Road Safety Team Leader

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the busy Road Safety Team within the Transport & Sustainable Travel Service at BCP Council. We are seeking a new Road Safety Team Leader to help reduce casualties and ensure the safety of all BCP Council’s road users through a range of engineering, educational, enforcement, and evaluation initiatives.

A key aspect of this role involves collaborating with other teams within BCP Council as well as with external organisations, including Dorset Police, Dorset Council, and additional partners within the Dorset Road Safe Partnership. You will also engage with elected representatives, businesses, and residents to address complex and demanding service requests, manage expectations, and optimise the use of budgets, resources, and opportunities.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of highway and traffic law, highway and traffic design, road safety audits, and the legal frameworks related to highway management and usage, as well as broader legal requirements for public services.

Outstanding and sensitive customer care is essential in this high-profile and crucial Council service, which supports and promotes the safe and sustainable use of highways by all residents, businesses, and the thousands of daily visitors to the area. This is an ideal position for someone who enjoys engaging with a diverse range of individuals and leading a motivated, friendly team to deliver high-quality service.

This is a full-time role, working 37 hours per week. You may also occasionally be required to carry out duties or provide assistance during evenings, weekends, or school holidays. The role offers flexibility in work location, with options to be based at BCP Civic Centre in Bournemouth, in satellite offices, or with work-from-home arrangements.

The entry level for this position will depend on qualifications and experience as outlined in the Job Description for the relevant grade levels. This post is covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016), making fluent English an essential requirement.

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Richard Pearson, Transport Network Manager, Planning & Transport, at richard.pearson@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

Those selected for interview will provide a 10 minute presentation on how they would manage the service to ensure the most efficient use of resources to address the Council’s statutory Road Safety obligations.

Main Responsibilities

• Fulfil the Council’s statutory obligations for Road Safety under the Road Traffic Act.
• Continually analyse road casualty data and develop targeted engineering, educational and enforcement interventions in the light of evidence.
• Develop a programme of engineering interventions working collaboratively with other engineering programme leads to combine initiatives where practical.
• Assist in ensuring that the engineering programme, developer work and any other activities on the highway are progressed to improve safety and reduce the risk of collision and injury.
• Develop project briefs and instruct in-house and external designers, consultants and contractors as required.
• Maintain constructive relationships with Dorset Police, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service and other strategic authorities and partner organisations.  
• Respond to customer demands and operate within established governance processes building public and Cllr confidence and working to achieve relevant national, regional and local targets and regularly reporting on progress.
• Maintain contemporary knowledge of best practice and seek to continually adapt and improve the service in that context and in the light of the evidence available and being willing to develop and take an innovative approach where that appears proportionate, lawful and practical.   
• Develop and agree policy and targets relating to road safety and management of the highway.     
• Act as the Council’s expert in regard to road safety audits.
• Represent the Council at casualty reviews including at Coroners Hearings and in regard to any legal proceedings.
• Manage a team or teams within the same or similar area of work of up to 100 full time and part time employees.  Manage external and internal designers, contractors and consultants as required. 
• Manage and develop others to achieve strategic aims and best possible organisational performance through the creativity and innovation of its people. 
• Understand the importance of diverse talent during recruitment and development practices. 
• Communicate team contributions and successes to stakeholders and share feedback. 
• Role model enthusiasm and commitment to delivering excellent services which have considered the diverse needs of customers. 
• Understand and address performance issues promptly providing continuous feedback.

The Ideal Candidate

•    Minimum 5 years post-graduate experience in Road Safety engineering

•    Routinely carry out Road Safety Audits as Team Leader and supporting Road Safety team members

•    Highway Design and Traffic Management

•    Knowledge and experience of Traffic Signals Designs & systems 

•    Educational qualification to degree level or above

•    Chartered Engineer corporate membership of Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE), Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (MCIHT) or Institute of Highway Engineers (MIHE) (or equivalent experience) with clearly evidenced continuous professional development and understanding of industry best practice and broader commercial awareness

•    Undertaken RoSPA AIP Course

•    Holds full current driving licence

•    Good communication skills

•    Ability to work as a team member

•    Management of staff, budgets, resources and funding within the context of Local Government and the future plans of the council

•    Experience of report writing at high level for a wide range of audiences including the Coroners Office, Department for Transport and other external stake holders 

•    Dealing with elected members and public

•    Awareness of national casualty reduction techniques and transportation policies

•    Understanding the principles of highway design and construction techniques

•    High level of knowledge of ICT applications associated with collision analysis including autocad

•    A commitment to high standard of service

•    A commitment to public consultation and customer focus

•    Ability to motivate staff

•    Ability to manage complex workload under pressure

•    Ability to proactively develop new road safety initiatives

•    Commitment to working in partnerships with other organisations

•    Flexible

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people.  Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline.  We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services.  By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package for further details see here

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation and colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. Expected to be in place in 2025.

DBS

BCP Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the community and expects all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment.  Applicants to this post will be required to complete the appropriate level of Disclosure & Barring Service Check. Please refer to the Job Description or Role Profile for more details.