Data Scientist - 18 month FTC

What you'll do

• Trial design: Designing field trials and drafting pre-analysis plans, often in close collaboration with delivery partners within and outside Octopus Energy Group – this requires a pragmatic approach given the commercial sensitivity of the data we work with and the interventions we evaluate.
• Implementation: Working closely with a project manager on our team to help the delivery partner(s) deliver the trial in a way that maintains fidelity to the pre-analysis plan and enables rigorous analysis once complete.
• Data analysis: Carrying out data analyses of our field trials as well as conducting quasi-experimental analyses, structuring these analyses to turn them into high quality reporting.
• Reporting: Contributing to and leading the write-up of these analyses into academic papers and accessible, policy-facing materials. At CNZ, this phase of a project is especially collaborative, involving one or more rounds of feedback from other members of CNZ.
• Partner engagement: Liaising with partners, managing and coordinating implementation across partners, and communicating updates to key partners and external stakeholders.


Our reporting generally takes two main forms: 1) academic journal articles, and 2) accessible, policy-facing materials. 


• We will generally assign an individual data scientist to lead on specific trials and quasi-experimental analyses. You will work closely with the Director of the Trials and Analysis team, as well as our Chief Economist, in the writing of academic journal articles based on the trial or quasi-experimental analysis. Here are examples of this output for the impact of heat pumps on energy demand and the impact of the demand flexibility service on energy demand.  We also do smaller pieces of analysis for blogposts or white papers for policymakers.


• To create the policy-facing materials, the Trials and Analysis team then works closely with CNZ’s external affairs and communications team to package our analyses into high-quality reporting that is useful for policymakers.


In summary, we are looking for someone who has the intellectual capacity to perform and report high-quality analyses for diverse audiences. CNZ prioritises collaboration and distributed decision-making with technical and non-technical staff across the organisation at all stages of research and reporting. In this vein, you will work closely with a range of members of CNZ – other researchers in CNZ’s Trials and Analysis team, as well as the Director of the team and our Chief Economist; project managers who liaise with partners and assist you in ensuring the fidelity of implementation to the pre-analysis plan; CNZ’s External Affairs team, to package our analyses into high-quality reporting and relevant recommendations; and CNZ’s leadership team, to ensure our research delivers as much impact as possible.

What you'll need

• Experience designing and analysing randomised controlled trials
• Experience managing multiple simultaneous projects, with an ability to prioritise and adapt to changing circumstances
• Experience handling and analysing large amounts of data, using clear, maintainable code, ideally in R or Python
• Experience communicating coherently and handling multiple stakeholders
• Experience delivering research collaboratively as part of a larger team
• Experience setting up and analysing quasi-experimental designs (such as staggered difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity designs)


It would be great if you also have…
• Experience working in energy is great, but not critical – we’re looking for curiosity and an eagerness to learn more about the energy industry
• Experience writing accessible, policy-facing summaries of researchExperience in empirical industrial organisation or public finance
• Experience working directly with policymakers as well as academics
• Facility using SQL to wrangle and process data


Sounds good, what's next? ⚡️
• We recommend to apply soon as you can, as applications will close on January 1st 2025. Once you’ve submitted your application, our Talent team will review and provide feedback—along with details about the next steps, if you’re successful. We plan to make an offer in January 2025, with a flexible start date to suit your schedule


Here’s what to expect, if you're successful:
• An initial call with our Talent team to discuss your experience, motivations & the role within CNZ
• Task & interview: You’ll complete a task, followed by an online interview with the CNZ team to go over your findings
• Final interview: Either on-site or virtual, depending on your location and availability