Energy Analyst - 12 months FTC

Job Description

Purpose of jobThe role, set within the Finance Department, is to support the management of the utilities value chain. Working with stakeholders, both internal and external, our Energy Bureau Analysts ensure effective and efficient procurement, budgeting, payment, rechargingand relationship management in relation to our utilities.Salary: Up to £35,000 per annumPrinciple accountabilities

• Assist with the Energy Bureau Manager the operational contract management of a utility provider, ensuring KPIs within any agreed SLAs are met/exceeded and disruptions (technical, legislative, administrative) are communicated within Bureau for disseminationto Analyst portfolios and other key stakeholders. Negotiating and developing with third party providers remedial action plans for required improvements and robustly managing the action plans to conclusion. Working with third party invoice validation serviceproviders to reflect any delays/issues experienced by them within contract management.
• Responsibility for a portfolio of c.10 assets. Recharge of fiscal invoices to tenants within a portfolio, ensuring tenants receive invoices within six weeks of invoice payment, minimising cash flow concerns for LS and tenants alike. Includes creating tenanttariffs, liaison with site and finance contacts to determine splits and allocations (tenant and service charge) and proactive use of PIMS to reflect tenant movements in the portfolio.
• Critical analysis of all created recharges, ensuring right-first-time delivery of invoices to tenants. Considerations include, but are not limited to: consumption based on tenant type, invoice vs DCDA consumption, customer read accuracy and date, previousperiod comparisons and sequential fiscal estimates. In addition, patching any HH data where third party validation has failed to deliver full and accurate consumption files.
• Management of meter readings from non-AMR meters, relevant to own portfolio. Liaison with or visits to site as appropriate to ensure accurate reads are submitted to suppliers and loaded into Optima to realise accurate billing, recharging and reporting.
• Management of the connections and disconnections process for new/redundant meters within own portfolio and to reflect changes in Optima for billing and recharging purposes; liaising with Operations and Development where appropriate to ensure critical pathsfor on-site projects are met.
• Assisting and validating the annual service charge budgets with the Energy Bureau Manager. Researching and interpreting market and legislative forces to account for likely changes in tariffs and consumption, and undertaking regression analysis to ensurecorrections for extreme weather events to deliver accurate forecasts. Working in partnership with site Technical Managers, Service Providers, Sustainability and FMs to augment forecasts based on planned energy efficiency projects/site redevelopment and maintenance.Provide commentary on forecasted consumption to Operations for inclusion in Service Charge booklets.
• Review of budget vs actual cost in collaboration with Sustainability, Property Finance, and Operations to identify causes for significant variances. Attendance at budget variance meetings to lead on the identification and explanation of anomalies in costsfrom a contract/data standpoint. Working in partnership with Operations and General Managers to reconcile the year end Service Charge and produce Service Charge booklets, assisting with market commentary and explanations.
• Generation of payment and service charge journals utilising invoices validated by a third-party provider where utility costs are passed through to the relevant consumers. Maintenance of payment, service charge financial codes in Optima to minimise journaland payment delays/failures.
• Payment of void utilities through a void payment file process via third party where invoices are directed to Bureau, assuming invoice periods reflect void periods in PIMS. Where disputes exist, liaison and provision of invoices to relevant site teams toensure swift resolution and minimise threats of disconnections and court proceedings.

Key competencies

• Motivation - Highly motivated individual, who strives to deliver best in class service.
• Customer service - Able to anticipate and meet the needs of both internal and external customers, delivering high-quality services and continuous improvement.
• IT Literacy
• Problem solving
• Analytical skills - Able to work with large quantities of statistical data, cleanse anomalies, and convert it into understandable results.
• Prioritisation - Able to prioritise effectively, having due regard for the immediacy and importance of activities, underpinned by strong time management such that activities are delivered in a timely fashion.
• Stakeholder management - Able to negotiate effectively with relevant stakeholders, ensuring pre-requisite third party activities/standards are delivered and expectations of downstream stakeholders are managed.

Knowledge, experience and qualificationsEssential

• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams
• Energy Bureau Services - Proven experience delivering bureau services, including, but not limited to, invoice and consumption data validation, cost recovery, and tenant recharging.
• Management reporting - Experience of translating big data into quantitative and qualitative narratives/summaries, tailored to specific audiences for maximum engagement.
• Financial management - Understanding of basic accountancy processes and procedures for medium to large organisations to ensure compliance to RICS best practice.
• Utility markets - Good knowledge of the markets, including wholesale trends, legislative framework, supply base, contract structures and invoicing solutions.
• Energy Management - Understanding of the key internal and external drivers of consumption, such as equipment, occupancy, weather etc.