Technical Standards Specialist (Vocational)

Job summary

Do you have comprehensive knowledge of the products and capabilities required for vocational driver testing and training?

Have you gained experience working within a service‑driven environment where high standards, customer focus, and operational delivery are essential?

Are you familiar with the DVSA’s aims and objectives and how they influence service delivery, safety standards, and the wider transport sector?

Vocational Technical Standards Specialist is required to provide a high-level of knowledge regarding DVSA’s vocational policies and procedures to both internal and external stakeholders and customers.

Working closely within the Vocational Technical Standards team manager on a range of LGV/PCV and CPC led initiatives, a lot of which will include working alongside delegated and MoD driving examiners.

The work is road safety led and can involve representing the DVSA as a subject matter expert, for the Police authorities and Coroners courts.

Work with the enforcement team as part of DVSA’s regulatory role, often as the point of escalation regarding delegated authorities to deliver driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) helps keep Britain moving, safely and sustainably. We do this by helping people through a lifetime of safe and sustainable journeys, helping them keep their vehicles safe to drive, and protecting them from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

We’re working hard to:

• Make roads safer
• Improve services for our customers
• Make road transport greener and healthier
• Harness the potential of technology and data
• Grow and level up the economy

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

Job description

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Using expert technical knowledge work with the Vocational Technical Standards Manager to develop vocational products from inception through to implementation and if necessary, closure. This will include developing responses to technical progress, legislative changes, and customer-led demand to improve the overall effectiveness of the Vocational service.
• As subject matter expert provide assurance to the Vocational Technical Standards Manager that process developments will meet identified needs so that they are able to sign them off. With the Vocational Technical Standards Manager, take responsibility for dealing with any consequences of the developments once they have been delivered.
• Provide expert technical policy advice and guidance to internal and external stakeholders and customers/end users on any component of the service. This may include presentations to groups, dealing with telephone enquiries and handling written requests and complaints.
• Participate in meetings that will include senior managers from both internal and external stakeholder groups
• Ensure good relations and communications with all members of the team, responding politely and in a timely fashion to internal and external customers, as appropriate.
• Represent the Team and Agency internally and externally as requested/required as a subject matter expert (e.g. conferences, seminars and exhibitions) to assist in setting policy/legislative objectives, ensure stakeholder engagement, identify service improvements and enhance and strengthen the Agency’s profile.

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

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Knowledge of the products and the capabilities required for vocational driver testing and training, this will include a knowledge of the policies and processes related to the services
• Experience of working within a service environment
• Awareness of DVSA’s aims and objectives
• Working knowledge and understanding of other licence acquisition testing and driver/rider training course design, construction, and delivery

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 35 hours per week.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

There may be an occasional requirement to work late evenings or weekends to support service improvement activities – you will be paid overtime/granted TOIL to cover this work as agreed with limited travel in Europe required.

Qualifications

Either already authorised by the Secretary of State, or prepared to complete the training needed to gain authorisation, to conduct category B, C and D practical tests, including the +E sub‑categories.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £35,663, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes £10,331 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.

This includes:

• A generous annual leave entitlement
• Attractive pension options with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Flexible working
• Good career development opportunities
• A variety of career paths
• Inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance

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 skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Personal statement

Stage 2: Presentation and Interview

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

Stage 1: Sift

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

• Experience – you will be asked to provide a personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

1. Knowledge of the products and the capabilities required for vocational driver testing and training, this will include a knowledge of the policies and processes related to the services
2. Experience of working within a service environment
3. Awareness of DVSA’s aims and objectives
4. Working knowledge and understanding of other licence acquisition testing and driver/rider training course design, construction, and delivery

The sift will take place from 16/04/26.

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours – Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service, Seeing the Big Picture
• Experience

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place from 11/05/2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details 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.

Further information on the selection process

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

All 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.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 : Ian Gainford
• Email : ian.gainford@dvsa.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: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here

Attachments

HEO Technical Standards Specialist (Vocational) Mar 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 175kB)