Details
Reference number
415173
Salary
£42,848
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Senior Executive Officer
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
Roads Transport Group - Future Transport Systems
Type of role
Analytical
Social Research
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Birmingham, Leeds
About the job
Job summary
Are you an experienced and curious social and/or behavioural researcher?
Can you apply your skills to inform the future of connected and automated vehicles?
If so, we are looking for a highly motivated researcher who can deliver high quality research, working professionally with colleagues and stakeholders.
This role is part of the Analysis, Enablers and Strategy (AES) division within the Future Transport Systems directorate. The AES division has people working across a range of roads policy areas. It's a friendly team made up of social researchers, economists, statisticians, operational researchers, project delivery and policy professionals.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
* Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
* 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King's birthday
* Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Read more in the Benefits section below
Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport:
* DfTc roles: Department for Transport Central - Department for Transport Careers
Job description
The Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) is a government policy team which aims to realise the benefits that connected and self-driving technologies can bring. These new technologies have the potential to contribute to a transport system that is safer, more responsive to user needs, more accessible, and more efficient. This role will join a great team of Analysts within CCAV to help deliver this exciting programme of work.
There is much we still don't know about self-driving vehicles and the impact they could have on transport users and society overall – this role is crucial in improving our understanding. In this role you will be designing and managing primary research, providing expert advice to policy officials, and supporting the passage of secondary legislation.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren't limited to:
* Understanding public perceptions, awareness, knowledge and willingness to use self-driving vehicles and ways of improving these.
* Building evidence to support the development of standards and regulation.
* Understanding how needs vary across different people user groups and geographic areas (urban vs rural) to ensure that future transport systems are inclusive and support key government policies.
* Leading on the design, specification, commissioning, management and delivery of contracted research projects using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods including evaluations to inform policy priorities.
* Overseeing the delivery and publication of high-quality, accessible outputs from contractors.
* Scoping monitoring and evaluation designs for future policies.
* Help identify gaps in the current evidence base by engaging widely and getting the buy-in of policy partners, analytical colleagues and external stakeholders and develop proposals to fill them.
* Providing 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.
* Communicating and promoting research and evaluation findings across the department.
For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Essential qualifications/ eligibility:
To be eligible for this role you will need to either be a member of the Government Social Research (GSR) profession, or demonstrate how you meet the qualification requirements, as outlined in the Government Social Research Membership & Eligibility Guidance: Government Social Research Membership and Eligibility Guidance - GOV.UK
Qualification requirements are dependent on whether candidates are eligible for GSR professional membership under the qualification route or the experience route:
Qualification route:
• Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree at a minimum of 2:1, or 2:2 with an additional postgraduate degree.
• The degree must include a substantial research methods component, comprising around 30% of the modules taken on the course.
Experience route:
• Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree at a minimum of 2:1, or 2:2 with an additional postgraduate degree, in any subject; OR a degree equivalent such as the MRS Advanced Certificate in Market and Social Research Practice.
• In addition to the above qualification, applicants must also have at least 4 years' experience of social research practice, which may consist of working in a research agency, market research agency or a specialist research team.
In your application, please remember to include details on:
• Any social research modules taken as part of your undergraduate or postgraduate degree.
• Any relevant professional qualifications you hold, such as the MRS Advanced Certificate or equivalent.
You will be asked to provide proof of qualifications should you be successful at sift.
You will be required to provide evidence that you hold any essential qualifications/licenses at some point during the recruitment process. If you cannot provide evidence, your application will be withdrawn.
About you
You will have:
* Experience of working as a professional social and/or behavioural researcher with excellent knowledge, understanding and experience of a range of qualitative and quantitative methods.
* Experience of planning, managing and implementing complex social and/or behavioural research to ensure the delivery of robust results on time.
* Experience working with monitoring and evaluation outputs and familiarity with a range of evaluation types and their suitability for different policies and programmes.
* Experience in developing and commissioning qualitative and quantitative research projects, including managing external research contracts.
* Excellent communication skills both verbally and in writing, with the ability to draw key conclusions from a range of evidence sources, adapting your delivery to suit a variety of audiences, maximising both impact and understanding.
* Experience building effective working relationships with both colleagues and stakeholders, tailoring your support to meet their needs, giving trusted technical advice and providing constructive challenge where appropriate, to support the achievement of business objectives.
* Experience of working closely with policy colleagues to understand requirements, develop analytical solutions, negotiate deadlines and ensure research is interpreted correctly.
Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements
Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week
This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.
The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your principal workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, visiting stakeholders and colleagues, or carrying out detached duty in another DfT or agency workplace. The chosen principal workplace will be the designated place of work and any remote or home working arrangement does not constitute a change to the designated place of work or contractual terms and conditions. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.
For more information on how this works for this role, please contact the Vacancy Holder (see below for contact details).
Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.
Qualifications
You must meet the criteria listed out under the Eligibility section, under personal specification. This can be either holding the relevant qualifications or having the relevant experience that has been listed.
Memberships
Are you a badged member of GSR?
Please note this will be verified by the department.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Making Effective Decisions
* Working Together
* Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Knowledge of research methods, techniques & application of these in more complex projects
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £42,848, Department for Transport contributes £12,413 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:
* Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
* 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
* 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King's birthday.
* Access to the staff discount portal.
* Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
* Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
* 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
* Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies .
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
How to apply:
Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.
The selection process for this role will be:
Stage 1: Online test
Stage 2: Sift of CV and personal statement
Stage 3: Interview
You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.
Stage 1: Online test
During the application process, you will be asked if you hold a Government Social Research membership/badge.
If you do not hold a Government Social Research membership/badge, you must indicate which route (listed under Additional Information - Eligibility) applies to you, this could be either via the qualification route or the experience route. During the sift stage you will be emailed a link to complete a Knowledge Test and you will have 7 days in which to complete this test. If you pass the Knowledge Test, your application will then be considered during the sift.
You will not need to re-take the Knowledge Test if you have passed it in the last 12 months.
Stage 2: Sift
At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
* Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:
* Excellent knowledge, understanding and experience of a range of qualitative and quantitative methods.
* Experience of planning, managing and implementing a complex social and/or behavioural research and/or evaluation projects to ensure the delivery of robust results on time.
* Experience in developing and commissioning qualitative and quantitative research projects, including managing external research contracts
* Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draw key conclusions from a range of evidence sources and ensuring findings and implications are effectively communicated with key stakeholders, including non-analysts.
* Experience of working closely with policy colleagues to understand requirements, develop analytical solutions, negotiate deadlines and ensure research is interpreted correctly.
The sift will take place from Wednesday 10th September 2025.
Stage 3: Interview
At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
* Behaviours – Making Effective Decisions, Working Together, Communicating and Influencing
* Experience – Experience of planning, managing and implementing a complex social research or evaluation project to ensure the delivery of robust results on time
* Technical – Knowledge of research methods, techniques & application of these in more complex projects
Your Technical Skills will be assessed against The GSR Technical Framework. Further information can be found here: The Government Social Research Technical Framework - GOV.UK
The interviews will likely take place from 22nd September 2025.
This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site .
Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.
AI Tools and Platforms
During the application process candidates are allowed to utilise AI (artificial intelligence) tools and platforms to support them in writing their Behaviours, CVs and Personal Statements. However, you must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application or used during interview is truthful and factually accurate. Applications may be rejected if plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or concepts generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. You can read more here.
Further information
Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.
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.
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 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 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.
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)
* 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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
* Name : Grainne Dickerson
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website