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 embrace the opportunity for close ministerial working at various Bill stages, working with technical experts in their field, particularly in HS2 Ltd?

Do you enjoy collaborating with a range of diverse stakeholders, quickly forging positive relationships?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity available and would love to hear from you!

Job description

The Government is committed to investing in the country’s infrastructure to improve productivity, level up our regions and provide low carbon transport. Whilst the Network North announcement made clear that Government would no longer build HS2 to Manchester, the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill has been adapted and carried over in order to deliver the parts of the scheme required for the building of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).

As Environment Lead, you will join the Consents and Environment Division at a crucial juncture for the NPR new railway programme, and will be responsible for key elements of policy development related to the new railway programme, in particular NPR’s environmental strategy. This hybrid Bill is about to be remitted to a Select Committee to consider its private elements, namely individual petitions. In the medium term you will be responsible for oversight of Bill scheme environmental assessments to be undertaken by HS2 Ltd, and we can expect Bill petition management of environmental stakeholders to be a key part of this role.

Working as part of a close knit, high performing, and friendly team, you will have opportunity for close ministerial working at various Bill stages, working with technical experts in their field, and liaising with stakeholders both within and outside of Government to obtain their buy-in to your policy solutions. This will include leading on a range of stakeholder relationships on environmental issues, your development and maintenance of which will directly feed into the success of the railway programme and the Bill’s passage through Parliament.

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

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading for DfT on working with HS2 Ltd to develop the responses to the petitions of key strategic environmental stakeholders.
• Working with colleagues on cross-cutting (mainly environmental) workstreams and interdependencies, both within NPR and across the Department, for example to resolve trade-offs between different policy areas.
• Leading on the development and delivery of key strategic environmental and wider policy across the NPR programme. This will include working closely with policy leads from the other HS2 phases, the Group and the cross-DfT strategic environment team on carbon net zero and biodiversity net gain policies.
• Considering what the future environmental approach for NPR as a project looks like, and exploring whether HS2 Ltd or other delivery partners can work in different ways with DfT to deliver the right level of environmental assessment and commitment in the most cost effective and efficient way.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About you

You will be politically astute and have an environmental interest and awareness, with the ability to identify common themes and emerging issues as they arise. You will be highly organised with the ability to effectively handle numerous priorities, whilst successfully delivering through others. You will be able to quickly get to grips with complex and fast-moving areas, and work effectively and efficiently across a breadth of issues.

You will have excellent interpersonal skills and will enjoy collaborating with colleagues across DfT, HS2 Ltd and with other government departments. You will have the ability to quickly develop positive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, supporting in achieving progress on shared objectives.

You will be an articulate and confident communicator, both verbally and in writing, with the ability to clearly convey complex issues and propose action to address problem areas in a way that is easily understood.

Additional Information

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in London, and will be required to attend committee sessions in Parliament, which can sometimes run into the evening. Whilst you may be required to attend Parliament/ministerial meetings at short notice, the team has a strong culture of flexible working and inclusion and works hard to ensure that we support each other in managing the demands of a Bill. We would also expect the individual to be willing to travel to visit different locations relevant to the route on a regular basis.

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. 

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement, for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 26 hours per week.

If you would like to find out more about what it’s like to work within the DfT Policy Profession, please click here - https://careers.dft.gov.uk/policy/

You will be assessed against the Technical element of the Success Profile Framework. Two Policy Profession Standards are being assessed: Policy profession standards - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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, and within your CV and Personal Statement (maximum 1000 words) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

• Ability to build strong working relationships with internal teams, delivery bodies and external departments, to deliver quality outputs in a timely fashion.
• Ability to identify and consider key information from a range of sources, to inform decision making.
• Ability to juggle numerous priorities and have a well-developed sense of the best ways to deliver through others.
• Being politically astute and environmentally aware, able to identify common themes and emerging issues as they arise.

The sift is due to take place from 10/06/2024.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held from 24/06/2024.

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 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.

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.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.