Capability and Innovation Lead
| Posting date: | 21 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £44,241 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 07 June 2026 |
| Location: | Birmingham |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 461598/1 |
Summary
Have you helped set direction or plans for future capability, services or technology, working with both policy and technical colleagues to align short‑ and long‑term outcomes?
Do you enjoy exploring new or innovative approaches, building strong relationships across industry, academia, government or international partners to help turn complex challenges into workable solutions?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
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 DfT.
The Transport Security Directorate plays a critical role in protecting the UK’s transport systems from evolving national security threats. Working across government, industry and with international partners, we strengthen aviation, maritime, cyber and wider transport security. Within TSD, the National Security Science and Research Division brings scientific and technical expertise to policy and regulation, by delivering an evidence base through an impactful research and innovation portfolio. You’ll join a collaborative team shaping future transport security through analysis, technology and innovation.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Deliver the Division’s Capability Assessment Framework.
- Work with a range of stakeholders including scientists, policy leads, industry representatives, law enforcement and intelligence agencies to analyse and understand the level of vulnerability in the current transport security system.
- Work with policy leads and industry to determine how security vulnerabilities can be addressed, mitigated or tolerated.
- Develop capability roadmaps for a specific modal delivery programme
- Work with policy leads and technology delivery specialists to develop ambition statements for the short/mid- and long-term outcomes required in transport security.
- Develop and maintain a roadmap to ensure all stakeholders are working towards common understanding of the future transport security system.
- Work with internal technology specialist to develop an annual programme of work to deliver the agreed ambitions reflected in the roadmap.
- Based on your preference and experience, you will act as the lead for a particular mode of transport (Land, Maritime or Aviation) and deliver a security innovation programme to deliver solutions and/or development of capability that does not currently exist in the supplier base.
- Identify innovative approaches to collaborating with security equipment providers, academia and the wider technology R&D providers to communicate problems, requirements and ultimately drive solutions.
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, including Government departments, Industry, Academia, International regulators and Security end users to develop solutions to science and technology requirements in transport security.
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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