Senior Policy Advisor – Airspace Modernisation

466694 Senior Policy Advisor – Airspace Modernisation

Department for Transport

Apply before 11:55 pm on Friday 3rd July 2026

📍 Location: London (maximum of one role only), Leeds (up to two roles), Birmingham (up to two roles)

💷 Salary: National: £44,241, London: £48,581
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

🕘️ Contract Type: Permanent – Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

🏆️ Available Positions: 2

Aviation is vital for connecting the UK to the rest of the world – connecting people and facilitating tourism and trade. These are key roles in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to modernise the UK’s airspace.

The UK’s airspace is an essential but invisible part of our national transport infrastructure. It is also some of the most complex in the world and struggling to keep pace with technological changes and growing demand. It was designed in the 1950s when there were 200,000 flights per year: there are now more than 2 million. This causes poor system resilience and misses opportunities to reduce environmental impacts such as carbon and noise.

We are recruiting for two posts. One will focus on sponsorship of the new UK Airspace Design Service, and on delivering longer-term changes to enable its evolution. The other will focus on delivery of airspace changes around the rest of the UK and ensuring that government priorities are reflected in delivery plans.

Top Responsibilities

Supporting programme oversight, including assurance of the new UK Airspace Design Service
Developing and iterating policy to enable the continued progression of the programme
Making viable recommendations to ministers, and effectively communicating outcomes
Contributing to, drafting, and delivering briefings for audiences with mixed subject knowledge
Actively managing key relationships, both internally and with external delivery partners
Leading effective engagement with stakeholders, including representing DfT in 1:1 settings
Supporting the passage of any related legislative measures through Parliament
Supporting the day-to-day work of the wider team and responding quickly to priority tasks

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.

About You

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

Experience working with technical experts, including across organisational boundaries, and able to understand complex and technical policy issues and translate these effectively for different audiences
Excellent written and oral communications skills, with strong drafting and editing skills, ideally including experience of producing advice for senior leaders or ministers
Experience of building and maintaining stakeholder relationships, confidently representing the organisation and navigating a diverse set of perspectives, some of which may be challenging
Experience of operating in a high-profile and fast-changing working environment, often dealing with ambiguity
Experience of working in a project or programme setting
Knowledge of the aviation sector, or of airspace modernisation specifically, would be an advantage but is not essential.

How to Apply

👉 Read the full description and apply here: https://bit.ly/3T0vKsQ

This vacancy closes at 23:55 on Friday 3^rd July 2026