Senior Policy Advisor (SEO), Environment Strategy, Department for Transport
I joined the Department for Transport in 2017 through a bulk recruitment as an EO. The variety of roles I have had in the last three years are primarily the reason I have stayed and enjoyed working in the Department. I have had the opportunity to work in high priority policy areas with real world impacts.
In my current role, I lead on policy development, advice and drafting to deliver the UK’s first Transport Decarbonisation Plan. I also lead, coordinate and enable the development of policy thinking around technology and innovation for transport decarbonisation. My day to day activities include, collaborating with policy teams across the Department to drive high ambition, working with other government departments to align policies and engaging Ministers, senior officials and external stakeholders on the Department’s work on climate change and wider environment issues.
I started my career in the Civil Service as an EO within the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), a joint DfT-BEIS team. In this role, I was responsible for local authority engagement and funding competitions (including the £40 million Go Ultra Low City Scheme) where I monitored and managed projects across fourteen regions in the UK. I then joined the Centre for Connected & Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) as a HEO, within the Future of Mobility team. In this role, I had the opportunity to chair cross-government meetings, present to senior civil servants including Director Generals and represent the Department at international conferences in Paris and Washington DC.
During the pandemic last year, I also spent three months seconded to Private Office where I worked as the Secretary of State’s private secretary. This was a fast-paced role and involved managing the relationship between the department and the Ministerial team. This gave me the opportunity to view the work of the Department from a different lens and develop a broader understanding of the various policy areas we lead. During my time in the Department I have also been able to complete two leadership courses, supported by DfT, the Positive Action Pathway and the Whitehall and Industry Group’s Future Leaders Programme.
In the last three years, I have built expertise in green transport policies, the UK’s energy system, technology and innovation as well as engaged and influenced a variety of stakeholders across the transport sector, industry, and national and local government.