Why you should join the Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage Directorate at DESNZ

by Leanne Pallott, Chief of Staff for the Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage directorate

A bit about me...

I’m the Chief of Staff to the Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) Programme here at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and have been in post since the end of July. My role looks at finance, resourcing, recruiting, people wellbeing, stakeholder management and ministerial engagement to work up options for any improvements for how best to shape all central functions. I work with stakeholders across the Programme to identify and analyse emerging issues for resolution and horizon scanning for future issues and report these to the Programme SROs and Senior Management team.

How did I get here…

My previous experience has been quite varied. Following graduation from the University of York with an MA in Politics, I started out as a speechwriter for the Leader of the City of London Corporation, moved on to working in the House of Lords and House of Commons as a Researcher, then on to Ofgem to work first as a Senior PA and then progressing to Executive Advisor to the CEO. I then made the move over to the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as Head of Public Appointments, then to Head of PMO and then Chief of Staff for the COO. In my personal life, I am a Mum to 3 lovely little boys and decided to take the plunge and move to part time working once I returned from my most recent maternity leave. That’s when I joined the CCUS directorate as Chief of Staff.

The Team…

Since joining the Directorate, everyone has been extremely welcoming and friendly. We have such an inclusive culture that really focuses on people’s wellbeing and work life balance. With my transition from full time to part time working, I’ve found the team to be extremely supportive and mindful of my working pattern. They helped to alleviate any concerns I had and really helped to support me with learning to juggle 3 small children whilst maintaining my work ambitions. We have weekly Directorate huddles along with weekly team meetings which include updates across Government, work within the Programme and wider work going on across the Department. These meetings are a great way of bringing the team together both virtually and in the office to ensure that we work together collaboratively and creates that sense of unity within the Directorate. After coming from a Private Office in my previous position, I’ve really enjoyed the ‘team’ feeling that there is in the CCUS Directorate.

So why join CCUS?...

?Whilst working on one of the top 5 major government programmes, we are in the forefront regarding innovation with our vision being to make the UK a global leader in CCUS, creating a sustainable CCUS sector in all of our industrial heartlands that supports thousands of jobs and reduces emissions to ensure a better environment for future generations. We focus on being bold, collaborative, inclusive and pride ourselves on pushing Learning and Development. If you’re looking for a brilliant team ethos and getting stuck in on a major government programme, then this is the place for you!

You can apply for jobs in our CCUS directorate or across the rest of DESNZ by following this link.