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Head of Vehicle Emission Standards

  • Public sector
  • Leeds
  • 06/05/2025
  • £54857.00 /yearly
  • Permanent
Job expired!

Job Overview

Location

Leeds

Job Type

Permanent

Salary

£54,857 yearly

Date Posted:

06/05/2025

Expiration date:

18/05/2025

Additional Detail

Job ID

25995

Work Location

Remote and/or Onsite

Job Description

Location: Birmingham, Leeds
 
We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.
 
Do you have an understanding of the automotive industry, in particular regulatory frameworks and vehicle approval processes?
 
Can you manage a team and set clear objectives?
 
Are you able to work effectively with a wide range of different stakeholders, whilst building and maintaining strong relationships?
 
If so, we would love to hear from you!

Overview

This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in shaping the future of emission standards for road vehicles in the UK. Air quality remains the largest environmental harm to human health in the UK. Whilst the transition to zero emission vehicles is anticipated to bring significant benefits for air quality, new and emerging challenges remain in ensuring road transport emissions continue to reduce and contribute towards achieving future air quality targets.

Within this role, you will be responsible for overseeing and delivering future emission standards for new road vehicles being placed on the UK market. This will involve working closely with teams across the department, including analyst and lawyers to ensure the delivery of evidenced and robust new regulations to achieve future air quality goals.

Achieving this will require working with international partners, research organisations, NGOs and vehicle manufacturers within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, to deliver these standards wherever possible through internationally harmonised regulation. Consequently, there will be some need for international travel.

Whilst driving forward air quality improvements is the primary aim of this role, emission standards have a key role to play in achieving and unlocking the benefits of the UK's transition to zero emission vehicles. You will therefore be required to work closely with other policy teams across the Department for Transport, including the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, to ensure that the UK's emission standards are complementary in achieving the decarbonisation of road transport.

Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of the post are:

  • Overseeing and delivering a programme of regulation to implement new emission standards in the UK.
  • Leading UK engagement at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) working party on vehicle pollution and energy.
  • Overseeing and steering procurement of research to provide the necessary evidence base to support policy development and influence international negotiations.
  • Line managing two SEO and one HEO science and engineering professionals.
  • Building productive working relationships with other relevant policy teams within the Department, our executive agencies, other Government Departments, representatives of other Governments and with stakeholders from the wider automotive sector.

The post-holder will oversee DfT's technical work on the following areas:

  • Air pollutant emission standards for all road vehicles and off-road machinery.
  • Non-exhaust emissions - e.g. particulate emissions from tyres and brakes.
  • Electric range, fuel/energy consumption and electric vehicle battery durability.
  • Fuel quality standards for mainstream road vehicles and off-highway fuels.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile

Person specification

To be successful in this role, the primary requirement will be a strong motivation to achieve the desired outcomes, coupled with the knowledge and expertise to command respect and influence across other teams and key stakeholders from both other governments and industry.

You will need to have the skills to:

  • Quickly understand and appreciate complex technical information and be able to synthesise and summarise this effectively for a non-technical audience.
  • Work effectively with a wide range of different stakeholders, building relationships and collaborating where appropriate to achieve desired outcomes.
  • Manage people, allocating roles and responsibilities, setting priorities, and giving a clear sense of direction and purpose. 

Additional Information 

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. 

Occasional travel to other DfT offices will be required. There will be a requirement for international travel. The frequency of travel is variable, but a typical expectation is about once every two months.

Qualifications

This will be a challenging role requiring the applicant to quickly develop a strong technical understanding of concepts and technology related to vehicle emissions and propulsion. A degree in a relevant subject area (e.g. mechanical or automotive engineering, physical sciences or a related discipline) or similar academic/technical qualifications is therefore required.

Behaviours

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

  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Working Together
  • Communicating and Influencing

Alongside your salary of £54,857, Department for Transport contributes £15,892 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Please note, the above example is based on the National minimum salary. The employer pension contribution will be 28.97% of your specific salary.  

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.

Selection process details

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

How to Apply

When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role. Please tailor your CV to match the role and its responsibilities and within your Personal Statement please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:

  • Demonstration of an understanding of the automotive industry, the related regulatory frameworks and vehicle approval processes is considered essential.
  • A basic understanding of government legislation making processes or the development of emissions regulation of vehicles will be necessary for successful performance in the role.

Your personal statement should be no more than 750 words.

The sift is due to take place week commencing 19th May 2025.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held week commencing 2nd June 2025.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:

  • an interview
  • a presentation

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

You're encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.

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 [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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 cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email [email protected] for assistance.

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 

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.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
 
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
 
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
 
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
 
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
 
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
 
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact

Recruitment team

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: [email protected]
 
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

Attachments

Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 128kB)

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