About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Would you relish the opportunity to drive the delivery on the modernisation of digital signalling on our railways?

Are you passionate about building great work relationships with a range of stakeholders?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

Job description

Network Rail estimate that over the next 15 years, over two-thirds of signals on the rail network will need replacing. Digital signalling is the most cost-effective way to replace these signals and provides a wide range of other benefits. These include reducing the whole life cost of the railway, improving safety for workers and passengers, better performance for passenger and freight users, increased capacity to keep pace with demand and lower carbon emissions.

Our team sits within the Rail Environment and Digital division in the Rail Strategy and Services Group. We are a high performing team responsible for a varied portfolio of work across project and policy delivery. This includes the delivery of the first ever deployment of digital signalling on a mainline in the UK – the £1.9bn East Coast Digital Programme, and the delivery of the national strategy for the deployment of digital signalling.

Underpinning digital signalling is the telecoms infrastructure consisting of fibre optic communications and mobile connectivity along the rail network which enables operational connectivity, and potentially passenger connectivity too.

In this role you will use your project delivery experience to ensure that projects and programmes within the digital signalling portfolio are delivered to the highest standards of time and cost, supported by strong governance and management information.

This is an exciting role that provides the unique opportunity to sit in part of a wider joint portfolio management team with Network Rail, working collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders including train operating companies and other government departments to make digital railway a reality.

Responsibilities will include:

• Being a member of the Rail Environment and Digital team responsible for digital signalling and telecoms policy, developing policies for the long-term future of signalling, and integrating with telecoms requirements.
• Stakeholder engagement – ensuring the timely, accurate flow of information and discussion between partners such as Network Rail & Network Rail Telecoms, train operators, other government departments etc.
• Project management – reviewing business case development, checking progress on portfolio delivery, risks and milestones.
• Overseeing R&D.
• Leading on briefing & submissions.

If you would like to find out more about what it's like to work at DfT Rail, please click here.

Further information on policy roles in the Department can be found here https://careers.dft.gov.uk/senior-policy-roles/”

Person specification

About you

This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate and motivated leader, with a blend of policy and programme delivery experience. You will have effective decision-making skills, the ability to think strategically and enjoy proactively taking the initiative to find solutions to problems and you are not afraid to challenge.

You will have excellent interpersonal skills, be a strong communicator, and someone who champions engagement and gains rapport quickly with others to build effective working relationships with your colleagues across Government and key industry partners.

Understanding of the rail sector and 4G/5G technology would be beneficial but is not essential.  

Further information:

You will have the option to be based in our London office attracting the London salary, or in Leeds or Birmingham attracting the National salary. If based in Leeds or Birmingham, occasional travel to our London office will be required for key meetings and team events.

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. Occasional travel to other DfT offices will be required.

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance. 

Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role. Please tailor your CV to match the role and its responsibilities and within your Personal Statement please provide detailed evidence of your:

• Experience of having worked as a client, sponsor, or project manager within the development and delivery of medium- or large-scale projects and programmes in a fast-paced and complex environment.
• Experience of engaging with internal and external stakeholders to identify the main issues, risks and generate solutions to ensure a project/programme was delivered in a timely manner and within budget.

You are also required to provide two Behaviour Statements (max 250 words each) demonstrating evidence for Seeing the Big Picture and Making Effective Decisions.   

When writing your statements, it may be helpful to use the STAR approach to show examples of specific instances where you have met these criteria. That is:

Situation - Describe the situation you found yourself in?
Task - What was the task that you had to complete and why?
Action - What did you personally do?
Result – What was the result of your actions? 

If you are shortlisted, you will first be invited to complete a written policy exercise which will take approximately 75 minutes, details will be sent to you beforehand. The written exercise will be conducted online and will be used to assess your ability as noted on the Role Profile against level 2 of the Policy Profession Standards, Policy Profession Descriptors.

Candidates will then progress onto a video interview.

The sift is due to take place from 01 March 2024.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held from 14 March 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

• An interview
• A written exercise

This interview could be conducted online via Teams or face to face at one of our offices. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.