Area Lead, Northern Engagement Team

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

- 351849**Salary**:

- £40,808**Job grade**:

- Senior Executive Officer**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- Public Transport and Local Group - Regions, Cities and Devolution**Type of role**:

- Policy**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- LeedsAbout the job

**Job summary**:
Are you passionate about regional issues and would embrace becoming a specialist on the Northern region?

Do you enjoy collaborating and developing positive relationships with senior leaders?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity available to join the Northern Engagement Team and would love to hear from you

**Job description**:
As an Area Lead, you will have a key role in helping to deliver a place-based approach to achieving better transport outcomes, local and regional economic growth and productivity, and wider Government objectives including growing the economy and levelling up the North.

As Area Lead you will develop and maintain a comprehensive network of contacts, building positive working relationships that allow an open and honest exchange of dialogue through a proactive approach of regular engagement meetings.

You will become an expert in the local areas and wider Northern region, developing a deep and broad understanding of transport priorities for the region. This will include building a wealth of invaluable intelligence on the transport networks, pipeline schemes, ongoing investment, challenges and opportunities faced by local stakeholders.

You will utilise build connections across the department and wider to help local areas navigate central Government and to facilitate solutions to local problems, and use your understanding to support place-based policy making. Your role will also include supporting the departments work and contributing to wider intelligence gathering, providing Ministerial briefings for Topical Orals, visits, and meetings with high profile key stakeholders including Metro Mayors, Council Leaders and MPs.

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

- Establishing and maintaining robust and productive relationships with senior transport officials in local authorities and other key regional organisations, to represent the Department.
- Developing a deep and broad understanding of transport priorities and working with other government departments to secure positive outcomes for the region.
- Working with local authorities and regional stakeholders to support the local implementation of key policy drivers such as transport decarbonisation, Investment Zones, and Local Transport Plans.
- Working collaboratively across the team and with the wider Department on the devolution of transport powers, including devolution deals and reforms arising from the Levelling Up White Paper.
- Supporting the collation and interpretation of intelligence across the division as a whole, contributing to our central intelligence function.

**For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.**

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

You will be an articulate communicator, both verbally and in writing, with excellent briefing skills and the ability to explain complex issues clearly and concisely, ensuring that it is understood by all involved. You will be comfortable communicating with stakeholders of all levels and will confidently handle challenging discussions when required.

You will be able to rapidly build the knowledge and understanding required to be the “go-to” person for your region both within DfT and with local and regional stakeholders. You will enjoy collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders, enabling you to develop and maintain robust working relationships.

**Additional Information**

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in Leeds, and we would also expect the individual to be willing to regularly travel to meet with relevant stakeholders across the region, and occasionally visit alternative DfT offices.

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.

**Behaviours**:
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture

**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.

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