Public Appointments Senior Campaign Manager

Job summary

Do you have experience of recruitment?

Do you have experience in building strong stakeholder relationships?

Would you like the opportunity to lead public appointment campaigns?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

DfT is a high-profile department at the heart of UK government. We work with agencies and partners to support the transport network that helps businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country. We plan and invest to make journeys better.

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 DfTc Policy

Job description

Join the Department for Transport’s Public Appointments Team and take the lead on high-profile campaigns that help shape the future of transport across the UK. In this influential role, you will manage appointments for Chairs and Non-Executive Directors to major public bodies, advising Ministers and senior stakeholders, overseeing succession planning and compliance, and driving continuous improvement across the appointments process. You will work in a fast-paced, high-impact environment, building strong relationships, delivering an excellent candidate experience, and helping attract diverse, talented leaders who can make a real difference to public services.

You will be at the heart of a busy, high-performing team, with responsibilities including:

• Leading high-profile public appointment campaigns from launch through to successful appointment
• Providing confident oversight across live campaigns, ensuring progress, quality and compliance
• Supporting strategic succession planning for public body boards
• Delivering a positive, professional candidate experience that reflects the importance of these senior roles
• Driving campaigns forward through strong project management, clear planning and timely delivery
• Building trusted relationships with Ministers’ offices, senior officials, public bodies and external partners

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 . 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

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

• • Experience in Public Appointments or similar recruitment to senior and/or high-profile roles would be a real advantage or an ability to demonstrate relevant transferrable skills.
• You will also have experience of engaging with and providing timely and high-quality advice to Ministers and/or senior colleagues.
• Experience of strong external and internal stakeholder engagement.

Additional Information

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 30 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.

This role entails interview support which means regular travel to London and other parts of the country will be an essential part of the role with overnight stays sometimes required.

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

Sponsorship is not offered for this role. Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the United Kingdom.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,241, Department for Transport contributes

£12,816 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.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 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 and Experience.

How to apply:

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

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement and a behaviour

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:

• Behaviours – you will be asked to provide a 250-word statement on the following Behaviour: Delivering at Pace
• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your experience of the following:
• Experience in Public Appointments or similar recruitment to senior and/or high-profile roles would be a real advantage or an ability to demonstrate relevant transferrable skills.
• You will also have experience of engaging with and providing timely and high-quality advice to Ministers and/or senior colleagues.
• Experience of strong external and internal stakeholder engagement.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour Delivering at Pace. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

The sift will take place week commencing 12/10/2026.

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours – (Delivering at Pace, Communicating and Influencing, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together and Managing a Quality Service)
• Experience

The interviews will take place week commencing 26/10/2026.

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.

Appointments for this position will be made in order of merit. If you are successful in the selection process but there are no further available posts for the advertised role, you may be contacted to discuss an offer for a lower graded role (with similar experience and responsibility requirements).

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 natu