibilities include:

• Maintain the safety and reliability of the electricity networks;
• Connect new customers’ premises to electricity; and
• Extend and upgrade the electricity network to facilitate decarbonisation and customer needs.

All of the distribution network operators (DNOs) are regulated by the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem). Supply companies buy electricity in bulk from generation companies. They pay distribution companies to transport the electricity through the cables and power lines to homes and businesses.

UKPN’s three networks distribute electricity using more than 170,000km of underground cables and overhead lines, and more than 130,000 substations, with safety and customer service being the core priorities.

UKPN has revenues of c. 2 billion per annum and a regulated asset base of 9 billion. Its current business plan forecasts investment of c. 5 billion over the next five years (a 25% increase on the prior regulatory period) motivated by decarbonisation of generation, transport, and heat. It is equivalent in size to FTSE100 utilities such as Severn Trent and United Utilities.

UKPN is owned by the Cheung Kong Group (CKG) which has operations in over 50 countries and employs some 350,000 people worldwide. CKG has a pedigree in running high-quality utility companies and a track record of wise investments. CKG operates electricity distribution businesses serving communities in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Since UKPN was acquired by CKG in 2010, it has undergone a phenomenal transformation. From a position of underperforming against peer distribution sector organisations, it is now widely regarded as the leading distribution company in Great Britain. Since 2010, UKPN has:

• Dramatically reduced lost time injuries by 90% making it the safest DNO.
• Reduced power cuts by 59% making it the most reliable group of networks.
• Delivered customer satisfaction levels at 94% and is the only utility recognised in the UK Institute of Customer Service’s Top 10 rankings beating household names like Amazon, John Lewis, Apple and Octopus Energy (the only Which recommended energy supplier).
• Connected enough renewable energy to power more than 3.5 million homes.
• Been ranked as having the world’s smartest grid (in 2020 in the Global Singapore Smart Grid Index and ranks in the UK (Apply online only .
• Been the first distribution company to commit to verified science-based targets.
• Repeatedly been named Utility of the Year and a Top 25 Best Big Company to Work For. It is among just 5% of companies in the world awarded Investors in People’s highest status – Platinum.

JOB PURPOSE

Information Systems (IS) contributes in ensuring UK Power Networks remains the best performing UK network operator. However, the electricity industry is now going through a period of unprecedented change, driven by the need to develop smart networks that react to changes such as the proliferation of local and central generation sources, and the demands that will quickly emerge from a move to electric vehicles. The innovative exploitation of technology and data will ensure a competitive advantage within this changing market, and hence IS needs to adapt to support technology-enabled business change across customer, enterprise and smart power systems.

Main goals for the Head of Office of the CIO include:

• Oversee c. 70m of annual CAPEX investment to ensure we have effective governance and control of expenditure, benefits achievement and output delivery and good business engagement, aiming to deliver at least 93% CSAT for the projects we deliver.
• Oversee commercial strategy and performance management across a c. 40m per annum portfolio of IT contracts covering managed services, hardware, software and cloud-based services, including establishing a sector first FinOps capability.
• Contribute to the shaping of IT and Business strategy to support the our vision and targets working directly with the Chief Information Officer and Director of Customer Service, Finance and Technology, ensuring compliance, commercial rigor and governance adherence.
• Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with third party vendors and contractors.
• Manage a team of 30+ with high levels of employee engagement.

NATURE AND SCOPE

Capex Portfolio Delivery

Develop and implement a PMO Centre of Excellence (CoE) delivering coordination and oversight of a portfolio of multiple large programmes and technology projects. This will involve working with delivery leads of all programmes to ensure we have robust controls and governance in place such that we deliver targeted outcomes within budget and delighting the business with the end product.

Commercial & Financial Management

You will be responsible for overall management and coordination of the OPEX and CAPEX budgets for IS, in close collaboration with Finance and the wider IS senior management team. The role will oversee with responsibility for the tracking, controlling and reporting of forecasts, budgets, planned, committed and actual spend, driving delivery against an optimised budget.

Additionally, you will oversee the management of vendor partner expenditure across IT, working with Procurement and IS Operations to ensure a clear understanding of vender performance, work definitions and work packages, payment terms and stages, verifying and approving proposals against likely cost and success. Similarly, you will be responsible for ensuring Software and Hardware commercial compliance.

Strategy

You will support the CIO with strategy development in “problem or opportunity” areas where the intersection of business change and technology unlocks value and helps the business realise its performance goals. This includes determining objectives and associated technology investment in the next regulatory price control period, aligning to targeted outcomes and commitments, along with targeting efficiency across the business.

SKILLS, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPEREINCE

• Experience delivering business and technology projects that resulted in real business impact/value.
• Experience of managing a portfolio of Business and IT Projects and Programmes, utilising both traditional waterfall and more contemporary agile methodologies.
• Experience of driving strategic technology investment with the ability to bring in new thinking and ideas and to build relationships with external technology partners.
• Robust negotiation and commercial skills, defining and implementing performance management frameworks.
• Broad technology thought-leadership and market knowledge covering both traditional core systems of record and digital technologies.
• Strong analytical and mathematical skills to understand and assess costs, contracts and create a strategy to achieve our goals.
• Track record in defining and implementing performance management frameworks.
• Excellent organisational, analytical and facilitation skills and a strong drive to deliver quality results to specific deadlines.
• Accustomed to working across multiple partners (Projects, Business and IT), at all levels of the organisation.
• Ability to create strong relationships and trust with peers, vendors and customers.
• Exemplary written, verbal and communication skills.
• Heavily results and outcome oriented, with the energy and determination to succeed.
• Ability to work well under pressure.
• Adaptable to changing demands in a fast-paced environment.
• We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.