Active Travel England – Chief Executive Officer

Job summary

We are seeking an exceptional leader to become the next Chief Executive Officer of Active Travel England (ATE), the Government's executive agency responsible for delivering the ambitions set out in the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3).

Walking, wheeling and cycling are increasingly recognised as essential tools for achieving wider national priorities. They improve access to jobs, education and services, support economic growth, reduce pressure on the NHS, improve air quality and help create more connected and productive communities.

ATE plays a central role in turning these ambitions into reality. As the Government's commissioning body, inspectorate and centre of expertise for active travel, ATE supports local authorities to plan, design and deliver high-quality walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure. Around £4.5 billion is expected to be invested in active travel infrastructure by 2030, with ATE providing assurance, capability-building and oversight to maximise its impact.

The successful candidate will lead ATE's contribution to delivering CWIS3's long-term vision: making walking, wheeling and cycling safe, easy and accessible everyday choices. By 2035, the strategy aims for 55% of short trip stages in towns and cities to be walked or cycled, and for 60% of children to walk, wheel or cycle to school.

Working closely with Mayoral Strategic Authorities, Local Transport Authorities and the Department for Transport, the Chief Executive will lead a high-performing, evidence-led organisation that combines investment, inspection, planning and technical expertise. A key responsibility will be strengthening local capability through ATE's nationally recognised assessment framework, technical guidance, training and assurance functions, ensuring places across England can consistently deliver schemes that meet national standards.

The Chief Executive will also oversee ATE's statutory planning role, helping to ensure that new developments support sustainable, healthy and well-connected communities from the outset.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a national organisation at the heart of a major long-term programme of transport, health and economic reform, helping to shape how millions of people move around their communities every day.

The role is based at ATE's headquarters in York, with regular travel across England.

Job description

Responsibilities

• Set the vision and strategic direction of ATE, ensuring it delivers in line with Ministerial priorities and contributes to wider Government missions on health, growth, and decarbonisation.
• Lead delivery of the 3rd Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS), driving measurable increases in walking, wheeling and cycling.
• Accountable for delivery of ATE’s portfolio, including grant funding, assurance activity and inspection regime, ensuring value for money and high-quality outcomes of significant public investment.
• Build partnership and capability across local authorities, strengthening planning, design and delivery of schemes through guidance, training and performance frameworks.
• Lead ATE’s capability and inspection regime to drive continuous improvement and raise standards nationally.
• Act as head of the Government’s centre of excellence for active travel design and delivery, ensuring consistent application of national standards.
• Provide expert advice and work closely with DFT to ensure robust sponsorship and support on policy development, standards and infrastructure investment.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Ministers and senior officials across Government, local government leaders and key external stakeholders.
• Support the Active Travel Commissioner champion active travel and shaping national debate.
• Lead and develop a high-performing, inclusive organisation with a strong delivery culture and clear accountability and governance across multiple locations.
• Serve as Accounting Officer, maintaining the highest standards of governance, risk management and propriety in accordance with the Civil Service Code.

Person specification

You will need to be able to show, through your application, that you have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Director level in the Senior Civil Service.

• A strong track record of leading and delivering complex, high-profile programmes or infrastructure in a contested environment, translating ambition into clear, measurable outcomes.
• Proven ability to lead, shape and develop high-performing, inclusive organisations, with a clear commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Exceptional influencing and relationship-building skills, with experience of working effectively with senior stakeholders such as Ministers, Mayors, Board Members and other senior stakeholders including in local government and industry.
• Significant senior-level experience in policy, delivery or regulation, with the ability to operate at system level and align multiple stakeholders behind shared goals.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to articulate a compelling vision and champion behavioural and cultural change with a wide range of audiences.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £105,000, Department for Transport contributes £30,418 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).

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really successful career with the Department and wider Civil Service.

It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead, and you’ll benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you’ll be entitled to a large range of benefits.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

The Civil Service values and supports all its employees.

We have strong and pro-active staff networks, special leave policies for hospital appointments, reasonable adjustments put in place for those who need them, and diversity talent programmes to help everyone irrespective of background, to achieve their potential.

