Senior Manager, Consumer Policy

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Office of Rail and Road Grade C (Civil Service grade 7) Closing Date: 15 December 2019

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack Contents

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Welcome 3

Who we are 4

Policy and strategy at the ORR 5

Case study 6 7 About the job Person specification 8 Benefits and training 9 Apply and further information 10

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 2 Welcome

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Protecting the interests of existing and future rail and road users is at the heart of what we do at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Getting this right is essential for the country’s safety, productivity and economic growth. Accountable to the UK and devolved parliaments, but independent of government and the industries we regulate, we play a vital role in protecting the interests of all rail and road users. At a time when the structure and operation of the rail network, and the funding of infrastructure more broadly, is under ever-closer scrutiny, this is crucial.

We are a high-performing regulator and operate with high standards of consistency and transparency in all our decisions. Our success depends on understanding the views of rail passengers, freight customers, road users, and their representatives – and engagement “This is an excellent with the industries we regulate and with governments. opportunity to influence We are a confident and supportive organisation, committed to developing our people. and shape the way ORR That’s because we rely on the professionalism, integrity and knowledge of our staff and develops its approach in their commitment to supporting a successful rail and road industry. Our staff survey rail and road, to deliver results consistently put us among top performers across the civil service. tangible benefits for customers, taxpayers John Larkinson and the economy.” ORR Chief Executive

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 3 Who we are

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Rail passengers and freight customers across Great Britain want a safe, reliable and efficient railway. Road users also want safe, good quality roads.

ORR’s role is to protect the interests of rail and road users, improving Our health, safety and economic regulatory functions overall are driven the safety, value and performance of railways and roads today and in by legislation. We are accountable directly to the UK and devolved the future. We help this happen by being a strong, independent parliaments and the public, with a clear remit to: regulator, protecting the interests of the travelling public and ensuring • Protect the people who use, interact with or work on the railway. We that every pound of the public’s money is well spent. have a responsibility to both ensure continuous improvement in Health and Safety and, on the economic side, to temper the Britain’s railways are a £20bn a year business. They are attracting monopoly power of and promote the broader interests record passenger numbers, which places pressure on the industry. of rail passengers; More than ever, travellers’ interests need to be protected and Network Rail, as the monopoly network operator, monitored accordingly. • Ensure fair access to the rail network, which is becoming increasingly congested; This means that we play a vital role in monitoring the rail industry for • Ensure Highways implements its current £15 billion the public’s benefit. Several high-level reviews into the funding and investment programme on England's strategic road network; and functioning of the railway have recognised or endorsed the value of • Protect the interests of current and future users by working with the independent regulation. industry and funders as they develop the network of tomorrow. Road traffic is also growing. is implementing a £15 Internally, we support collaborative, innovative and flexible working in billion investment programme in England’s strategic road network ORR. We have an open, friendly and high-performing culture. between 2015 and 2020. It is our job to report on Highways England’s progress in delivering this investment, on budget and to time. The investment programme should also reduce the number of people who ORR is a non-Ministerial Government Department. Its staff are are killed or seriously injured on the motorways and major A-roads. members of the UK Civil Service. More about ORR and its functions are on our website. ORR’s 2019-20 Business Plan is here.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 4 Consumer Policy at ORR

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

“We are looking for an enthusiastic and high-performing individual to help develop and take forward our consumer policy to advance and protect the interests of passengers across the rail network.”

This role is part of ORR’s policy career family, so you will be joining an established network of policy professionals. You can expect a varied and challenging role that makes a genuine difference to the way our rail network and passenger services operate.

Examples of your responsibilities will range from developing ORR’s policies on complaints handling, delay compensation and taking a lead in our engagement with the Rail Ombudsman. There will also be excellent opportunities to commission and manage consumer research and play a leading role in our compliance and enforcement activities.

The quality of our work depends on the evidence and analysis underpinning it: we are an evidence-based organisation. Colleagues in this career family are responsible for applying the highest standards of professional policy development to advise our Board, drawing on expertise from lawyers, economists, statisticians, engineers and safety professionals across the office.

We have a strong interest in developing our policy professionals: you will have access to a structured learning and development programme.

Stephanie Tobyn Deputy Director, Consumers

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 5 Case study

OFFICEOFFICE OF OF RAIL RAIL AND AND RROOAD

Denise Brown, Senior Executive, Consumer Policy

I joined ORR’s Consumer Policy team in 2018 from the Analytics Department of the Health and Social Care regulator. The Consumer Policy team’s work is principally focused on improving the passenger experience in the areas of passenger information, accessibility, complaint handling and consumer law. But the types of projects that arise across these policy areas can vary hugely which means I find myself continually learning.

As part of my insight and compliance role, I have the opportunity to work across all areas of the team using my research and analytical skills. I recently worked on the publication of ORR’s third annual rail consumer report and have also had the opportunity to be involved in two high profile enforcement cases earlier this year. A big part of my role involves liaising with train operating companies on compliance issues and I enjoy this aspect of the job in particular as it brings home just how much our work can directly influence the passenger experience. “Although I’m based in ORR’s Railway Markets and One of the specific advantages of working in the Consumer Policy team is that we often work Economics unit, the nature in multi-disciplinary project teams involving Legal, Statisticians and Rail Inspectors which means that we get to learn from experts right across the organisation and share our expertise. of my role means that I work with several other teams Across the Civil Service and within ORR, there are a number of opportunities for personal and providing me with broad professional development. Since Joining ORR I have completed introductory training in experience of ORR’s work in Consumer Law and Economic Regulation which have been beneficial to both my work and protecting the interests of wider career development. rail and road users.”

