Head of Missions and Priorities, Policy Unit

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 402047

**Salary**:

- £67,313
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Grade 6

**Contract type**:

- Permanent

**Business area**:

- Decarbonisation, Technology and Strategy - Strategy, Private Office and Governance

**Type of role**:

- Policy

**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

**Location**:

- Birmingham, Leeds

**About the job**:
**Job summary**:
Would you relish an opportunity to be working on the highest political priorities at the heart of Department for Transport (DfT)?

Could you lead a small team and help shape our new Policy Unit?

If so, we have an exciting and challenging opportunity, and we would love to hear from you.

**Job description**:
Our new team is being established at the heart of the DfT to support the delivery of the Government’s missions, drive progress on the Secretary of State’s priorities, and bring innovative policy thinking to bear.

As Head of Missions and Priorities, you will help build and then lead a team working closely with the Secretary of State, her political team, officials across DfT, and external partners to drive progress on key policy challenges and fundamentally improve the nation’s transport system.

In this role you will have the opportunity to make your mark on a variety of high-profile policy issues as we seek to build a modern transport system that works for people across the country and responds to emerging challenges and opportunities. You will build constructive and collaborative relationships within and beyond the department to drive progress on priority policy issues, producing high quality outputs for ministers and senior officials. You will work across government to ensure DfT plays its part in delivering the Government’s missions.

You will help shape and lead a small, high-performing team with three core functions:

- Supporting the delivery of the Secretary of State’s priorities and Government’s missions.
- Thought leadership - the Policy Unit will conduct initial policy work on emerging issues and political priorities, shaping the department’s approach.
- Bringing in external perspectives - the Policy Unit will be a catalyst and role model for identifying best practice in transport policy in the UK and internationally.

**Your key duties and responsibilities will include**:

- Supporting the Deputy Director in advising the Secretary of State and senior officials on policy priorities, operating across the Department to provide thought leadership, external perspectives, and constructive challenge.
- Establishing and leading an inclusive, high-performing, collaborative team of up to ten policy professionals, providing direct line management to five Grade 7s.
- Overseeing the team’s work on projects related to the Secretary of State’s priorities, ensuring the delivery of high quality, actionable advice for ministers and senior officials on high-profile policy areas.
- Building collaborative, impactful relationships with policy and delivery teams across the Department and beyond, bringing fresh insights and diverse perspectives to bear on priority issues and aligning DfT’s work with the Government’s missions.
- Ensuring the team is outward facing and open to new insights, keeping abreast of the wider environment and engaging with the Government’s agenda to spot important developments, identify opportunities and bring new ideas, innovation and best practice into the UK transport system.
- Establishing an impactful new Division with DfT, acting as a thought partner to the Deputy Director and other leaders to shape the team and its work.

**Person specification**:
**About you**

You will be an engaging and supportive leader with experience of developing and motivating high-performing, professional teams. You will be comfortable leading teams in environments with a high degree of ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities.

You will display outstanding interpersonal, collaboration and communication skills, and the ability to build trusted relationships at all levels. You will be articulate and credible to influence senior leaders within and beyond the Department.

You will bring excellent strategic thinking and problem-solving skills and the capability to break down and address complex issues and communicate complex policy problems clearly and succinctly to a wide range of audiences across the department.

You will be highly numerate and comfortable working with a range of data.

**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 across our three core locations, Birm