Principal Statistician

National Highways have an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated and skilled Principal Statistician. This is a fixed term role as maternity cover for 9 months, but there is a possibility that the contract could be extended.

The successful candidate will thrive on setting the strategic direction for the team and lead the organisation forward. You will play an important role developing and improving the wider use of statistics in the organisation. You will also provide guidance to support consistent and comprehensive statistical analysis and communication.

The successful candidate will lead a team of 4 and be responsible for their development. You will also bring statistical expertise to the analysis, interpretation, and insight of the subject matter. This will mainly be safety traffic, and customer satisfaction data.

You will work with both internal and external stakeholders across all levels, using your strong communications skills to demonstrate the capabilities of the team, and highlight the correct use of statistics and analysis.

We will consider applications for our Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter or Guildford offices. You will need to travel to our office in Birmingham from time to time.

What you will be leading on

In this role you will:

• build and maintain effective strategic working relationships with internal and external partners to meet business needs
• identify, develop and implement statistical skills and methodologies for the team and wider organisation to use
• act as statistical subject matter expert and provide advice across the organisation
• lead on analytical and statistical projects – this will include producing analytically assured reports and outputs that communicate insight effectively across all levels
• set and use consistent standards and guidance for statistical analysis and communication of statistics
• support the Chief Analyst’s Division in its mission to make sure analysis is highly visible, effective, relevant, credible and designed to support decision-making

To be successful

The successful candidate will:

• have a Masters degree or PhD in a Statistical discipline, or have significant work experience in a similar role
• have a practical understanding of statistical modelling and how it can be applied to real world problems
• demonstrate their experience of using statistical data analysis to support decision-making and ensure high levels of analytical quality and assurance
• have previous experience of developing and implementing strategy
• be able to demonstrate leadership experience with positive outcomes
• demonstrate their experience and ability to work with other people to build and maintain strong relationships
• have strong influencing skills that they can use effectively across functions and levels of an organisation

About National Highways

Our role in the Network Analysis & Statistics group is to provide bespoke analysis and insight to support decision making across the organisation. We develop and report some of the company’s performance metrics. We are also an important part of the work to develop the Performance Specification. This is published within the Roads Investment Strategy.

We are located within the Company’s Strategy and Planning Directorate. We work with our analytical colleagues at the Chief Analyst’s Division to create the evidence base to support future investment planning.

How to apply

Read the full job advert and apply online at the National Highways website.