Senior Data Analyst, Geospatial

THE ROLE

As a Senior Data Analyst in NextEnergy Group’s Data & AI team you will lead geospatial analytics projects, mentor junior analysts and deliver high-impact insights across climate, nature and social themes. You will partner with the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) Team and wider business stakeholders; design and maintain robust spatial datasets; develop and manage web based GIS applications; and apply spatial analysis to support due diligence across UK and international investment portfolios. Through the establishment of standardised geospatial processes, auditable data workflows and high quality visualisations, you will strengthen the organisation’s evidence base for ESG reporting and decision making. By delivering actionable insights to stakeholders you will be supporting the company’s digital transformation and sustainability goals. This role is central to our strategy to become a data-driven, technology-led and AI-infused enterprise.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Analytics & Insight Generation: Lead spatial and environmental analysis across ESG topics, integrating survey, CAD, consultant and public datasets to identify constraints, risks and opportunities, and translating complex geospatial data into clear, actionable insight for senior stakeholders.
• Reporting & Visualisation: Design, build and maintain dashboards, web applications and high‑quality cartographic outputs (ArcGIS Online, ESRI), ensuring spatial data is visualised clearly, accurately and in line with best‑practice data storytelling for both operational and strategic reporting.
• Mentorship & Best Practice: Champion geospatial data quality, governance and continuous improvement by managing spatial databases, standardising workflows, documenting processes and mentoring junior analysts, fostering a culture of technical excellence, knowledge sharing and continuous learning
• Data Collection & Management: Working with Data Engineering & Data Governance when relevant, own and actively manage spatial and ESG‑related datasets for analysis, ensuring data quality, integrity and compliance with GDPR and other regulation
• Process Automation: Identify opportunities to automate & transform analytics & reporting processes to improve efficiency & scalability
• Collaboration: Work closely with business stakeholders across the group to understand requirements, deliver solutions and support cross-functional projects
• Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: Consistently document geospatial methodologies, analytical workflows and outputs, producing clear guidance and process documentation to support transparency, reproducibility and effective knowledge sharing across the wider team.
• Data Quality & Governance: Support data governance initiatives by validating geospatial datasets, maintaining metadata, and ensuring compliance with internal standards and external regulatory and ESG reporting requirements.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay current with industry trends, analytics best practices & emerging technologies. Proactively suggest enhancements to processes & tools/

ABOUT US

NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market participant in the international solar sector.  Since its inception, it has been active in the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets across multiple jurisdictions.  NextEnergy Group operates via its three business units: NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy (Operating Asset Management), and Starlight (Asset Development). 

NextEnergy Capital manages the Group's investment activities and has invested in over 520 solar plants, exceeding 2GW in capacity across its institutional funds. * NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF): Listed on the London Stock Exchange, NESF manages 102 solar and energy storage assets in the UK and Italy, with a total installed capacity of 983MW and a gross asset value of £1,014m. * NextPower II (NPII): A private fund of 105 solar plants (149MW) focused on Italy, successfully divested in January 2022, delivering net IRRs exceeding its 10-12% target. * NextPower III ESG (NPIII ESG): A private fund targeting solar infrastructure in OECD countries (e.g., US, Spain, Italy), with $896m raised, exceeding its $750m target. * NextPower UK ESG (NPUK ESG): A private fund dedicated to new-build solar plants in the UK, with ~£600m raised. * NextPower V ESG (NPV ESG): A private OECD solar fund investing in solar and adjacent technologies like battery storage. To date, it has raised $745m, targeting $1.5bn ($2bn ceiling).

WiseEnergy® is NextEnergy Group’s operating asset manager.  WiseEnergy is a leading specialist operating asset manager in the solar sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset management, monitoring, technical due diligence and under construction services to over 1,500 utility-scale solar power plants with an installed total capacity in excess of 3.4 GW.  WiseEnergy clients comprise leading banks and equity financiers in the energy and infrastructure sector.  

