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.

Do you want to lead development of some of the Department for Transport’s most high-profile statistics?

Are you interested in helping to develop the evidence base for the always important policy area of road safety?

Do you have experience in working with data using coding languages, and of presenting and visualising results for different audiences?

If so, then this is the perfect role for you!

Job description

The road safety statistics team manages the collection, publication and dissemination of road casualty statistics, which are among the most widely used of any of the Department for Transport’s statistical series and support one of its most high-profile policy areas with a wide range of internal and external users.

This is an exciting time to join the team, with a new road safety strategic framework imminent, and the team’s statistics used to inform high-profile policy areas including on e-scooters, drink and drug driving, and driver seatbelt wearing and mobile phone use. 

The team also has a stretching programme of work to develop data collection, publication and dissemination pipelines to improve the efficiency of the team’s processes and help to develop the road safety evidence base.

This is a wide-ranging role which will including leading a range of projects covering both data collection and analysis as well as publication and visualisation, in addition to supporting the team’s wider work.  The broad range of the team’s work means that it is possible to tailor the precise responsibilities to match the preferences of the successful candidate to some extent.

Key responsibilities of the role are likely to include:

• Contributing to the team’s annual road casualty statistics publications, including leading two statistical releases, project managing inputs from colleagues within the team. 
• Leading continuous improvement of elements of the team’s publications, using a reproducible analytical pipelines approach and version control software to improve efficiency and quality assurance.
• Leading on production of the team’s new casualty dashboard (using R Shiny) and work within the team on seeking new ways to disseminate data online.
• Developing linkage of the team's data to other sources to improve the road safety evidence base and reduce data collection burdens.
• Contributing to the team’s work to support users of road casualty statistics including statistical support to the high-profile Think! campaign team, briefing policy colleagues, PQs and official enquiries.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About You

In this role, you will:

• Work with team members to produce high-quality statistics, used by policy makers in their decisions and published by the Department as National and official statistics.
• use your data, statistical and coding skills to present and disseminate data and analysis, outlining findings clearly alongside the limitations of the data, in many cases to a non-technical audience.
• work collaboratively with policymakers and other analysts in the Department, as well as external stakeholders.

You will need to be someone who has experience in working with data in spreadsheets and databases, including the ability to use a coding language, for example SQL or R.  You will also be able to present and visualise data effectively, and be comfortable working with a range of people and colleagues to deliver results.

Additional information

A minimum of 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. 

There will be travel involved with this role, this will include attending meetings and team away days. This is likely to occur every couple of months.

Please note: If you are not a current member of the Government Statistical Service and are successful in this recruitment campaign, you will be required to complete a statistical test whilst in post. We will provide you with the support and training you need to support you with completing this test whilst in post.

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

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role, please tailor your CV to match the role and its responsibilities. Within your Personal Statement (Personal statement to be no more than 750 words) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

• Experience in working with, manipulating, and extracting data for analytical purposes from databases (using a coding language, for example SQL or R) as well as spreadsheets.
• Experience in presenting and visualising data (for example in reports, tabulations and charts) to communicate messages effectively to a range of users.
• Experience of managing projects/tasks to deliver quality outputs within a specified timescale.

The sift is due to take place from Tuesday 2nd April 2024.

Interviews are likely to be held from Monday 15th April 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

This interview will be conducted online via MS Teams. 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, DfT is 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.

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.

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.

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.