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 chance to collaborate with senior leaders across the Department of Transport (DfT) and the rail industry?

Would you like to be part of a team that is focused on delivering excellence for UK rail passengers?

If so, we are looking for a Governance and Engagement Officer to join our team, and we would love to hear from you.

Job description

This role sits within our Train Strategy and Operations Division, which is the home of expert analysis, advice and specialist support on rail industry operations. This is an essential part of understanding how the rail industry is performing and whether it is delivering the service passengers deserve.

As Governance and Engagement Officer, you will play a key supporting role in the delivery of the Division’s priorities by overseeing governance arrangements, and ensuring its work is adequately represented externally, by ministers and senior colleagues. You will provide advice and information and will lead on Parliamentary and ministerial business related to performance and train service policy.

In this role, you will be responsible for delivering a wide range of products, from briefing documents to annual and biannual updates, Board papers and contributions to Parliamentary reports. You will have the opportunity to work across the Department and with industry to understand the issues that affect the Division. This will include the development of new contractual arrangements with operators, the management of crisis situations, the introduction of new timetables and the in-life management of the operational aspects of train franchises.

This role provides a great opportunity for exposure whilst working with senior leaders and to develop insight and knowledge about the rail industry.  

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

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading on briefings for ministerial and senior meetings and events, a significant amount of Parliamentary and Ministerial business, and participating in briefings as necessary.
• Overseeing governance arrangements for the Division, including risk management.
• Overseeing engagement on performance and train service policy and leading the team’s engagement with the communications and press offices, seeking to capitalise on opportunities to promote a unified performance narrative.
• Maintaining the policy bank, a repository of documents that explain how performance and train service policy is set.
• Providing central support such as monitoring the work streams in which the Division is involved, coordinating learning activities or leading divisional recruitment campaigns when required.

Person specification

About you:

You will have excellent interpersonal skills to confidently build trusted relationships with specialist advisors and senior leaders across the Department and industry. You will have excellent communication and drafting skills to produce high-quality, succinct documents and Ministerial briefings, and participate in meetings when required.

You will be a team player and very organised, with the capability to coordinate multiple work streams and deliver results to tight deadlines.

You will display a high level of attention to detail, be comfortable working with technical data and be proficient working with IT systems.

Additional Information 

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.

Policy Profession Standards Framework

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 your experience, please tailor your CV and personal statement (maximum word count 750) to provide evidence of the following:

• Experience of drafting succinct documents/briefings.
• Experience of stakeholder management and engaging with senior leaders.
• Experience of handling multiple workloads to competing deadlines.

The sift is due to take place from 12/02/2024.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held week commencing 26/02/2024.

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 and a written policy 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.

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.