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 a statistician looking for an exciting opportunity to make an impact on how local government plan road maintenance?

Would you embrace the opportunity to work on a high-profile project with significant interest from senior stakeholders?

If so, we have a fantastic opportunity available for a Senior Statistical Officer to join our team and would love to hear from you!

Job description

In 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) published the second Road Investment Strategy, which sets out an investment of £27.4 billion in our strategic road network and the government’s levelling up agenda has increased focus on how investment is spread across the country.

The postholder will be working closely with local transport policy colleagues, engaging with local authorities and industry experts to access new data sources and expand the evidence base of road condition information.

You will be responsible for exploring how to automate outputs to improve the quality of the statistics published by the department. The team are currently working in R and SQL but are open to innovations and improvements as we move to cloud-based environments with a broader landscape of programming languages available. As well as working towards more accessible statistics and transparency, two major cross-government priorities.

In 2019 the transport select committee published a paper of the current standard for monitoring road condition. From the recommendations made DfT have been working with the British Standards Institute (BSI) and Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to create a new standard. This standard looks to move away from a single technology and open up the market to more innovation.

The postholder will be required to bring this project to a close, but then lead work on the implementation of this standard. With a new landscape of multiple technologies DfT will need to ensure data compatibility and compliance. Alongside exploring the new data and drawing out evidence to fulfil the needs of policy and the industry as a whole.

This project will require engagement across the industry and will have significant impacts on how local government plan road maintenance. This is a great opportunity to work on a key departmental deliverable, work with industry experts and engage with technology developers in this policy-facing project!

Your key responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Managing the completion of the data standard to modernise the method of data collection from local government and work to ensure successful implementation: Supporting policy and analyst colleagues to modernise local road condition monitoring.
• Improving the annual publication: Further developing the automation of the publication, planning how to communicate differences in the data from the new data standard and how to present a dual run of the old and new standards.
• Running local authority consultations: Preparing papers and engaging with local authorities to get changes made to the DLUHC single data list of mandatory deliverables from local authorities to central government.
• Working closely with policy: Road condition statistics are policy facing and you will be required to work closely with policy colleagues.
• Accessing new data sources and expanding the evidence base of road condition information: Leading the work to look at newly emerging sources of road condition data, with an aim to expand the evidence base.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About you

• You will have experience or an awareness of managing projects and of using coding languages for data manipulation and analysis, with experience of or a willingness to learn R studio or similar.
• You will be a proactive individual who is confident using your initiative to overcome barriers and drive work forwards, but also know when to seek guidance from your line manager before making decisions.
• You will have excellent time management skills and will be highly organised, to ensure delivery of multiple work strands simultaneously, and will remain flexible when faced with ambiguity.
• You will have great interpersonal skills, enabling you to develop positive working relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including with a range of companies throughout the industry, and respond well to feedback received.
• You will be willing to network and take part in industry events.

Additional Information

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in London, Leeds or Birmingham, and we would also expect the individual to be willing to occasionally travel to visit different DfT office locations or attend events.

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.

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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

How to apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide:

1. A tailored CV that demonstrates suitability to the role and the essential criteria.

2. A written behavioural example in 250 words that provides evidence of you having demonstrated the following:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving

3. A written technical example in 250 words that provided evidence of you having demonstrated the following:

• GSG Professional competencies – Level 2 (SStO) - Data analysis.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Delivering at Pace. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

The sift is due to take place week commencing 22nd April 2024.

Interviews are likely to be held 9th & 10th May 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 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.