Energy System Modeller

Octopus is a rapidly growing, global energy business. We're looking for an Energy System Modeller with a passion for understanding (and changing) the way power systems work.

This role is an exciting opportunity to build superb tools to help inform our own commercial decisions as well as to help shape the energy system for all participants, both in the UK and around the world.

In the 10 years since launching we have become the largest household supplier in the UK, one of the fastest growing in Europe and are scaling businesses in everything from Renewable Generation to domestic flexibility, and from domestic heat pumps to public EV charging. In total we are operating dozens of businesses in over 30 countries around the World - and we have a lot further to go.

What you'll do

• Use and develop industry leading tools to run whole electricity system simulations
• In particular you will develop tools to understand the impact of weather, changing technology mix, local flexibility and emerging technologies on system behaviour
• These models will support a range of key commercial decisions and operations in the business, from short-term optimisation to long-term investment decisions
• You will work closely with global teams across Trading, Risk Management, Strategy, Policy and Senior Leadership to articulate outputs and drivers

What you'll need

• Experience with UK and/or European power markets, with scenarios, optimisation and dispatch analysis
• Very capable working in Python and SQL - writes clean, readable and reproducible analytics and modelling code
• Experience developing with a modern multiplayer developer workflow such as that listed in our data stack below
• Strong mathematical background, able to research and learn about models and algorithms and apply them to the problem at hand

Not essential but nice to have

• Experience working with electricity whole system modelling frameworks like PyPSA, Plexos, BID3 or similar
• Experience setting up linear optimisation problems and working with optimisation libraries (e.g. Linopy, Pyolo, GurobiPy, PuLP etc)
• Experience working with APIs and data from UK and/or European power market transparency platforms such as Elexon and ENTSO-E.
• Knowledge of key climate (e.g., ERA5, CMIP6, MERRA-2) and weather (e.g., GFS, HRES) datasets and their integration into power system models.

How you'll make an impact

• Inquisitive and seek to really understand the question - on top of your technical skills you seek to understand the true requirements of a problem and approach the answers with a business and user mindset
• Excellent technical communicator - you are not only a talented individual contributor but you also enjoy and excel at presenting your results to a non-technical audience as a clear narrative
• Favour simplicity - you prefer to use simple, reliable tools over complex frameworks or approaches. You build models that are understandable and analyses that deliver to the required level of detail and accuracy. You take the shortest route there and avoid work around the work.
• Collaborative - you'll be taking inputs from and providing outputs to many teams around the group. You need to have a collaborative mindset and enjoy these interactions.
• Proactive - much of work will be unguided as you develop the tools and capabilities to answer businesses questions. You need to be proactive and show initiative.

Our data platform stack

We employ software engineering best practices to design, test, and deploy our data platform and services using the below technologies:

• Python as our main programming language
• Databricks as our data lake platform
• Kubernetes for data services and task orchestration
• Terraform for infrastructure
• Streamlit for data applications
• Airflow purely for job scheduling and tracking
• Circle CI for continuous deployment
• Parquet and Delta file formats on S3 for data lake storage
• Spark for data processing
• DBT for data modelling
• SparkSQL for analytics

Why else you'll love it here

• Wondering what the salary for this role is? Just ask us! On a call with one of our recruiters it's something we always cover as we genuinely want to match your experience with the correct salary. The reason why we don't advertise is because we honestly have a degree of flexibility and would never want salary to be a reason why someone doesn't apply to Octopus - what's more important to us is finding the right octofit!
• Octopus Energy Group is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We were recently named the UK's top company to work for, and we ranked in the top ten in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024. Our Group CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people. We've also been placed in the top 10 companies for senior leadership
• Visit our UK perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits

If this sounds like you then we'd love to hear from you.

P.S. Our process usually takes up to 4 weeks, but we'll always do our best to flex around what works for you. Along the way, you'll chat with our recruitment team and your Recruiter will help you throughout different stages. Got any burning questions before then? Drop us a message at [email protected] and we'd love to help!

Are you ready for a career with us? We want to ensure you have all the tools and environment you need to unleash your potential. Need any specific accommodations? Whether you require specific accommodations or have a unique preference, let us know, and we'll do what we can to customise your interview process for comfort and maximum magic!

Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we hire. Across Octopus, we're looking for genuinely decent people who are honest and empathetic. Our people are our strongest asset and the unique skills and perspectives people bring to the team are the driving force of our success. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone.