Market Insights and Evaluation Manager

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 11,000 services a day and delivers over 930 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), Southeast, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia, WM Trains, GTR. and Chiltern.

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:

Help shape the future of marketing investment across Britain's railway

We're looking for a Market Insights & Evaluation Manager to lead the development of a more consistent, evidence-based approach to marketing evaluation across the rail industry. This is a unique opportunity to influence how marketing performance is measured and understood at a national level, helping stakeholders make better investment decisions that drive customer growth and revenue.

Working in a highly collaborative environment, you will partner with train operators, industry bodies and external suppliers to establish best practice, improve analytical capability and build confidence in the evidence used to assess marketing effectiveness. Your work will directly support strategic decisions on marketing investment and contribute to delivering greater value from industry-wide campaigns and initiatives.

The role

As Market Insights & Evaluation Manager, you will take the lead in embedding a new industry-wide approach to marketing evaluation, working closely with our econometric analysis supplier and stakeholders across train operating companies (TOCs), Rail Delivery Group and the Department for Transport Operator (DFTO).

You will act as the focal point for marketing analysis, ensuring that evaluation activity is robust, transparent and aligned across the industry. Combining stakeholder management, analytical leadership and commercial insight, you will help transform how marketing impact is measured and understood, enabling more effective decision-making and stronger returns on investment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead relationships with specialist econometric suppliers, ensuring the delivery of high-quality analysis that supports strategic marketing decisions.
• Drive the implementation and ongoing adoption of a consistent evaluation framework for both national and TOC marketing activity.
• Establish and facilitate cross-industry forums that promote collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement in marketing measurement.
• Commission, manage and review the evaluation of national marketing campaigns and initiatives.
• Deliver or oversee analysis of wider commercial and marketing activities, including partnerships, promotions and rail sales.
• Work closely with marketing teams to shape evaluation approaches, ensuring analytical outputs answer critical business questions.
• Translate complex analytical findings into clear, actionable recommendations for senior stakeholders and director-level audiences.
• Build strong relationships across DFTO, TOCs and industry partners, becoming the recognised point of contact for marketing evaluation and insight.
• Contribute to the development of a centre of excellence for marketing evaluation, supporting capability-building and the adoption of best practice across the industry.
• Provide evidence-based insight and recommendations that improve marketing effectiveness and support revenue growth.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:

You’ll be an experienced insights, analytics or evaluation professional who enjoys working across organisational boundaries and influencing complex decision-making. You’ll combine strong analytical capability with excellent stakeholder management skills and be comfortable communicating with both technical and non-technical audiences.

You’ll bring:

• Experience leading complex projects or programmes involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• A proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and build consensus in matrix or partnership environments.
• Experience managing suppliers, consultancies or external partners to deliver business outcomes.
• Strong presentation and communication skills, with experience presenting analytical findings and recommendations to senior leaders.
• The ability to critically evaluate methodologies, challenge assumptions and assess the robustness of analysis.
• Experience leading or shaping analytical projects that support strategic business decisions.
• A sound understanding of statistical techniques, such as mixed media modelling, regression analysis or econometric modelling.
• Experience partnering with marketing, commercial or growth-focused teams.
• Strong data interrogation and analytical problem-solving skills.
• The ability to work at pace, manage ambiguity and maintain high analytical standards.

It would be great if you also have:

• Experience driving the adoption of new processes, frameworks or ways of working.
• Experience evaluating marketing campaigns, investment decisions or commercial performance.
• Knowledge of marketing effectiveness measurement and campaign evaluation methodologies.
• Rail industry experience or familiarity with rail industry datasets.
• Advanced knowledge of mixed media modelling, econometrics or statistical modelling techniques.

Why this role?

This is an opportunity to make a significant impact at a national level. You will be joining a collaborative, fast-paced team that plays an important part in shaping commercial strategy and preparing the railway for Great British Railways. You’ll help shape how marketing investment is assessed across the rail industry, influencing decisions that affect millions of customer journeys and substantial marketing investment.

Working with senior stakeholders across multiple organisations, you’ll play a key role in creating a more collaborative, evidence-led approach to decision-making while establishing best practice that will be adopted across the industry. If you’re passionate about turning analysis into action and driving meaningful commercial outcomes, we’d love to hear from you.

Vacancy Details:

Duration: Fixed Term up to 31st March 2028 contract/secondmentLocation: We currently have officesin London Waterloo, Leeds, BirminghamSalary:up to £66,000
Closing date: 18th November 2026

DFTO Locations:

DFTO currently have office locations in London, Birmingham and Leeds and individuals can be based from any of the three locations. Whilst we do offer hybrid working there are sometimes demands to travel to the other office locations.

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 Jason.blakemore@dftoperator.co.uk.

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