- Contract type: Two years, subject to funding in Year 2
- Hours: Full time role but we are open to part time arrangements
- Location: Hwb y Gors, Cwmgors, S. Wales SA18 1RF with opportunity for some home working
- Salary: £25,000 – £35,000 (dependent on experience/qualifications)
- Closing Date: Friday 5th September
- Interview Date: Thursday 11th September
- Start date: As soon as possible
About the role
Awel Aman Tawe (AAT) is a leading charity and social enterprise working to create a fair, affordable, and clean energy system. We’re making a better future by tackling fuel poverty, improving cold, damp homes and increasing renewable energy generation in the Upper Swansea and Amman Valley. We need a compassionate, value-led and self-motivated person to work in the following:
- Fuel poverty prevention – supporting local people in, or at risk of, fuel poverty and living in cold, damp homes.
- Energy efficiency, renewables and upgrading homes – enabling the installation of simple measures and major retrofit works to improve energy efficiency in homes and buildings
- Undertake energy surveys in a domestic and non-domestic setting
Depending on experience, this role may include a management responsibility for the other members of our energy advice team.
About you
You need to be a people person. You take pride in the work you do and the quality of the relationships you build. Our service is person-centred, and people accessing it often live in vulnerable circumstances and may have additional needs when engaging. It is important that you have an inclusive outlook and an ability to share your knowledge in an accessible way.
We provide full training, so you do not need to arrive with experience of working in energy-related advice. This role has a broad pay scale and we are open to applications from people with different levels of skills and experience. Experience of casework is helpful for working in the Advice team, as it is a key part of your role. Experience of learning and communicating about technical subjects. An Advisor provides advice face-to-face, over the telephone, in the community and in homes and this should be exciting to you. You should have a passion for partnership working, be curious, have advanced listening skills and thrive in environments where you tackle issues alongside people.
You need to have the ability to record and document, and make applications, in writing and online, on behalf of clients.
Responsibilities:
- Supporting the delivery of telephone and face to face advice to local people, on how to improve their home and increase confidence in managing risk of fuel poverty and its impacts on wellbeing.
- Help organise events and training for householders and volunteers
- Undertake household energy surveys, identifying current insulation levels and the heating system(s)
- Identifying damp and mould issues.
- Referring clients to relevant Heating and insulation schemes to further improve the efficiency of their home.
- Tariff, Fuel debt and Smart meter advice
- Onward referrals to other organisations when required.
- Undertaking or organising installation of simple energy efficiency measures for some local more vulnerable residents such as low energy light bulbs, radiator reflector panels, plugging in emergency heating, under door draught excluders, and so on.
- Work alongside other Retrofit Assessors, Retrofit Coordinators and help develop AAT’s supply chain partners to deliver more complex improvements to the energy performance of residents’ homes.
- Supporting the administration of grant awards for physical measures and the associated management of residents’ financial information in a secure and confidential manner.
- Maintaining AAT’s client database, through keeping accurate data records for each case.
- Supporting the implementation and evolution of AAT’s organisational systems. E.g., care and support, decision making, IT.
- Acting as an advocate for AAT and contributing to its overall aims.
Person Specification
Attributes and qualities:
- Friendly, with excellent interpersonal skills and a sympathetic manner.
- Empathic with a strong interest in helping people to improve their circumstances
- Able to work well independently and in a team
- Able to remain calm and solution-focused when supporting residents in vulnerable circumstances, who may be distressed.
- Ability to travel independently in our semi-rural area and with a current driving licence.
- Ability to climb a short ladder and undertake ‘head and shoulders’ inspections of loft insulation through the loft hatch (where accessible)
- Willingness to apply for a DBS check.
- A strong administrator; with good attention to detail.
- A clear communicator within the team
- Willingness to undertake City & Guilds Level 3 Energy Awareness training and exam, as prerequisite for giving energy advice as part of the service.
- Interest in undertaken Domestic Energy and Retrofit Assessor training (both courses will be funded by AAT)
- Welsh speaker or willingness to learn Welsh and support the Welsh language
- Management experience or willingness to train and develop into this role??
- An understanding of the Neath Port Talbot and surrounding areas and the fuel poverty issues facing community members
For the potential additional Management role, we will be seeking:
- An excellent written and verbal communicator with ability to represent AAT and its ethos at a local and national level.
- Competent in core project management skills around financial, stakeholder, and risk management.
- Project and/or business development experience involving building concepts, assembling project teams and funding cases
- Develop business relationships with local stakeholders including but not limited to support agencies, building owners and local supply chain
- Carrying out high quality tasks accurately and in a fast-paced environment
- Supporting colleagues and team members to meet agreed deadlines and targets
- The ability to build business relationships in person and while remote working with people from wide a range of backgrounds.
- Degree or equivalent professional experience in a related subject
- Demonstrate substantive experience in one or more of the following technical areas:
- Renewable generation projects including financial modelling
- Building energy efficiency
- Management of resident and/or business facing energy advice services
- Project and/or business development experience involving building concepts, assembling project teams and funding cases
- Budget management
Our employment offer
- Contract type: Two years, subject to funding in Year 2
- Hours: Full time role but we are open to part time arrangements
- Location: Hwb y Gors, Cwmgors, S. Wales SA18 1RF with opportunity for some home working
- Salary: £25,000 – £35,000 (dependent on experience/qualifications)
We can offer flexible working to suit individual circumstances and a friendly, supportive and rewarding working environment. This includes:
- 25 days leave per annum plus bank holidays for full-time working.
