Customer Experience Modelling Manager

DfT Operator Limited; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 56,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave

Pension scheme

Learning opportunities

Job summary

DFTO seeks a Customer Experience Modelling Manager to establish a new analytical discipline within the rail sector. You will lead modelling for customer satisfaction, drawing on the Rail Customer Experience Survey and industry evidence to forecast and inform decisions.

Based in London, Leeds or Birmingham with hybrid working, you will collaborate across DFTO and the wider rail industry, oversee third-party modelling, and deliver practical guidance that strengthens customer and commercial

Qualifications

• Experience in customer satisfaction or demand modelling with relevant industry evidence.
• Translate complex analysis into clear insights for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong governance and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Establish SME in customer satisfaction and demand modelling grounded in evidence.
• Engage DFTO and rail industry to define modelling requirements and governance.
• Develop a clear modelling framework for customer satisfaction and forecasting.
• Collate evidence from surveys and previous modelling to inform framework.
• Define interaction with Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook and link to revenue impacts.
• Lead procurement and management of third-party modelling or analytics.
• Produce guidance enabling industry colleagues to apply the framework.
• Translate complex analysis into actionable insights for varied audiences.
• Support adoption of evidence-based forecasting across the industry.

Skills

Analytical ability

Data analysis

Statistical methods

Excel modelling

Stakeholder engagement

Policy context

Independent work

Modelling framework

Job description

About DFT Operator

Join Our Team at DFTO

DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.

DFTO has over 30,000 employees, runs over 11,000 services a day and delivers over 930 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000 people joined the railway family in the last year

Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeast, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia, WM Trains and GTR.

We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose of Job:

This is a rare opportunity to establish a new analytical discipline at the heart of how the rail industry understands and improves customer experience.

Key Responsibilities:

As Customer Experience Modelling Manager, you will develop and lead a modelling framework for rail customer satisfaction, using the Rail Customer Experience Survey and wider industry evidence to support forecasting, target setting and better decision-making. Your work will help DFTO and the wider industry understand how improvements to customer experience affect satisfaction over the short, medium and long term.

You will provide analytical leadership for customer satisfaction modelling, translating complex evidence into clear frameworks, forecasts and practical guidance that can be applied across the rail industry.

The primary objective of the role is to develop a customer satisfaction framework, analogous to the Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook, that supports consistent forecasting, target setting and decision-making. You will define how the framework should interact with existing demand and revenue forecasting approaches, including how changes in customer satisfaction may influence passenger behaviour and commercial outcomes.

You will work with stakeholders across DFTO and the wider rail industry to define requirements, agree priorities and establish effective governance. You will collate and assess evidence from the Rail Customer Experience Survey, previous modelling work and wider research, identifying what drives changes in satisfaction and how those effects can be modelled credibly.

You will also lead the procurement and client-side management of specialist modelling, research or analytical support where required, ensuring third-party work is delivered to the right quality, scope and timetable.

This is a highly collaborative role requiring strong analytical capability, sound judgement and the ability to explain complex concepts clearly. Success will depend on your ability to combine technical rigour with practical application, build confidence among stakeholders and turn evidence into tools that support better customer and commercial decisions.

What you’ll be responsible for:

• Establishing subject-matter expertise in existing customer satisfaction and demand modelling, including the Customer Impact Model, so future development is grounded in relevant evidence and learning.
• Engaging stakeholders across DFTO and the wider rail industry to define modelling requirements, agree priorities and establish effective programme governance.
• Developing a clear modelling framework for customer satisfaction that supports industry forecasting and target setting.
• Collating and documenting an evidence base drawing on the Rail Customer Experience Survey, previous modelling and wider industry research.
• Defining how customer satisfaction modelling should interact with the Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook, including how satisfaction and revenue impacts are understood and linked.
• Collaborating with industry partners to gather, assess and synthesise empirical evidence on how customer experience changes influence satisfaction.
• Building and maintaining an industry-level model to forecast customer satisfaction across short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
• Designing and delivering appropriate assurance so that the framework and model are robust, credible and fit for industry use.
• Leading the procurement and client-side management of third-party modelling, research and analytical support where required.
• Producing clear guidance and outputs that enable industry colleagues to apply the framework, use central model outputs and develop local models confidently where needed.
• Translating complex analysis into clear insights and recommendations for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Supporting the adoption of consistent, evidence-based approaches to customer satisfaction forecasting and decision-making across the industry.

What we’re looking for:

Essential

• Strong analytical capability, including experience working with complex and diverse data sets and leading others in analytical work.
• Sound understanding of analytical best practice and the ability to apply it in practical business or policy @contexts.
• Familiarity with statistical methods, research techniques and evidence-based decision-making.
• Advanced spreadsheet modelling skills and the ability to develop clear, robust and reusable analytical tools.
• Ability to translate complex analysis into clear insights, recommendations and outputs for non-technical audiences.
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries and influence senior stakeholders.
• A strategic and innovative mindset, with the ability to create a new analytical approach in an emerging area of practice.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to present technical concepts clearly and credibly.
• Ability to work independently, manage priorities and maintain analytical quality in a complex and changing environment.

Desirable

• Experience analysing survey data, particularly customer experience or satisfaction data.
• Working knowledge of the Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook or related rail industry forecasting approaches.
• Experience working with rail industry data sets and evidence sources.
• Experience procuring, commissioning or clienting analytical projects delivered by third parties.
• Advanced understanding of statistical modelling approaches.
• Experience communicating analytical findings to senior, technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Vacancy Details:

Duration: Fixed Term up to 31st October 2027 contract/secondmentLocation: We currently have officesin London Waterloo, Leeds, BirminghamSalary Range: £56,338 to £62,598
Closing date: 23rd September2026

DFTO Locations:

DFTO currently have office locations in London, Birmingham and Leeds and individuals can be based from any of the three locations. Whilst we do offer hybrid working there are sometimes demands to travel to the other office locations.

DFTO Benefits:

Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)

DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution

Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry

Additional Information…

Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.

About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.

Contact:

If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact [e-mail]