Director – UK, International & Trade
It all means that here, you are part of something very different and special.
DfT and our agencies employ around 15,000 staff, of whom about 3800 are in the core Department, and we have the largest and most complex capital project portfolio in Government, delivered principally through delivery partners including Network Rail, HS2 Ltd and Highways England.
We are broadening our presence around the country and are growing new locations in Leeds and Birmingham.
Our Secretary of State has set out her 5 strategic priorities, putting transport at the heart of mission-driven government.
They include:
- improving performance on the railways and driving forward rail reform
- improving bus services and growing usage across the country
- transforming infrastructure to work for the whole country, promoting social mobility and tackling
- delivering greener transport
- better integrating transport networks
More information about DfT can be found on our website here
Departmental Vision
All DfT employees are guided by the Civil Service core values of honesty, integrity, impartiality and objectivity.
Everything we do to achieve this is reinforced by our values:
Confidence: to challenge, to take action, to innovate.Excellence: in our professionalism, in our delivery, in our learning.
The Government is committed to resetting the UK government’s relationship with the devolved governments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This includes having a more collaborative approach, working in partnership including, where appropriate, on international engagement.The Government also aims to strengthen
Britain’s influence abroad, including resetting the UK’s relationship with the European Union. In championing prosperity, the Government is targeting trade agreements with other countries to bring prosperity to communities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
The Director – UK, International & Trade (UKIT) leads a newly combined team of around 60 staff based in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast which works across DfT to lead these objectives from a transport perspective, by setting direction for the Department’s cross-UK and international engagement and leading our work supporting trade, including promoting UK transport-related exports and inward investment.
Responsibilities include:
Relationship with the devolved governments
Shaping and implementing the Government’s approach to transport in the devolved governments, including ensuring the Second Permanent Secretary can effectively fulfil her role as the Department’s ‘place’ lead for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.This means strategically deploying the engagement and partnership teams for the three nations in policy making, stakeholder engagement and ministerial activity. It also involves ensuring the Department’s investment in infrastructure studies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is delivered to time and to budget.
To underpin effectiveness, the team designs and delivers a programme of work to improve capability and understanding of devolved matters and how to work with colleagues in the devolved governments.
International strategy and engagement
Leading the development and implementation of the Department’s cross-cutting international strategy, prioritisation of ministerial and senior official international engagement, and building individual and collective international capability and skills.The Department has significant international interests, including in a range of transport-specific and other multilateral bodies. Being an engaged, capable and influential international department is critical to our success, for example in securing global action to tackle climate change.
Modal teams across the Department lead on much of our day-to-day international work. UKIT ensures a joined-up and coherent approach on international matters and leads in bodies which are cross-cutting, across transport modes, particularly. the International Transport Forum (ITF), an OECD affiliated intergovernmental organisation which acts as a think tank for cross-modal transport policy.
UKIT also leads the Department’s overall relationship with the EU, ensuring ongoing effective implementation of DfT’s responsibilities under the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), and the team is leading the Department’s input into cross-Whitehall work preparing for the TCA review in 2026.As we start this new parliamentary term, we are refreshing the Department’s overarching international strategy..
This includes strengthening our international engagement teams to focus on building relationships with priority countries. These teams are a valuable resource for the whole Department in enabling effective international influencing.
Trade policy
Leading and co-ordinating the Department’s contribution to the Government’s programme to negotiate Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and on all aspects of trade policy, including addressing market access barriers. This includes working across the Department to develop the negotiating position on transport services for each country and being a dynamic part of the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)-led negotiating teams throughout, including advising ministers on any trade-offs affecting transport interests.
Exports and investment
Working with DBT, the Office for Investment (OfI) and others to support the cross-government effort to boost UK prosperity through the promotion of UK exports and investment opportunities. The Department promotes the UK transport sector’s exporting capability at international trade events.For example, we are co-funding the UK’s presence at the Osaka Expo 2025, which runs for six months from April 2025, and delivering a transport programme for the UK pavilion. We sponsor Crossrail International, a small, specialist company, wholly owned by the Secretary of State, which provides expert strategic advice globally on developing and implementing complex rail schemes.
The company seeks to leverage expertise gained through the delivery of the Elizabeth Line to generate opportunities for the UK supply chain. Investment into the UK transport sector is essential to UK prosperity. We are working to develop a pipeline of transport-related investment opportunities which our ministers can target with foreign investors.
Shared leadership of Decarbonisation, Technology & Strategy (DTS) Group
In a Group without a Director-General, the Directors in DTS work together to support the Second Permanent Secretary in personifying and promoting the Group’s identity, purpose and value, including ensuring that it is well run, in line with the Department’s corporate policies, procedures and practices.
A consistent theme across all of the work of the directorate is effective collaboration with teams across the Department, and the ability to build trust and credibility in external relationships, including with international and other stakeholders and across Whitehall, at senior level, including representing the Department with tact and impact.The ability to develop and lead effective relationships is fundamental to the role.