Robust Decision Making Toolkit – Delivered by the STEER Centre, Loughborough University
Background
While all countries face the urgent challenge of climate change, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) encounter even greater obstacles. Launched in 2021, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) Climate Compatible Growth programme (CCG) supports LMICs in strengthening climate action and mobilising finance to shift investment pathways. CCG develops open-source analytical tools, datasets and modelling workflows – including OSeMOSYS and CLEWs (Climate, Land, Energy and Water systems) – and creates research with local partners to support national energy and climate planning.
OSeMOSYS and CLEWs, integrated with Decision-Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU) techniques, help governments navigate the uncertainties inherent in long-term planning for climate, energy, power systems, and water. These approaches identify strategies that are resilient across a wide range of plausible futures, adaptive as conditions evolve, and created with the institutions responsible for implementing them. Previous work led by Professor Jairo Quiros-Tortos, CCG Deputy Director and Professor of Practice – Sustainable Transitions, has established the analytical foundation for national climate finance across more than 20 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, including Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa, informing over $11 billion in climate finance in partnership with multilateral development banks.
Robust Decision Making (RDM) is central to this capability: a transparent way to stress-test strategies across thousands of plausible futures rather than relying on a single forecast. Building on CCG’s deliberative-modelling best practice (Plazas-Niño et al. 2025), Professor Jairo is leading the development of an open-access, model-agnostic RDM toolkit and workflow that connects scenario generation, exploratory modelling, vulnerability discovery, and trade-off visualisation, with open Python and Jupyter components that are model-agnostic by design by coupling to any energy or CLEWs-type model through a standard interface, rather than being tied to a single modelling framework.
The initial phase delivers one practical RDM workflow, a limited set of open software tools, two worked examples, introductory teaching material, and testing, release, and documentation – designed as a reusable global public good and to support HMG (including DESNZ) and international partners in stress-testing net-zero and energy-security strategies. This Terms of Reference covers the RDM Capacity-Building lead responsible for the two worked examples; the core teaching material is delivered under a separate ToR.
Objective of the Assignment
To develop the two worked examples that demonstrate the RDM workflow end-to-end, so that researchers and policymakers can see it applied to representative cases, and to package them for use in demonstration workshops and training. The core teaching material is delivered under a separate ToR; this role focuses on the applied, hands-on demonstrations.
Scope of Work
The consultant will be responsible for:
- Worked Examples – Build two end-to-end worked examples that demonstrate the full RDM workflow on representative energy / CLEWs-type cases, delivered as clear, annotated Jupyter notebooks.
- Alignment with Toolkit and Teaching Material – Ensure the examples exercise the open RDM toolkit and align with the core teaching material (delivered under a separate ToR), so learners can move from concepts to applied practice.
- Workshop and Pilot Packaging – Organise the worked examples for use in open demonstration workshops and the stretch-phase international training pilot, with concise accompanying guidance.
- Accessibility and Reuse – Ensure the examples are open, reproducible, and reusable as a global public good.
Expected Deliverables
The consultant will deliver the following (timelines to be confirmed on contracting):
| Deliverable | Description | Timeline |
| Two worked examples | Two end-to-end, annotated Jupyter-notebook examples applying the RDM workflow across different energy modelling frameworks | [Month 3] |
| Workshop / pilot-ready packaging | The worked examples organised for demonstration workshops and the stretch-phase training pilot, with brief accompanying guidance. | [Month 3] |
Coordination and Oversight
The assignment is led and delivered by Loughborough University, under the direction of Prof Jairó Quirós-Tortós, and forms part of the RDM workstream within CCG. The consultant will work closely with the RDM Implementation Specialist and Prof Jairó Quirós-Tortós, participate in regular technical reviews, and coordinate with the other RDM roles (Implementation Specialist, Developer, teaching-material and worked-examples leads) to ensure the toolkit, teaching material, and worked examples remain aligned. Deliverables will be subject to quality-assurance review before open-source release.
Duration and Commitment
The assignment covers an estimated delivery of the two worked examples within the current financial year, with start and end dates to be confirmed at contracting. The total commitment is expected to be 50 work-days. The consultant is expected to be available for scheduled technical reviews and, where relevant, demonstration workshops. Flexibility to respond to iterative feedback is essential; a stretch phase (subject to further funding) may extend the work into a fuller technical package and international training pilot.
Required Qualifications
The consultant should have the following qualifications:
- A bachelor’s/undergraduate degree in environmental science, energy, engineering or a related scientific or technical field
- Experience building worked examples, tutorials, or demonstration notebooks, ideally in energy modelling or DMDU/RDM.
- Ability to build clear, annotated Jupyter-based examples that run reproducibly end-to-end.
- Sound grasp of RDM/DMDU concepts and of energy / CLEWs-type models (e.g. OSeMOSYS) sufficient to demonstrate the workflow.
- Attention to accessibility and reproducibility, and ability to align examples with an evolving software toolkit and teaching material.
- Ability to work as part of a small technical team.
Expressions of interest
You are invited to submit the following:
- A CV
- A support statement providing detailed evidence of meeting the mandatory requirements for the position
- Confirmation that you have or are able to obtain professional insurance cover
Please submit your expression of interest to Clare McGuire on C.McGuire@lboro.ac.uk by 5pm on 6 November 2026.