Senior Business Analyst

Job summary

Can you lead complex analysis that informs strategic decisions, shapes programmes and supports the delivery of organisational priorities?

Are you a collaborative leader who can build strong relationships, influence senior stakeholders and communicate complex information clearly and effectively?

Have you successfully translated policy, evidence and stakeholder insight into practical recommendations that improve outcomes for communities and customers?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

We are a passionate and supportive team that values innovation, inclusion and continuous improvement. Through robust business analysis, strategic thinking and evidence-based decision making, we help shape programmes, services and investments that deliver meaningful outcomes across the country. Working closely with a wide range of stakeholders, we turn complex challenges into actionable solutions, ensuring that customer, community and organisational needs are understood and embedded throughout the design and delivery process. We are committed to creating an environment where people can develop, contribute and thrive, while fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous learning and improvement.

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 ATE – Careers , Civil Service Careers

Job description

Active Travel England is the government agency responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling safer and more accessible across England. Working closely with the Department for Transport, local authorities and national partners, we support the delivery of active travel infrastructure through expert advice, funding and policy leadership. This is an exciting opportunity to lead high-profile projects, influence national priorities and help shape the future delivery of active travel at scale.

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

• Own stakeholder relationships at senior levels; develop and maintain a strategic view of the business and policy context and how business analysis activities contribute to it.
• Role model positive behaviours and support the embedding of the new target operating model and the changes to the ways of working.
• Set the standards and expectations for your profession across ATE and engage and align with the wider DfT Group.
• Line management duties.
• Translate business needs into actionable requirements, including user stories, process maps, data flows and acceptance criteria.
• Contribute to agile ceremonies, backlog refinement, sprint planning and retros.
• Ensure business analysis work adheres to GDS standards and supports service assessments.

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 .

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.

Person specification

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Management of stakeholders
• Coaching and mentoring others
• Agile working, ceremonies and processes
• Discussing requirements with user groups to establish deliverables
• Working on business improvements and resolution of live issues
• Mapping business processes and systems modelling
• Documentation of requirements for use during development and reference material after implementation

Additional Information

This post is offered on a Fixed Term Appointment (FTA) basis to complete a finite piece of work.

Permanent Civil Servants will be appointed on an inward loan and subject to the terms of the agreed inward loan. You must have your home departments approval to return to them at the end of the loan before you apply. Internal candidates will return to their previous post at the end of the loan period, which will need to be agreed with your line manager in advance. If your home department cannot agree to release you on loan, there is the opportunity for you to move across to the department on a fixed term appointment. In this instance the Department for Transport would become your home department and if there is no role available for you at the end of this appointment, you would be subject to the redeployment and redundancy process.

If you're employed by a non-departmental public body (NDPB) by moving jobs this will involve a change of employer and you may break the statutory rules on continuity of employment .

There could be the potential of extension up to 2 years or permanency, subject to the role being available (and for those coming across on loan, your home departments agreement)

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 35 hours per week.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

• Licences
• 1. A valid passport for international travel
• 2. A full UK driving licence

You will be required to provide evidence that you hold any essential qualifications/licenses at some point during the recruitment process. If you cannot provide evidence, your application will be withdrawn.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• Business and user acceptance testing (practitioner) - https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/business-analyst
• Business Process Improvement (practitioner) - https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/business-analyst

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,515, Active Travel England contributes

£16,662 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• 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).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, 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 (1250-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following: • Good understanding of working on business improvements and resolution of live issues
• Knowledge of agile working, ceremonies and processes
• Skilled in mapping business processes and systems modelling
• Experience leading teams, developing colleagues and building strong relationships.
• Strong communication skills with a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

The sift will take place week commencing 28/09/2026

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours – Delivering at Pace, Leadership, Managing a Quality Service
• Technical – DDAT framework - Business and user acceptance testing (practitioner)Ability – Business Process Improvement (practitioner)
• Strengths

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Behaviour Leadership. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 12/10/2026

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. You can read more about our reserve lists