Rail Economic Advisor
| Posting date: | 24 November 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £57,515 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National Minimum Salary - £57,515 and London Minimum Salary - £62,034 |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 08 December 2025 |
| Location: | London |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 438049/1 |
Summary
Do you want to work on some of the key issues facing the rail industry?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
These roles offer a rare opportunity to influence major investment decisions and operational policies in a sector undergoing transformational change. Your analysis will directly inform high-profile government decisions, improving outcomes for millions of passengers and supporting wider economic and environmental goals.
DfT is a high-profile department at the heart of UK government. We work with agencies and partners to support the transport network that helps businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country. We plan and invest to make journeys better.
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 and 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 DfTc.
The UK’s transport system is vital to the economy, supporting millions of daily journeys for work, education, healthcare and leisure. The Department for Transport plays a central role in delivering the Government’s priorities, including a major programme of rail investment aimed at boosting economic growth and decarbonising the transport network. Economists are essential to this work, using analytical tools to assess the costs and benefits of rail schemes and providing evidence-based recommendations to senior decision makers. We welcome applicants with strong experience in economic analysis.
The rail industry is also undergoing significant reform, creating an opportunity to shape how analysis informs policy and improves outcomes for passengers and taxpayers. You will join a welcoming, multidisciplinary Rail Analysis directorate of around 65 analysts, led by two Deputy Directors. We are recruiting analytical leaders for both the Strategy and Services Analysis (SSA) team and the Rail Enhancements Analysis (REA) team to deliver high-quality analysis on key aspects of the current and future rail system.
In this role, you will lead and support your team, champion analytical work across the directorate, develop colleagues’ capability, and help ensure analysis is prioritised and delivered effectively.
The SSA Passenger Services Analysis team leader will manage a team providing quantitative analysis for the Rail Services Group and the Public Transport and Local Group. The work focuses on the day-to-day operation of passenger rail services, including business planning, timetable changes, contract design, and analysis to inform decisions on the future of passenger rail.
There are also two Economic Adviser roles in the Rail Enhancements Analysis team. These roles apply economic theory to support major rail investment decisions. With a significant future investment pipeline, it is vital that advice to senior decision makers is based on robust analysis demonstrating alignment with government priorities. Postholders will lead cost–benefit analysis and clearly communicate complex findings to decision makers.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Delivering complex quantitative analysis on rail investment, policy and strategy.
- Communicating this complex analysis to wider analysts, stakeholders and senior policy officials, including the accounting officer, ministers and special advisers.
- Working with the wider Rail Analysis team to ensure collaborative working, implementing best practice guidance, whilst being innovative and engaging with wider developments such as artificial intelligence, culture change in the organisation, or in the working relationships between the Department and the wider rail industry.
- Being responsible for line managing other analysts and will demonstrate good people skills and visible leadership qualities.
Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.
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.
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