Consumer Policy is a challenging yet interesting area of work which is hugely important and rewarding in protecting the interests of people across the UK who access the railway.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 6 About the job

OFFICEOFFICE OF OF RAIL RAIL AND AND RROOAD

Job title: Senior Manager, Consumer Policy Grade: ORR Grade C Salary: The salary range is : £53,815 - £63,606 pa, Regional: £49,814 - £59,716 Location: Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London, Manchester, or York Contract type: Permanent Hours: 37 per week Business Area: Consumer Type of role: Policy Working arrangements: Full-time or flexible working arrangements (including job share arrangements). About the role The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain's railways and the independent monitor of Highways England. We are here to ensure the network operates safely, reliably and provides value for taxpayers and customers. We are the consumer and competition authority for the rail network and anyone operating railway services must be licensed by ORR. One of our key strategic objectives is to support better rail customer service.

We’re searching for an enthusiastic and high-performing individual to join our Consumer Policy team. If you’re keen to use your regulatory experience, policy development and compliance skills in a challenging and diverse consumer policy environment, you could be just who we’re looking for. You will play a key role in developing and implementing regulatory policy to protect and promote passenger interests, and setting boundaries and expectations for ensuring the companies we regulate comply with their obligations.

Purpose The successful candidate will be required to lead on the development and implementation of consumer policy related to delay compensation and complaint handling, and lead ORR’s engagement with the Rail Ombudsman. Providing expert assistance to the Head of Consumer Insight, Compliance and Enforcement in taking forward enforcement cases as and when they arise will be a key function of this post, and there will also be the opportunity to help develop and commission research, and lead special ad-hoc projects.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 7 Person specification

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

About you To be successful in this role, you will need proven analytical and policy development skills, and confidence in working with evidence and data, for example in an economic, regulatory or other policy context. You should enjoy a challenging and varied portfolio. You will be expected to work independently, and contribute to and manage consumer policy projects and teams effectively to agreed timescales. For the most part you will have ownership over your own discreet policy areas, but it is also important that you can work flexibly and transition onto ad hoc projects in support of the Head of Consumer Insight, Compliance and Enforcement, such as enforcement cases, as they arise.

Assessing your application The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate all the role requirements set out below (technical, behaviours, experience)

Technical You will work within ORR’s policy profession. The professional requirements at this level are:

Bringing together the context, evidence and Planning and delivering the policy delivery • Identifies threats before they affect policy implementation or delivery • Assimilates and analyses a range of complex detail • Monitors the performance of the policy and makes sound judgements to then propose and • Identifies and anticipates changes to political buy-in advocate an appropriate way forward. • Works with delivery partners to improve the policy in practice. • Produces written outputs to a publishable standard with minimal supervision; presents complex Developing and using a sound evidence base analysis clearly and succinctly, with a track record of presenting to internal and external stakeholders • Develops innovative, evidence-based policy options in a formal setting. • Uses evidence to support or challenge change • Considers real-world impacts to ensure the advised • Highlights the implications of different options, option will work in practice. supported with evidence where appropriate • Develops a robust evidence base. ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 8 Person specification

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Behaviours Experience You will be assessed against the following behaviours: The following experience is essential: • Leadership: Welcomes and responds to views and • A successful track-record of leading on a range of policy, challenges from others. Promotes and defends the team’s research or analytical projects. decisions and interests as needed. • Making effective decisions: Uses evidence and The following experience is highly desirable: knowledge to provide accurate, expert decisions and • Experience of working in a public policy or regulatory context advice. Carefully considers alternative options, implications (not necessarily within the public sector or transport); and risks of decisions. • Experience of commissioning or managing consumer research • Delivering at pace: Ensures delivery of timely quality projects; outcomes, and maintains own performance levels in challenging circumstances and encourages others to do the • Understanding of economic concepts and principles; same. Ensures everyone clearly understands their roles, • Experience of leading or contributing to compliance or responsibilities and team / organisational priorities and enforcement activities; objectives. • The proven ability to apply appropriate project management • Working together: Actively builds and maintains network of discipline and prioritise effectively; and internal and external contacts to achieve progress on • Relevant academic qualifications (such as an honours degree or shared objectives. Challenges assumptions while being post-graduate diploma) or equivalent experience, that willing to compromise if beneficial to progress. demonstrates aptitude in the technical skills and behaviours • Communication and influencing: Explains complex required. issues in a way that is easy to understand. Delivers difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required.

Please refer to the Civil Service Success Profile behaviours for full details.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 9 Benefits and training

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

Benefits Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with ORR and the wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

This includes: • 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service; • this is in addition to 8 public holidays; • this will be complemented by one further day of paid privilege entitlement to mark the Queen’s Birthday; • a competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire; and • flexible working patterns, including part-time or term-time working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours.

Training We have a strong interest in developing our policy professionals. You will have the opportunity to join a network of our policy professionals and have access to a structured learning and development programme.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 10 Apply and further information

OFFICE OF RAIL AND ROAD

To apply, please submit a CV and personal statement (maximum 1,000 words) explaining how you meet the Person Specification above, including evidence against the specific requirements within: • Behaviours • Experience

Please apply through the Civil Service Jobs website

We will review all applications by looking at the evidence provided in your application. Candidates who are successful following this ‘sift’ process will be invited to an interview where the requirements will be tested further, alongside other elements of the post. At interview, we will require candidates to undertake additional assessments. This is likely to include a presentation to be prepared in advance and/or a desk-based task provided on the day; further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interviews. Should you encounter any issues with your online application please get in touch with us on: [email protected].

Contacts For further information contact: [email protected] or for an informal chat about this role, please contact [email protected]

Interview dates and location The closing date for this vacancy is midnight Sunday 15th December 2019. Sifting will follow shortly after, with interviews likely to take place in the week commencing 6th January 2020 at our London office.

ORR Candidate recruitment information pack 11