Transport for the North is England’s first Sub-National Transport Body. We were formed to transform the transport system across the North of England, providing the infrastructure needed to drive economic growth.

As a partnership, we bring together the North’s nineteen local transport authorities and business leaders together with Network Rail, Highways England, and HS2 Ltd and working with Central Government. We enable the North to speak with one voice on the transport infrastructure investment needed to drive transformational growth and rebalance the UK economy.

We are based across the North, with offices in Manchester and Leeds and have colleagues working within local transport bodies across the North. We will not replace or replicate the work of existing local transport bodies. Our role is to add strategic value by ensuring that funding and strategy decisions about transport in the North are informed by local knowledge and requirements. This fits with the devolution agenda and we will draw powers down from central government rather than up from local government.

Our vision is of a thriving North of England, where modern transport connections drive economic growth and support an excellent quality of life.

The Technical Assurance, Modelling and Economics (TAME) team provides the evidence base for TfN’s long-term plans to connect the North’s towns and cities to create a more productive economic area. TAME is a team of analysts, data scientists and transport modellers who develop innovative data analytics and modelling tools and apply them in programmes and business cases to show how transport could enable this economic transformation.

The TAME team works closely with strategy and programme teams to analyse and appraise the proposed interventions in our future investment portfolio. This includes developing and applying pan-Northern data, modelling and appraisal practices to help understand the needs of the economy and transport system, and develop robust evidence.

TAME’s work is focused on TfN’s Analytical Framework, a suite of software tools that provides a consistent approach to data, modelling and appraisal across travel modes and regions of the North. Development and application of these tools requires a range of analytical techniques, including: acquiring and storing spatially enabled data; undertaking advanced statistical analysis; developing strategic modelling tools; carrying out economic appraisal of different transport options and providing objective, compelling recommendations to policy makers.

Role overview:

This appointment represents a unique opportunity to join an organisation in its early days and help shape its future.  Our current business plan (available via our website) has a number of high priority commitments to deliver over the next 2 years that have been identified as pivotal to northern transformation and require an expansion of our analytical capabilities. 

The Assistant Data Analytics and Modelling Officer will be required to deliver information, data, analysis and modelling that aids others in the production of recommendations/outputs.

You will be expected to collaborate with others to deliver outcomes and will contribute to the improvement of existing processes and procedures.

The TAME team works closely with our strategy and policy makers and managers to analyse and appraise the most appropriate interventions in our future investment portfolio. This includes developing and applying pan-northern data, modelling and appraisal practices to help understand the needs of the economy and transport system, and develop robust evidence.

Overall TAME activities are captured within the Analytical Framework, that promotes ‘One North’ for developing evidence.  Key to TAME’s activities is to the grow our capabilities within the Analytical Framework focused on supporting existing and emerging programmes. This requires a range of analytical techniques: from acquiring and storing spatially enabled data on contemporary data analytics platforms; to undertaking geo-spatial data analytics and statistical analysis; through to exploring problems, appraising options and providing objective advice.

What we’re looking for:

The successful candidate will have experience developing and applying data systems, applying data analytics and developing script for repeatable analysis. You will have a proven track record of successfully delivering projects and should be able to demonstrate experience collaborating with technical and non-technical audiences.

Candidates must be educated to degree level within a mathematical related subject or possess a professional qualification or equivalent experience. 

Provisional Interview Date:  10 May 2021

In return, as well as a competitive salary, our other benefits are:

• 27 days holiday per annum
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Access to various salary sacrifice benefits, including Travel Pass purchase scheme
• Access to TFN’s Flexi-Time Scheme, allowing accrual of up to 18 additional days leave per year

We welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We are particularly keen to encourage applications from women, members of ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities who are currently under-represented.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, all applications will be considered on their merit.