DVLA Doctor

Job summary

Are you a qualified professional who can confidently communicate, persuade and influence others?

Can you effectively manage sensitive information and deliver work on time under pressure to achieve goals?

If so, we'd love to hear from you!

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

The role of the DVLA Doctor is to act on behalf of DVLA working closely with the Secretary of State's Honorary Medical Advisory Panels, Research Groups and with UK and European policy colleagues to apply the medical standards for Driver Licensing in Great Britain. This is a non-patient facing role with excellent rewards including generous holidays and flexible working for the ideal work life balance.

You will be responsible for making key evidence-based decisions regarding the issue or revocation of UK driving licences, adding value to the medical standards we apply. You will work with numerous stakeholders, such as other medical professionals, supporting us to get drivers on the road, as simply, safely, and efficiently as possible.

This is an exciting role where you will have the exposure to innovate and continuously improve DVLA services, working with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. You will be at the forefront of decision making and will contribute to shaping the future direction of the Driver’s Medical department. Investing in our people is important to us, so you will be given dedicated time to focus on your personal and professional development, in addition to the flexible home working which this role provides.

Responsibilities

Key accountabilities of the role include:

• Review a range of evidence and make risk-based decisions to action cases efficiently and cost effectively, in accordance with current good practice guidelines.
• Prepare medical appeal cases, write witness statements and appear as a witness in court representing the Secretary of State, when required.
• Represent DVLA by advising the medical profession on medical aspects of fitness to drive.
• Undertake General Medical Council (GMC) revalidation on a 5-yearly basis. This requires annual appraisal and, integral to the appraisal process, is to review and reflect upon quality of work and to undertake quality improvement.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

You will come with a breadth of clinical experience with a minimum of 5 years post qualification experience, keen to undertake a role where you can add real value to the medical standards we apply.

The essential criteria for this role, is outlined below:

• Full current registration with the General Medical Council (GMC);
• GMC Medical Licence to practice;
• Member of a Medical Defence Organisation

We are looking for people with a future focussed mindset who can contribute to the development and continual enhancement of our services. You will come with strong collaboration, stakeholder, and relationship management skills enabling you to challenge skilfully.

You are inquisitive, you seek out new information and look for new ways to develop yourself. You display the Civil Service core values of honesty, integrity, impartiality, and objectivity, demonstrating these in your everyday approach.

About Operational Delivery Profession

Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services.

Due to the evolving nature of the business, vacancies can become available at any time. Therefore, this campaign may create a reserve list to fulfil demand if it arises which will be held for a period of 12 months.

Additional Information

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 22.2 hours per week.

DVLA provides the opportunity for homeworking for Doctors with travel to the Swansea office when required. There will be an expectation that the individual will attend the office at least 1 day per month – date to be agreed with the line manager. We may also request additional dates and times for your attendance at the office and occasionally, you may need to travel to the DVLA Birmingham office. You would receive prior notice of this.

DVLA will provide the equipment and furniture for an office environment within the home. Successful candidates will need to work full time for the duration of their training which will be delivered virtually for a minimum of 3-4 months.

The individual will be expected to be flexible and co-operative to ensure that business needs are met. This means that the Agency may ask the individual to attend the office on a day normally worked at home to, for example:

- Provide office cover for colleagues who may be on official business, training, leave etc;
- Attend training events; and/or
- Attend on/off site meetings.

Also, in the event of unavailability of systems, individuals will be expected to attend the office – wherever practical.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

Licences

GMC Medical Licence to practice.

Qualifications

Please outline full Medical Qualifications. You must have 5 years of post-qualification experience.

Memberships

Full current registration with the General Medical Council.
Member of a Medical Defence Organisation.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £93,956, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £27,219 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Experience – please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following essential criteria:

• Strong interpersonal and relationship building capability
• A future focussed mindset with the ability to challenge skilfully whilst maintaining strong working relationships
• Seeking and learning from feedback to try and improve own performance
• Collaborative style, able to work well with others, and with the resilience and determination to achieve

For this role you will need to submit a CV and personal statement of up to 1250 words. We need to understand how your skills and experience meet all the essential criteria for this role. You can use any part of your life to demonstrate your skills and experience, but it must be relevant to the role. You can refer to your work experience, education, hobbies, or interests.

You can decide the best way to structure your personal statement. You may choose to address each of the essential criteria on their own. Or, you can give one example that covers all the essential criteria we are looking for. Click here for further guidance on submitting your CV and personal statement.

It is essential when submitting your personal statement that you provide as much detail as possible, within the word count, against the essential criteria outlined below as this will be used in conjunction with your CV to assess candidate suitability to move to the next round in the recruitment process.

The sift will take place week commencing 9th March 2026.

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours - Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Communicating and Influencing & Working Together

The interviews will take place week commencing 23rd March 2026.

This interview will be conducted face to face, at DVLA, Swansea. Full details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Further Information

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit theHow We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

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.

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

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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.

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : OCSD Recruitment
• Email : OCSDRecruitment@dvla.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

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: Click here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/) to visit Civil Service Commission

Attachments

Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 226kB)