Head of Green Gas Solutions

Job Title Head of Green Gas Solutions
Salary Range TBD
Depot / Department Strategy and Regulation
Section / Team Non-regulated
Reports to (job title) Managing Director Non-regulated business/Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer (interim)
Direct reports (job title(s)) 4 direct reports and wider team of c.20 with plan for growth plan

About the Business
The role sits within the non-regulated commercial arm of a gas distribution group. The business provides end-to-end biomethane and green gas solutions, combining sector knowledge, engineering capability and gas-network expertise to design, build, operate, maintain and optimise customer assets. It has a clear growth agenda and seeks to expand its project pipeline, recurring service revenues, strategic partnerships and market presence.
The team delivers tailored biomethane solutions across the full asset lifecycle, from business development and feasibility through design and build, commissioning, operations and maintenance, asset management and performance improvement. Safety, customer value, engineering excellence and disciplined commercial delivery are central to its approach.
Overall Purpose of job
Lead and grow the Biomethane & Green Gas Solutions business, with full accountability for strategy, safety, people, customers, commercial performance and delivery. The role will convert market opportunities into profitable, risk-managed work; oversee a portfolio of capital projects typically valued at £10-20 million; and provide visible leadership to a geographically dispersed team of approximately 20 people, including four direct reports. The postholder will build a scalable platform for growth while maintaining high standards across design and build, operations and maintenance, asset management, procurement, commissioning and client service.
Key responsibilities
Strategy, growth and business development

Set and execute the growth strategy for biomethane and adjacent green gas services, translating market insight into clear priorities, investment choices and measurable revenue and margin objectives.
Own the opportunity pipeline from origination through qualification, bid, negotiation and contract award, ensuring disciplined bid governance and compelling customer propositions.
Develop enduring relationships with biomethane producers, utilities, developers, investors, technology providers and strategic partners.
Identify new service lines, partnerships and delivery models that create profitable growth and reinforce the company's market position.

Safe project and operational delivery

Provide visible safety leadership and ensure effective process-safety, construction, operational and corporate risk management across all activities.
Hold executive accountability for a portfolio of £10-20 million capital projects, delivering agreed safety, quality, programme, cost, cash and client outcomes.
Maintain robust governance across feasibility, design, procurement, construction, pipeline delivery, testing, commissioning, handover, O&M and asset management.
Ensure technical assurance, regulatory compliance, change control and lessons learned are embedded throughout the project and asset lifecycle.

Commercial, financial and supply-chain leadership

Own business planning, budgeting, forecasting, cash management and performance reporting, with clear accountability for revenue, margin, working capital and return on investment.
Lead commercial negotiations with clients and partners, balancing growth, risk allocation, deliverability and long-term value.
Set the procurement and contracting strategy; select, mobilise and manage consultants, equipment suppliers, construction partners and pipeline contractors.
Maintain strong contract administration, cost control, change management, claims prevention and supplier-performance disciplines.

People, culture and communication

Lead, coach and develop a geographically diverse team of approximately 20 engineers and professionals, including four direct reports.
Create clarity of purpose, constructive challenge and accountable decision-making within a technically confident team whose members may hold strongly differing views.
Shape the organisation, capability plan, succession pipeline and recruitment needed to support business growth.
Communicate strategy, performance, risk and customer commitments clearly to employees, senior leaders, clients and partners.
Operate independently within delegated authority, escalating material safety, financial, legal or reputational matters appropriately.

Expertise
Required skills and experience
Proven senior leadership of geographically dispersed, multi-disciplinary engineering and professional teams, including the ability to align experienced people with strongly held views behind a common direction.
Strong safety leadership and practical risk-management experience in a process-engineering, construction or operational environment.
Broad technical and engineering understanding across design and build, operations and maintenance, and asset-management processes from proposal and feasibility through commissioning and stable operation.
Demonstrable delivery of complex capital projects in the £10-20 million range, with responsibility for safety, programme, quality, cost, cash, risk and client outcomes.
Strong commercial management of clients, contracts, procurement and supply chains, including pipeline and specialist process-equipment contractors.
Successful business development, opportunity qualification, bid strategy, proposal management and contract negotiation experience.
Strong financial management, including business planning, forecasting, margin and cash control, investment appraisal and commercial negotiation.
Good understanding of the UK biomethane sector, including project economics, gas quality and grid-entry considerations, technology and supply-chain landscape, and the needs of producers, utilities, developers and investors.
Excellent written and verbal communication, with the credibility to engage clients, partners, technical specialists and senior executives.
Ability to work independently, make balanced decisions under uncertainty and sustain momentum in a growing commercial business.

Qualifications and desirable background

Degree or equivalent professional experience in engineering, project management, commercial management or a related discipline.

Chartered professional status or equivalent senior-level technical credibility is desirable.

Experience in biomethane, biogas, gas infrastructure, process plant, utilities or an adjacent low-carbon sector is strongly preferred.

