Housing Consultant Graduate Watford, East of England, England
Job description
Would you like to Elevate your career at BRE?
Elevate is BRE’s fast-track development programme in becoming a subject specialist and supporting us in being industry leaders in the built environment. Through joining our Elevate programme, you will be challenged, developed, coached and supported on your path to becoming a subject matter expert in your field.
You will spend your first nine months working in your home role of Housing Consultant Graduate. You will also have the option of completing two skills development placements at three months each, where these are intended to upskill you in pre-identified areas, followed by your final nine months back in your home role, also working on an exciting project and presentation.
Why does the role exist?
The team has developed positive relationships with government (both central and local) as well as a wide range of commercial and public organisations. We provide research and data on the quality and energy efficiency of the existing housing stock, including geographical disparities, and enable a further understanding of the characteristics of households who live in poorer quality housing.
We use data from national housing surveys, commercially available data, and data from local authorities to undertake statistical modelling, and visual analytics to provide insights and guidance, which are used by our clients to tackle the major challenges they face in the housing and energy sectors.
The value you will add:
We’re looking for a numerate candidate to expand our team, working on national housing surveys, local government housing stock models, fuel poverty modelling and a range of related research and consultancy projects.
The role offers exciting opportunities with significant personal development in data analysis techniques, problem solving, housing and energy policy knowledge as well as customer interaction.
It will encompass several of the following elements, depending on project and team need:
- Detailed analysis of data from national housing surveys, especially the English Housing Survey (EHS) - England's largest and most comprehensive survey of housing and the people who live in our homes.
- Detailed analysis of other data from sources such census data to build and interpret housing stock models.
- Writing clear research reports and presenting findings to customers.
- Innovative uses of data and the application of data science to provide insight for our government and private sector customers.
- Using new and emerging software and technologies to enhance the data we are collecting.
- Research and numerical modelling of trends in energy efficiency, fuel poverty, housing condition and carbon emissions.
- Developing indicators & methods to help identify trends in housing and other data.
- Interpretation and validation of results.
How will success be measured?
- Introduction of efficiencies across our national housing surveys or improvements in our local authority stock modelling.
- Delivery of outputs to time and to quality to increase client satisfaction.
- Continuously improving accuracy from reporting where possible.
- Helping the team deliver our data strategy.
- Helping the wider teams to deliver modelling and reporting outputs.
What skills and experience does the role need?
Essential
- A degree in a numerate discipline with a strong analytical ability
- A genuine interest in the built environment
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Experience of research and data analysis / data science
- Drive and determination, with the ability to work under pressure in a commercial research team
- Enthusiasm and initiative both individually and as part of a team
- Flexibility, pragmatism, and a willingness to be involved in a variety of different projects
- The confidence to put forward great ideas, embrace change and seek innovative ways of working
- Statistical knowledge and analytical reasoning skills
Desirable
- Formal experience using statistical software such as R, SAS, SPSS
- Programming skills, for example Python, R, C++ or Java
- Knowledge of housing, housing policy or sustainability
- Enthusiasm to better understand housing quality and the characteristics of households living in our homes
How we will help to Elevate your career:
You will have the opportunity to take part in various development activities such as:
- Personal development plans
- Structured coaching in blocks of six sessions with identified deliverables for each block
- Structured mentoring from a senior leader at BRE
- A personal development fund of £1,000 for additional qualifications, conferences or industry events
- Scheduled group development workshops on consultancy skills, problem-solving and presentation skills
- Group transition workshops to support you with the transition out of the Elevate programme and into your team
What salary and benefits does the Elevate programme offer?
Your salary will start at £30,000 in year one, with an increase to £32,000 in year two, then upon a successful interview and completion of the Elevate programme, you will be promoted into a higher-level role in your home team, with a salary of at least £34,000.
We offer a whole host of benefits to our colleagues:
Benefits for you and your family
- 25 days annual leave
- Volunteering day
- Flexible hybrid working options
- Learning and development opportunities including free access to our BRE Academy and Percipio courses
- Life assurance – 4x basic salary
- Onsite nursery
- Enhanced maternity package
Rewarding and recognising you
- Annual salary review
- Pension scheme with 5% matching employer contribution
- Pensions advice
- Recognition schemes including retail vouchers and cash awards
- Employee referral scheme (£1,000)
- Professional membership reimbursement
Supporting your health and wellbeing
- Lifeworks – employee assistance programme
- Healthpartners – cash back on a wide range of health and wellbeing costs including prescriptions, physiotherapy, dental care and more
- Regular health and wellbeing events
- Onsite restaurant
- Free onsite parking including free EV charging points
- Local bus service to site
- Cycle to work scheme
What to expect from the application process:
- Stage 1 – Complete your application form and upload your CV onto our careers site by 10th March
- Stage 2 – Successfully shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete online assessments by 24th March
- Stage 3 – Successfully shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a remote Teams screening conversation with a member of the Resourcing team by 7th April
- Stage 4 – Successfully shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an Assessment Day at our Science Park in Watford on one of the following dates: 9th May, 11th May, 16th May or 18th May
- Stage 5 – Offers to be made and feedback to be provided to unsuccessful candidates by end of May
- Start date for successful hires – Monday 11th September 2023
About BRE:
BRE contributes to a thriving and sustainable world by developing science-led solutions to built environment challenges, making buildings better for people and for the environment. You can find out more here: About us | BRE Group
Our BRE Behaviours:
Collaboration – Communication, Networking/ partnerships, Teamwork
Impactful – Continuous improvement, Trusted experts, Accountability/ ownership
Commercial – Sustainable, Customer focus, Business acumen
*Please note this role is flexi-hybrid (1-2 days per week on site)*
We’re building a diverse and talented team at BRE because we know that different perspectives, experiences and skills will help us be more innovative and mean that we can help deliver effective solutions for our customers.
This is a non-exhaustive summary of your role and is non-contractual. In addition to the above, you may be required to undertake additional duties in order to properly execute your role. This job description is subject to variation from time to time in order to meet the changing needs and requirements of our industry, as well as customer and business demands.
The experience requirements above are provided for guidance purposes, however we would welcome applications from candidates with more or less relevant experience who can demonstrate their suitability for the role.
Whilst this advert may state a specific location or hours, we encourage flexibility and are happy to have a conversation on how this role could be fulfilled in a different way.
Please also note that should we receive a large number of applications for the role, we may close the advert sooner than the specified closing date, so please do apply at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.
