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.  

Are you an experienced research professional?

Do you enjoy working with a variety of people?

If so, we have 2 exciting, varied roles where you will work with significant high value projects, and we would like you to apply.

Job description

Social research and evaluation at the DfT are about applying established and innovative methods to high-profile, national policy challenges. This includes improving transport for users, levelling up the UK and reducing transport emissions for the Net Zero carbon agenda.

Transport matters: it doesn’t just help people get around, it helps them get on, and will play a critical role in delivering the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda.

That’s why the work of the DfT is so important. Transport is part of all our lives, and the Department knows that robust evidence is key to successful policy development and delivery. This is an exciting time to join the DfT as we have a challenging and innovative agenda to deliver.

There are two Senior Research Officer roles available, these are:

Senior Research Officer - Local Infrastructure Evaluation (1 role)

The postholder will support the Head of Local Infrastructure Evaluation to deliver a programme of high profile and complex evaluations of local transport funds, involving evaluation contracts worth over £2.5 million in total, and covering process, impact and value for money strands. This portfolio of work is of significant interest to key stakeholders including HMT and the Evaluation Taskforce and is also highly relevant to DfT’s strategic priorities.

This role will involve close working with policy customers in a dynamic environment to identify research and evidence needs and ensure that findings are effectively disseminated to influence policy and operational decisions. It would also be suitable for a social researcher looking to develop their experience of multi-disciplinary working, as the work requires frequent collaboration with economists and transport modellers.

Senior Research Officer - Roads, Traffic & Technology (1 role)

The postholder will manage a programme of work across the Traffic & Technology and Strategic Roads policy areas. These areas cover diverse and high-profile subject matter. Traffic and Technology (T&T) is a policy area centred on road technology, traffic and innovation. Strategic Roads is a policy area relating to the delivery, management and use of England’s strategic road network.

There will be opportunities to lead a range of social research and evaluation work within this role. This includes scoping evaluation or research projects, managing externally commissioned projects, designing surveys and qualitative research, assuring research instruments and findings reports. There are a range of stakeholders we engage with in these areas, with links to other teams in DfT and external organisations such National Highways.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Design, specify, commission, deliver and disseminate social research and evaluation projects to inform delivery and investment. Within this you will balance timely delivery of findings against the need for reliable, good quality data on which decisions can be made.
• Identify solutions to deliver evidence or advice to policy in a fast-paced environment. Provide advice to arising policy questions based on available.
• Provide technical support and advice to policy colleagues on research methods, including advising on the relative robustness of competing sources of evidence and the interpretation of findings.
• Collaborate effectively with other analytical disciplines (economists, statisticians, operational research, transport modellers) within your team and across DfT, as well as delivery agencies, academics and other stakeholders.
• Effectively communicate and promote social research and evaluation evidence to inform decision-making and policy development.
• Become an active member of GSR within the department, working with GSR colleagues to find opportunities for cross-cutting work and knowledge.

For more information, please see the attached Role Profile.

At interview we will ask you for your choice of role. Please note, that we will be appointing for this role based on merit and so your preference will be considered (if successful) but this is not guaranteed.

Person specification

About You

These are exciting roles for 2 analysts with experience working professionally in social research, with the requisite knowledge and experience of using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

The successful candidate will have experience of:

• A broad experience of designing and carrying out and/or commissioning social research and/or evaluation with knowledge and experience of using both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Experience of using communication and collaboration skills to ensure analysis has an impact on decision-making.
• Experience of analysing a range of information and evidence to draw robust and defensible conclusions.

Please follow the GSR Membership & Eligibility Guidance as this is a requirement for the role.

If you are invited to interview and are not currently a member of the Government Social Research profession you will also be invited to sit a Knowledge Test. The Knowledge Test is used to test the Social Research Professional Competency and assesses the basic knowledge and application of statistical, analytical and research skills and techniques. An example knowledge test can be found here: example knowledge test.

If you have taken and passed the GSR Knowledge Test within the past 12 months, we may be able to waive the requirement for you to sit the test again. If this is the case, you will be asked to show evidence that you have successfully completed the Knowledge Test, for example by providing confirmation from the hiring manager at the Department where you took the test.

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. 

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 provide a CV and Personal Statement (750 words). Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

When writing your CV, please clearly state if you are currently a member of the profession and provide detail of your qualifications, work history, including your previous roles and the dates you held these roles. In particular we are interested in your experience of social research practice, which could consist of working in a research agency, market research agency, research organisation or specialist research team or a similar environment.

For your Personal Statement please provide relevant examples of the below: 

• A broad experience of designing and carrying out and/or commissioning social research with particular experience of both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Experience of using your communication and collaboration skills to ensure research has an impact on decision-making.
• Experience of analysing a range of information and evidence to draw robust and defendable conclusions.

Please ensure you include your qualification details in the qualification section of the application form.

The sift is due to take place 4th & 5th March 2024.

Interviews/assessments and knowledge test if applicable for you are likely to be held 13th & 14th 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 could include:

• An interview, presentation and knowledge test, if applicable.

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.

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.