Leadership attributes
Commercially ambitious, safety-led, decisive and collaborative. Builds trust through openness and consistency; welcomes constructive challenge; remains calm under pressure; and combines strategic thinking with attention to delivery detail.
Complexity
Generally speaking, are the typical problems encountered in this job....
Mostly routine, with straightforward, rehearsed/scripted solutions, or
Regularly non-routine / complex, with solutions requiring analysis, experience and knowledge.
20% a) and 80% b)
Describe a typical problem that the job holder is expected to deal with themselves.
Balancing growth, client commitments, project risk and scarce technical resources across a portfolio of live bids, £10-20 million capital projects and operational assets; resolving delivery or commercial issues while protecting safety, margin and long-term customer relationships.
Describe a typical problem that the job holder will need to seek advice on.
Material changes to business strategy, capital allocation or risk appetite; acceptance of exceptional contractual liabilities; major safety, legal or reputational risks; and decisions outside delegated authority.

Describe a typical problem that the job holder will need to escalate for someone else to deal with.
A serious process-safety event or emerging integrity concern; a forecast material loss or cash exposure; a major client dispute; or a strategic decision requiring group-level capital, legal or reputational approval.
What is the most difficult aspect of this job?
Creating profitable, repeatable growth in an evolving market while simultaneously maintaining safe, high-quality execution across projects and operating assets.
Does this job require someone who can think strategically / tactically?
Both. The role sets medium- and long-term growth strategy while remaining close enough to bids, clients, project delivery and operations to intervene decisively when required.
Impact
If the job holder 'gets things very right, or very wrong', how far reaching would this be inside SGN?
The role has material safety, financial, people and reputational impact. Effective leadership enables growth, protects delivery assurance and builds capability; poor decisions could expose the group to process-safety events, significant project losses, contractual claims, customer dissatisfaction or loss of key talent.
If the job holder 'gets things very right, or very wrong', how far reaching would this be outside SGN?
High external impact through client outcomes, contractor safety and performance, supply-chain relationships, industry reputation and confidence in the company's ability to deliver reliable biomethane infrastructure and services.

To what extent does the job directly contribute to departmental/company objectives?
Direct and substantial contribution to non-regulated growth, revenue, profitability, cash generation, safe delivery, customer satisfaction, organisational capability and the group's wider decarbonisation ambitions.
What timeframe does this job mainly operate within (ie. does it deal mainly with current, day-to-day issues, or deal regularly with long term change or strategic issues?)
Approximately 40% strategic growth and capability building, 40% project and operational oversight, and 20% immediate customer, people and commercial decisions.

Describe the most impactful decision(s) the job holder will typically make.
Which opportunities to pursue; bid and pricing strategy; contract and procurement positions; resource allocation across the portfolio; project-gate and commissioning decisions; intervention in underperforming projects or assets; and the organisation and capability required to deliver the growth plan.
Influence
Who does the job holder interact with within the business on a regular basis?
Executive leadership, finance, legal, procurement, safety, engineering assurance, operations, asset management, HR, strategy, regulation and gas-network colleagues.
Who does the job holder interact with outside the business on a regular basis?
Biomethane producers, water utilities, developers, investors, gas networks, equipment manufacturers, engineering and construction partners, pipeline contractors, advisers, industry bodies and other strategic partners.
How does the job holder interact with these stakeholders and to what level?(For example, are they exchanging information, building rapport, enhancing SGN reputation, handling complaints, influencing and persuading, conducting complex negotiations?)
Senior-level engagement involving relationship building, opportunity shaping, technical and commercial assurance, influencing, complex negotiation, issue resolution and protection of the company's reputation.

Resource - Who /what are they responsible for? (Use real numbers, values and examples if possible)
How many, if any, people does the job holder manage / supervise?
Approximately 20 people, including four direct reports, distributed across multiple locations and spanning engineering, project delivery, operations, asset management, commercial and business-development disciplines.
If so, describe at what level this management / supervision is undertaken (eg. do they deal with quality control, work allocation and planning, coaching, recruitment, 'hard' people management issues such as sickness absence, conduct, capability etc.?)
Full leadership accountability including organisation design, objective setting, resource planning, work allocation, performance management, coaching, succession, recruitment, employee relations, capability development and creation of an inclusive, accountable culture.
What value budget does the job holder set, manage or spend?
Accountable for the business unit's annual budget, forecast, revenue, margin and cash performance, and for capital-project commitments typically in the £10-20 million range. Exercises delegated authority for bids, contracts, procurement and project expenditure in line with corporate governance.
What assets / equipment does the job holder manage or control?
Oversight of biomethane process plant, gas clean-up and upgrading systems, grid-entry equipment, metering and control systems, associated utilities and customer interfaces, together with pipelines delivered or managed under project and service contracts.
What level of projects does the job holder manage or control?
A portfolio of complex, multi-disciplinary biomethane and green gas projects, commonly valued at £10-20 million, from opportunity and bid through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, handover and operational performance.