About DFT Operator
Join Our Team at DFTO
DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.
DFTO has over 30,000 employees, runs over 8,500 services a day and delivers over 640 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000 people joined the railway family in the last year
Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia, WM Trains and GTR.
We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.
Primary Purpose of Job:
Produce high-quality workforce data, analysis and models that underpin workforce insight, reporting and planning across DFTO.
Ensure data is accurate, timely, and structured in a way that enables effective decision-making. Ensure all workforce analysis used across DFTO is accurate, consistent, and decision-ready.
Key Deliverables:
- Clean, reliable workforce datasets ready for analysis and reporting
- Core analytical outputs (models, queries, data extracts) supporting insight and SWP
- Accurate, timely reporting that feeds dashboards and decision packs
- Consistent data definitions applied across analysis and outputs
Key Responsibilities:
- Data Preparation & Management
- Extract, clean and structure workforce data from multiple sources
- Maintain consistent datasets aligned to defined KPIs and data standards
- Resolve data quality issues in partnership with Data & Systems
- Analysis & Modelling
- Build and maintain core analytical models (e.g. attrition, absence, workforce trends)
- Support development of forecasting and scenario inputs for SWP
- Run regular and ad hoc analysis as required
- Reporting & Outputs
- Produce standard and ad hoc reports to support dashboards and insight packs
- Ensure accuracy, consistency and timeliness of outputs
- Support automation of reporting processes where possible
- Support to Insights & SWP
- Provide analytical support to the Analytics & Insights Manager
- Enable the SWP Manager with structured data and modelling inputs
- Adapt outputs based on business questions and priorities
- Continuous Improvement
- Identify opportunities to improve data structure, quality and automation
- Support development of analytical tools, templates and reusable outputs
Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:
Knowledge & Skills
- Strong ability to manipulate, clean and structure data from multiple sources
- Good understanding of workforce data (e.g. headcount, absence, attrition, organisation structures)
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy and consistency
- Ability to translate business questions into structured data queries and outputs
- Clear and logical approach to problem-solving using data
- Basic understanding of data visualisation principles
Experience
- Experience working with data in an analytical, reporting or operational context
- Experience handling large and/or complex datasets
- Experience producing regular and ad hoc reporting outputs
- Experience supporting analysis for business or operational teams
- Experience working with defined metrics, KPIs, or structured reporting frameworks
- The Ideal candidate would be from an HR background
Technical Qualifications / Capability
- Strong Excel capability (data manipulation, formulas, pivot tables essential)
- Experience with data visualisation tools (Power BI, Qlik or similar)
- Ability to extract and manipulate data from systems or databases
- Basic understanding of data structures and data quality considerations
- Desirable: experience with SQL or similar query languages
Vacancy Details:
Duration: Fixed Term contract/secondment upto 31st October 2027
Location: London Waterloo/Hybrid
Salary: up to £42,914
Closing date: 25th June 2026
DFTO Benefits:
Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)
DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution
Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry
Additional Information…
Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.
About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.
Contact: If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact Dean.palmer@dftoperator.co.uk
Please do not email any CV's to us, your application must be made by clicking the 'Apply' button.
