Head of Analysis

Are you a strong analytical leader with the ability to build, support and develop a high-performing technical team?

Can you lead the delivery of complex analytical, research and evaluation work to high professional standards?

Do you communicate clearly and build trusted, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders, partners and delivery teams?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Active Travel England is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. We lead on all things walking, wheeling and cycling across England, helping people and communities be more active by making our streets safer and more accessible. We do this by building skills, providing expert design and planning advice, as well as strengthening the case for investment.

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 Active Travel England

We are seeking an experienced, delivery-focused Head of Analysis to lead a multidisciplinary analytical team and drive the delivery of our analytical programme. As the organisation’s authority on analytical quality, you will ensure our work is designed, commissioned, and delivered to be robust and impartial. Working closely with the Head of Impact, you will translate strategic questions into timely, high-quality research, analysis and evaluations and deliver them on time, budget and quality. You will also collaborate across the agency to generate high-quality evidence of what works, that supports development of guidance and products to help local authorities deliver effective active travel investment.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Provide clear technical leadership and line management to the analytical team
• Develop the culture and actively promote transition towards using modern digital and data technologies, using reproducible analytical pipelines
• Own the development and delivery of our analytical and evaluation strategies
• Commission and manage suppliers and contractors for evaluation, analysis and research

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills set out in the Civil Service Line Management Standards.

Flexible resourcing

Colleagues are expected to work with a degree of flexibility, meaning responsibilities may change to support priority delivery.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile which 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.

You must meet the minimum qualification requirements for either:

Government Economic Service (GES)

Government Operational Research Service (GORS)

Government Social Research Service (GSR)

Government Digital and Data (GDD) Data Head of Data Science

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your experience of the following:
• Demonstrable experience of leading, managing and inspiring multidisciplinary analytical teams and projects to deliver a cohesive and strategic vision.
• Proven experience applying Green Book, Magenta Book or Aqua Book principles to provide technical advice and lead analytical assurance.
• Proven experience delivering complex analytical programmes, including end-to-end commissioning and managing contractors to deliver large-scale or high-value work on time and to a high standard.
• Experience shaping the analytical delivery strategy, capability and methods of an analytical function.
• Your personal statement must include which of the 4 Frameworks you align to – GES, GORS, GSR or GDD and that you meet the minimum qualification requirements for the framework.

The sift will take place week commencing 21/09/2026.

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Experience
• Technical – Government Economic Service (GES) – 1. Application of Knowledge 2. Effective Communication
• Government Operational Research Service (GORS) – 1. Knowledge and application of OR skills and techniques 2. Achieving impact with analysis
• Government Social Research Service (GSR) – 1. Senior Principal Research Officer: Technical Skills 2. Senior Principal Research Officer: Using & Promoting Social Research
• Government Digital and Data (GDD) Data Head of Data Science – 1. Delivering business impact 2. Applied maths, statistics and scientific practices

The interviews will take place week commencing 05/10/2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change

Further information on the selection process

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

If you are unsuccessful in the selection process, your application may be considered for a lower graded position if your demonstrated skills and experience meet the requirements of the alternative position. Candidates will be considered in order of merit.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.