Pension

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package.

A competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension; where your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken; and where your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. Visit Civil Service Pension Scheme for more details. >

Generous Annual Leave and Bank Holiday Allowance

25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service (allowance is pro rata for part-time employees). This is in addition to 8 public holidays.

This will be complimented by one further day paid privilege entitlement to mark the King’s Birthday.

Staff Wellbeing

Flexible working including part-time or term-time working and access to Flexible Working Schemes allowing you to vary your working day as long as you work your total hours.

Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers.

Childcare benefits (policy for new employees as of 5 April 2018): The government has introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. Working parents can open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2000 a year for each child or £4000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare. Existing employees may be able to continue to claim childcare vouchers, so please check how the policy would work for you here. Any move to the DfT from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.

Onsite facilities Opportunity to use onsite facilities including fitness centres and staff canteens (where applicable).

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

Application

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online form.

www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe132896

This should be completed no later than 23:55 on 31st July 2026.

The application will include:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say’.

All monitoring data will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be provided to the selection panel.

Should you encounter any issues with your application please contact:

Mary Dempsey-Kelly - Mary.Dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com

​

For a confidential discussion to help inform your application, please contact our recruitment advisors at Gatenby Sanderson:​

Michael Dobson – Michael.dobson@gatenbysanderson.com

Olivia Robinson – Olivia.Robinson@gatenbysanderson.com

Longlist

The panel will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the essential criteria set out in the ‘Person Specification’ section. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application. ​

The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter. Candidates selected for longlisting will be invited for a preliminary discussion with Gatenby Sanderson to further explore their skills and experience.​

Candidates applying under the Disability Confident, Redeployment or Veterans Scheme who meet the minimum selection criteria in the job specification are guaranteed an interview. Please complete the relevant parts in the application system if applying under these schemes.

Shortlist

The panel will review reports on those longlisted and will select a shortlist of candidates whose applications best demonstrate suitability for the role, by considering the evidence provided against the essential criteria set out in the Personal Specification

Assessment

If you are shortlisted you will be asked to take part in the following assessments :

• Individual Leadership Assessment – a combination of psychometric assessments
• Staff Engagement Exercise - a presentation and Q&A with a representative staff group from across the DfT.

These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.

Ministerial Meeting

Prior to appointment, shortlisted candidates will be required to meet with Lilian Greenwood, MP Minister for Transport, further information will be provided.

Informal Discussions

Prior to final interview, shortlisted candidates will be invited to have discussions with:

Chris Boardman//Conrad Bailey

Interview

You will be asked to attend a panel interview where you will be asked to give a presentation and then have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.

Interviews are expected to take place face to face in Active England's office in York

Outcome and Feedback

Unfortunately, due to the anticipated number of applicants for this role, we are unable to provide feedback to those not successful at longlist stage.

Timeline

The timeline further down this page indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, all candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter, and we will advise on any delays.

Expected Timeline

We will try and offer as much flexibility as we can, but it may not be possible to offer alternative dates for assessments or interviews. You are therefore asked to note the below timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process, in order to meet the dates given. Please note that these dates may be subject to change.

The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Advert Closing Date: 31st July 2026

Longlist: 14th August 2026

Shortlist: 7th September 2026

Assessments & Ministerial Discussions: w/c 7th and 14th September 2026

Panel Interviews: w/c 28th September 2026

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments in order to support disabled job applicants and ensure that you are not disadvantaged in the recruitment and assessment process.

If you feel that you may need a reasonable adjustment to be made, or you would like to discuss your requirements in more detail, please contact:

mary.Dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com in the first instance.

Further Information

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service within the last 12 months, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage.

All External applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour

Threats or acts of violence

Illegal activity or substance misuse

Sexually explicit material

Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public.

Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle—it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture.

If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Michael Dobson
• Email : Michael.dobson@gatenbysanderson.com

Recruitment team

• Email : Mary.Dempsey@gatenbysanderson.com

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/

Follow link to apply

www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe132896

Attachments

ATE CEO - Candidate Pack - FINAL Opens in new window (pdf, 1502kB)

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