Starlight is NextEnergy Group’s development company that is active in the development phase of solar projects.  It has developed over 100 utility-scale projects internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.10GW of both green and brownfield project developments across global geographies. 

NextSTEP is the venture capital fund of NextEnergy Group, dedicated to investing in innovative startups in the field of environmental sustainability. The fund primarily focuses on investments in Italy and the United Kingdom but also extends its reach to the rest of Europe and the United States, targeting startups in the pre-seed and seed stages. NextSTEP pays particular attention to emerging entities from incubators, startup accelerators, universities, and research centers, supporting projects that address global challenges in crucial areas such as Climate Change, Energy Transition, CO2 Capture and Sequestration, Circular Economy, Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Fashion, Waste Management, Water and much more. 

NextEnergy Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2016 by the NextEnergy Group that operates internationally and whose mission is to proactively participate in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions by providing clean energy sources in regions where they are not yet available and thereby contributing to poverty reduction. As the main sponsor of this foundation, the NextEnergy Group donates at least 5% of its consolidated net profits each year. The NextEnergy Foundation has no overhead costs and therefore 100% of the funds raised go to donations for the various projects. Since 2016, in 8 years of operation the foundation has donated more than £1.2 million, supporting over 30 projects in 27 different countries around the world.

WHAT WE OFFER

• A busy role in a supportive team, with plenty of opportunities to learn
• International scope – we operate in over 8 countries
• Hybrid working 
• Competitive base salary and annual discretionary bonus.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate: * Technical Excellence: Advanced proficiency in geospatial platforms (ESRI, QGIS,). Experience with SQL & Excel for data manipulation and with data visualisation tools (e.g. PowerBI). Familiarity with Python, FME and cloud data platforms (e.g. Snowflake) * Storytelling: Confidence building a story around data insights as well as communicating this with business stakeholders in an understandable and engaging manner * Analytical & Problem Solving: Ability to interpret complex data and generate actionable insights. Strong attention to detail and commitment to data quality * Business Acumen: Understanding of the business processes in at least one of our data domains e.g. Asset Management, Investment Management, ESG & GIS * Leadership & Collaboration: Proven ability to mentor junior analysts and lead cross-functional projects * Time management & prioritization skills- things can get a little hectic, so the ability to effectively manage yourself and your workload is critical * Excellent communication skills in English (additional European languages are a bonus) - you must be able to organize your thoughts in a way that others find clear and compelling. Translating & presenting complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. You will be expected to together well-written, grammatically correct emails and other communications. When communicating verbally * Flexibility- being an effective team player means being flexible in your approach and open to getting involved with new things, even if they are not spelt out in your job description. * Intellectual Curiosity – we are looking for someone who is truly interested in our profession and has the intellectual curiosity to delve deep into topics and bring fresh ideas to the team. * Delivery focus – it may sound obvious, but the ability to proactively churn through work at pace and deliver quality outputs matters * Passion for our mission ‘to generate a more sustainable future by leading the transition to clean energy * Our values: be a leader, build trust, be responsible, be innovative and ‘bring your alpha’.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor’s or Masters degree in Geography, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) or relevant environmental or technical field or alternative relevant educational achievements (e.g. apprenticeships, arts degrees + work experience)
• 4-6 years of experience in data analytics or a similar role
• Dashboard design (PowerBI & Thoughtspot), remote sensing and image processing skills in context of environmental applications and assessment desirable. 
• Experience in geospatial data management and data engineering.
• Experience with ESRI products, including ArcGIS Pro, AGOL Web Maps, Application, Dashboards, Story Boards.
• Familiarity with CAD based software (e.g. AutoCAD), Web-based GIS technologies, coding (Python, R) as well as other desktop GIS software (e.g. FME, QGIS). 
• Experience in renewables/environmental/social assessments and across development, construction and operation stages.
• The right to work in the UK or Italy