Head of Rail Reform Analysis
| Posting date: | 23 March 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £69,501 per year |
| Additional salary information: | £69,501 (National minimum) £74,535 (London minimum) |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 07 April 2026 |
| Location: | London |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 454138/3 |
Summary
High quality and timely analysis will be critical for helping steer the direction of rail reform. The role holder will be responsible for leading a team of analysts providing economic advice and analysis across several areas of rail reform.
This role provides an excellent opportunity to lead a team working in a fast-paced environment to deliver trusted and authoritative advice. As the lead analyst responsible for maintaining strategic oversight of the reform programme the role holder will work closely with senior DfT, DfTO, Network Rail and HMT officials.
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 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 Department for Transport Central - Department for Transport Careers
Providing leadership to a team of 8 economists and being responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight of the analytical support provided to policy and strategy teams working on a key government priority of rail reform.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Bill support: legislation to establish Great British Railways and enact wider structural changes to the industry is progressing through Parliament. Rail Reform Analysis will continue to work closely with the Bill Team to ensure that statements and lines are supported by robust evidence, assess new evidence and analysis presented by external parties, and analyse the impact of any proposed changes to the Bill.
- Analysis to support detailed policy design: several important aspects of the future design of GBR and how HMG will hold it to account are still to be finalised. This will include work on the financial framework (particularly around incentives and the scale of financial risks), the development of a new access and use policy, and approach to monitoring of GBR.
- Preparation for future funding settlements: overseeing analysis development and evidence gathering on the benefits of reform to inform future funding settlements.
- Workforce analysis: overseeing analytical work to support the workforce transition to GBR. This includes assessing different options to understand the impacts on DfT’s budget and the longer-term sustainability for the taxpayer.
- A member of Senior Leadership Team of Rail Analysis, the role holder will be expected to help deliver a supportive and stimulating working environment for analysts from a range of disciplines. Further, you will play an integral part in helping lead Rail Analysis during a period of unprecedented change, maintaining your team’s motivation and wellbeing.
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 attached 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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