Addressing Black representation in the energy industry
At Octopus Energy, our mission is to drive the global renewable revolution and make green energy affordable for all. In order to succeed, we need to build a team that represents everyone in our society. Unfortunately, Black professionals make up < 2% of the energy workforce, which is a significant under-representation compared to the ethnic composition of the UK. To help address this, we have created an internship programme that is only open to candidates who identify with any Black, Black British, African or Caribbean background. We are committed to promoting equality, and this internship is an important step in our effort to foster greater diversity and inclusiveness in our business and industry.
Applications for all our internships will close on the 17th April.
This is our sixth year running the internship programme. You can hear from our past interns and learn about our previous internships.
We are an international energy supply company who put customers at the heart of everything we do. We empower our people to give outrageously good customer service, and endeavor to make energy fairer, more affordable, and more accessible for all. We are striving to halt the climate emergency by unlocking a smart, 100% green grid. We are using technology to transform the energy system; making electricity green and affordable, creating one-of-a-kind energy innovations.
Our work is powered by freedom, autonomy and responsibility. We won best company to work for in 2022 and were voted as one of the 50 best places to work in 2022 on Glassdoor. Our Group CEO, Greg, has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people - give it a listen to find out more about Octopus Energy!
Okay, so you have a CEO who spends a good deal of his time campaigning for cheaper greener energy, for an energy company who is breaking barriers with their renowned innovation. Within the company, you have people expertly crafting smart tariffs such as Shape Shifters Trio & Shape Shifters Agile , allowing customers to tap into unit rates that change every half hourly period of the day. With all the work behind the scenes - a global energy network consisting of Octopus Energy Generation, Octopus Electric Vehicles and Kraken Tech, the focus comes down to one thing:
How can we communicate all of this with our customers?
The answer is Operations. Without Operations, there is no clear way of bridging the gap between the customer and the supplier. Some would call Operations (also referred to as Ops) the heartbeat of Octopus Energy. This is where you come in.
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What you'll do:
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Talk to our small business customers over emails, resolving their queries
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Take full responsibility for all issues that you come across. You’ll be delivering end-to-end customer service
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Gain an insight into the hard work that goes into our renowned “Outrageously Good Customer Service”
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Work within our Business Operations team, designed to cover the many aspects of managing small business accounts. You’ll gain an insight into areas such as Billing, Complaints/Customer Happiness, Smart Metering and Vulnerability
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Learn about managing operations teams from our Business leadership team
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Utilise Kraken to navigate and manage the accounts of our customer base consisting of 100,000 businesses
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Showcase just how important Ops is when working with other departments within the company, such as Data, Marketing, and Pricing
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Attend exciting talks with key leaders across the business
What you'll need:
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Passion - In an ever-expanding work environment covering diverse customer needs spanning from debt management, to customers looking to chat about daily life, we need you to bring the same passion you have with other aspects of your life
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Resilience - The working week can be tough! It's important to be resilient when things get hard, so we can keep giving that great service no matter what.
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Accountability - You will be handling a range of queries, covering a broad range of subjects. We love accountability here - we give you full control in how you tackle these challenges which means things can go wrong. When things go wrong, we try again and make it right. This requires accountability for our actions
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Team Player - You will gain an insight into various teams that each function as their own “mini business”. Your actions will impact not only your daily life, but the functioning of your team, the results of your site, and your contribution to the success of the company
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Agile - You will need to be able to cope well with shifting priorities and keeping on top of multiple tasks at once as you will be working between two teams that have differing requirements
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*** IMPORTANT - HOW TO APPLY ***
Follow the link below to be taken to an application form where you will be prompted to 'Attach Resume/CV'. Please do not upload a CV. Instead, you should upload a cover letter made up of no more than 500 words. 🚀
This cover letter is your chance to stand out! We want to know about you, your passions, and why you think you would be a great fit for an internship at Octopus Energy. We don’t use CVs as we are more interested in what makes you tick than we are about the opportunities you have had up to this point.
It is really important that this cover letter is written by you and really tells us your story. By putting this into AI, your story will get lost. So, while we typically encourage efficient ways of working, please refrain from using AI for this task 🤖
This cover letter is the same for all our internships, so if you are applying for one or multiple positions, you will only need to write one. Please use the below brief of what to include:
- Before your skills and experience, we’re looking for the right kind of person – the kind who is utterly passionate about our mission and who thrives working how we work. So, please let us know why the Octopus Energy Group stands out to you? 🐙
- Tell us about yourself - who you are, what you are studying or have studied, what makes you…you?
- What do you think you could bring to an internship at Octopus Energy?
- Tell us about a time you went above and beyond to help someone else, not because you had to, but because it was the right thing to do.
- If we gave you a stage and 2 minutes to teach the company something, anything, that has nothing to do with energy, what would it be?
We want to ensure you have all the tools and environment you need to unleash your potential. Need any specific accommodations? Whether you require specific accommodations during your interview process or have a unique preference, let us know, and we'll do what we can to customise your interview process for comfort and maximum magic!