- Ethical Pension scheme with a 5% salary contribution being matched by AAT.
- Flexible Working practices (full time hours are 37.5 per week, Monday – Friday).
Positions are open to all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of age, disability, gender, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
Application process:
Applications must comprise a CV and covering letter. AAT is a special place to work and it’s important for us to understand clearly why you want to be part of our team and our charity as well as what you feel you can bring. Please ensure you describe fully your motivations and suitability for the role with reference to the expectations set out in this job description.
Please email your application to croeso@awel.coop. Please put Energy Advisor/Manager in the subject heading.
- Closing Date: Friday 5th September
- Interview Date: Thursday 11th September
- Start date: As soon as possible
About Awel Aman Tawe
Summary
Awel Aman Tawe (AAT) is a charity which was set up in 1998 based in Neath Port Talbot on the western end of the coalmining valleys in South Wales. Cwmgors, the village in which we are based is amongst the 10% most deprived communities in the UK (according to the Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation). Twelve similar villages are included within the Upper Amman and Swansea Valley area which is our geographical focus.
Our prime drivers are tackling climate change, job creation, retaining wealth in the local economy and engaging people in energy. We have set up and manage two co-ops (Community Benefit Societies) and are involved in a number of other projects. Surplus from the co-ops and other income has enabled the charity to create 19 FTE jobs to date and a range of community projects.
- Awel Co-op, is a 4.7MW community wind farm which was commissioned in Jan 2017. It was funded by a £5.25m loan from Triodos Bank and a £3m community share offer. We are going to be building a 2.6MWp solar farm and 300 kW battery in the autumn 2025 which will share the wind farm’s grid connection to maximise overall generation from our site.
- Egni Co-op develops rooftop solar on schools, businesses and community buildings. It has installed 5 MWp on nearly 100 sites in Wales. Egni has raised £5m from a community share offer and £2.12m from the Development Bank of Wales to fund the installs which are ongoing. The 2024 turnover was £900k and we saved our sites £257k in electricity costs (£312k in 2023 due to sites paying very high prices to their main suppliers). We prevented more than 1,000 tonnes in carbon emissions. In 2024, we won a tender with Pembrokeshire County Council to install solar on 20 schools and 4 leisure centres.
- ‘Y Bryn’ Shared Ownership https://www.ybryn-windfarm.cymru/ : We have a 20% stake (£30m) in a 130 MW wind farm near Port Talbot. We are working in partnership with Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Service (NPTCVS) and Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisations (BAVO). We have a co-op model to deliver both community benefit funds and shared ownership. Y Bryn is being developed by Coriolis/ESB. We signed MOUs in June 2022 and the project was submitted for planning in December 2023.
- Mynydd Fforch Dwm Shared Ownership https://mfdwindfarm.co.uk/: we have a 17% stake in a 35MW wind and solar farm near the village of Tonmawr, Neath Port Talbot. We are working in partnership with NPTCVS. We signed MOUs in July 2023 and the project secured planning permission in December 2024.
- Hwb y Gors: We are also developing Hwb y Gors, the former village primary school, into a low carbon social enterprise, arts and education venue in the Cwmgors, north of Swansea. It includes a café, arts and education facilities, office accommodation, community transport and car club, and community garden. The site incorporates a sustainable drainage (SUDs) scheme on the former playground, 90kW of solar, a 50 kW ground source heat pump, chargepoints and battery storage. Work is being funded by £2m of grant, loan and community shares funding from the Lottery, Welsh Government, WCVA, Egni Co-op, Moondance Foundation, Transforming Towns, Garfield Weston, Morel Trust, the Landfill Tax, Awel Aman Tawe and others. A film of the refurbishment can be seen here. We will be opening in September
- Climate Change Education: we employ an Education Officer who works with over 40 schools across South Wales to further reduce carbon emissions through arts, music and energy campaign activities. We work in partnership with another charity, Energy Sparks who have a data portal which includes school electricity, gas and solar. On average last year, our work saved £3k for a primary school (12.8t/CO2) and £12k (48 t/CO2) for a secondary in energy costs[1]. Examples of our work in Pembrokeshire schools can be seen here and an energy rap can be seen here.
- Smart Energy Systems: Egni Co-op has been awarded £1m by the Ynni Cymru scheme. We are currently installing batteries and EV chargepoints at schools and other council sites in Newport and Pembrokeshire where we already have rooftop solar. The aim is to utilise as much of our solar electricity onsite as possible and reduce export to the grid.
- Community Transport: we have four electric and three petrol vehicles and work with vulnerable groups in SW Wales to enable them to access services and support. In particular, we work with people with learning difficulties, disabilities, carers and the elderly. One of the vehicles has a wheelchair ramp. A video of our work with Your Voice Advocacy clients by West Glamorgan Regional Partnership can be seen here.
- Fuel Poverty: we have two Energy Advisors who offer energy advice to local householders and support them to apply for grants for renewables and energy improvements to their homes.
- Tourism, heritage and community facilities: we have recently bought the former Guardsman pub which had been repossessed. We are looking to refurbish it as accommodation for students and tutors on Hwb y Gors workshops, and wider tourism. We also hope to re-open the pub, with a community focus. We bought it as it is one of the oldest buildings in the villages, built in 1883, and a key part of local heritage and a community space.
- Electric car club: we are part of a consortium across Wales and are developing a community electric car club in our area https://www.trydani.org/