Permanent

Principal Transport Modeller

Department for Transport

Department for Transport

Principal Transport Modeller
Salary Minimum: £54,105 (London) or £48,774 (National)
with a retention payment of up to £4,000.
Contract Type: Permanent
Job Type(s): Analytical
Location(s): London, Birmingham, Leeds
Reporting to Job Title: Deputy Head of Local and Regional Transport Analysis

Job summary
The Department for Transport is responsible for tackling some of the biggest issues facing Government today. Our current priority is supporting the recovery from the pandemic and supporting key government priorities such as decarbonisation, levelling up the economy, increasing our global influence and improving transport for the user.

The Local and Regional Transport Analysis Division is a multidisciplinary analytical team made up of 30 economists, transport modellers and social researchers. The portfolio of work of the division is very broad – encompassing analysis to inform bus, light rail and taxi policy, active and accessible travel, London Underground financing and capital projects, and the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda to achieve regional economic growth through investment in transport infrastructure and ensuring that is linked up with housing.

We are recruiting for a Principal Transport Modeller to lead complex and high-profile work programmes including the Levelling Up Fund; the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements; local transport infrastructure planning and scheme development; Sub-National Transport Bodies; and Local Authority capability and capacity. We are looking for candidates with proven expertise in using complex models to solve analytical problems and the ability to communicate analysis effectively to inform decision-making.

Working as part of a wider team, you’ll get the opportunity to work on leading-edge models informing investment decisions, which influence the day-to-day lives of UK citizens.

DfT is committed to the professional development of its analysts and the post offers significant benefits to help boost the career of an analyst wishing to learn and progress in the field and gain broader skills. We offer:
• Potential to learn across all aspects of transport and land use modelling
• Access to further learning, such as the use of transport modelling software (e.g. VISUM) and data spatial software (e.g. R), as well as the opportunity to attend conferences (Modelling World, European Transport Conference) and presentations of latest academic research on topics such as autonomous vehicles
• Participation in an active and thriving analytical community, working closely with colleagues in Data Science, Economics, Social Research, Statistics, Operational Research, Science and Engineering
• A culture supportive of flexible working practices tailored to individual needs and circumstances, e.g. opportunity to work from home on some days, or to vary working hours.

Duties and responsibilities
This is a highly visible and challenging role that will suit an ambitious individual with a strong motivation to succeed, and able to work across boundaries to deliver results.

You will work both within a multidisciplinary analytical team and lead multidisciplinary teams for specific projects and will actively contribute to the senior management of the team (G5-6-7), ensuring high standards of behaviour and managing resources and play a leading role in the vibrant DfT analytical community.

You will be expected to apply Transport Analysis Guidance (TAG) on appraising future investment decisions, drawing analytical conclusions on outputs from transport and economic models. The post holder will be expected to be skilled in project and programme management techniques, ensuring that projects have strong business cases and use resources in a proportionate manner. The post holder will be responsible for the line management of a Senior Transport Modeller.

Responsibilities include:

• Providing analytical assurance and modelling review, as well as value for money advice for significant investment decisions for Major Road Network programme (£5.5bn), Levelling Up Fund (£4.8bn), City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (£5.7bn), bus and light rail; and infrastructure programme to support housing developments. Working with external stakeholders to develop appropriate analysis for business case development and provide advice to decision makers on quality of submissions. Identifying and marketing proportionate methods/data sources for evaluating the impact of schemes.
• Support capability and capacity building in Local Authorities in England. This will include considering the needs of different types of authorities and how the department can best support them directly and by delivering through others, for example larger authorities, Sub-National Transport Bodies, industry experts and consultants. Particular emphasis will be on building analytical capability and capacity to support local transport planning, business case development, data collection and analysis, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Leading DfT’s engagement with analysts in Sub-National Transport Bodies to facilitate knowledge sharing, identify opportunities for greater collaboration, and ensure analysis and evidence is fit-for-purpose.
• Advising on transport data and modelling questions, approaches, and results, to rapidly inform emerging policy decisions on a range of local transport issues as they evolve (e.g. carbon impact estimates, bus service improvement plans, active travel, local transport plans)
• Overseeing and undertaking research work to deliver enhancements to the modelling methods, as part of the DfT’s Appraisal & Modelling Strategy, in liaison with analyst colleagues across DfT.

Person specification
Behaviours

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate the following behaviours at Grade 7 level:

Leadership - inspire and motivate teams to be fully engaged in their work and dedicated to their role; promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience.

Making effective decisions - analyse and accurately interpret data from various sources to support decisions. Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications. Present reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence.

Communicating and influencing – explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand; monitor the effectiveness of own and team communication and take action to improve where necessary.

Working together – actively build and maintain a network of colleagues and contacts to achieve progress on shared objectives; build strong interpersonal relationships and show genuine care for colleagues.

You should provide evidence of successfully demonstrating these behaviours within your application and expect to be asked about it during interview.

More information about Behaviours
Experience

The ideal candidate will be able to show:
• Analytical experience in developing transport models to solve complex problems. This includes forecasting, demand modelling, highway and public transport assignment.
• Experience of effective project management, including managing complexity (e.g. prioritisation of tasks, working with incomplete data sets) and ensuring appropriate and proportionate quality assurance checks are implemented.
• Experience of communicating complex data and ideas clearly and tactfully to a range of technical and non-technical audiences in an authoritative, informative and engaging manner.

You should provide evidence of this experience within your application and expect it will be tested at interview.

More information about Experience
Technical

During the recruitment process you will be assessed against the following points from the Transport Modeller and Planner Skills Framework:

Creativity and Problem Solving
There is no unique solution in transport modelling, and whilst there are standard approaches, transport modellers are frequently required to think innovatively in order to develop a solution to a particular task.
• Considers problems from first principles
• A strong understanding, usually through practical experience, of the issues associated with developing and applying mathematically based models to aid decision making in a transport context
• Thinks beyond current toolkit, identifies data required to address heart of issue

More information about Technical
Other helpful information you need to know
Level of security clearance: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Contact Information:
Betty Leow
[email protected] 
07585 885245

Overview

  • Location: London, Birmingham or Leeds
  • Job Title: Principal Transport Modeller
  • Salary: Salary Minimum: £54,105 (London) or £48,774 (National)
  • Closed: 20 Feb 2022

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