Civil Aviation Authority
Sustainability Principal - Climate Change and Air Quality Research & Reporting
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Sustainability Principal – Climate Change and Air Quality Research & Reporting
Salary: Up to £67,000 per annum dependent upon experience
Contract Type: Full Time Permanent
Security Level: BPSS
Location: London / Hybrid (expectation 2 days in office per week)
Visa Restrictions: This position does not currently offer visa sponsorship
Closing Date: Friday 11th September
Interview Date: w/c Monday 21st September – Westferry Circus
We are the UK's aviation and aerospace regulator and recognised as a world leader in its field. Our activities are diverse, enabling the aviation industry to meet the highest safety standards, and we pride ourselves on our ability to adapt to the constantly evolving aviation environment.
The Role
Aviation is evolving rapidly, and so are expectations around its environmental performance. As air traffic grows, understanding and communicating aviation’s environmental impact carbon, noise, air quality, and more has never been more important. The CAA plays a critical role in building the evidence base that informs decision-making across Government, industry, and the public.
As a Sustainability Principal for Climate Change and Air Quality Research & Reporting, you will be a senior expert and analytical leader within the CAA’s Sustainability Team.
Your expertise developing emissions methodologies and assessing the effectiveness of decarbonisation measures will shape how the CAA collects, analyses, and presents climate change and air quality (AQ) information.
This will directly contribute to our research and reporting activities such as the Aviation Environmental Review. Working in close collaboration with our analysis & insights as well as software development teams, you will develop data assets and tools to further the capabilities of the CAA and advocate for our work both internally and externally.
Core Accountabilities
Aviation climate change and air quality expertise
- Act as a recognised climate change and AQ expert within the CAA by maintaining an excellent knowledge of policy, technological, and scientific developments relevant to aviation, including health impacts.
- Lead the development of the Sustainability team’s strategic roadmap related to climate change and AQ, identifying research and reporting priorities that would support the delivery of the CAA’s sustainability strategy.
- Represent the CAA on climate change and AQ topics in national and international forums.
- Provide authoritative, evidence-based advice to senior colleagues and external stakeholders (industry, Government) on climate change and AQ-related environmental impacts and trade-offs.
Analytical capabilities
- Lead climate change and AQ research and reporting projects, communicating on direction, progress, challenges, and results achieved.
- Plan and own robust quantitative and qualitative analysis for core outputs, such as the Aviation Environmental Review.
- Interpret and communicate complex findings clearly for technical and non-technical audiences.
- Guide our environmental and data analysts, building capability and resilience in climate change and AQ analysis.
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Strengthen methodologies and tools
- Support the modernisation of analytical tools, datasets, and methodologies for climate change and AQ reporting within the CAA, including improved data governance.
- Increase the accuracy and robustness of our outputs by improving consistency across our reporting streams, such as Emissions Database.
- Work collaboratively within the Sustainability team as well as with other CAA teams to identify and leverage existing expertise, tools, and data that would further our climate change and AQ reporting capabilities.
About You
Essential criteria for the role:
- Expertise in climate change policy and science, ideally with a strong understanding of aviation-related emissions and impacts, including atmospheric modelling / chemistry and non-CO2 effects.
- Expertise in AQ policy and science, ideally with a strong understanding of aviation-related emissions and impacts, including effects on human health.
- Ability to interface with the climate change and AQ expert community (e.g. academia, industry) and to monitor scientific developments such as advances in emissions research or tracking of best practices on sustainability reporting.
- Experience project managing climate change and AQ research and/or reporting initiatives end-to-end, such as greenhouse gases emissions inventories, dispersion modelling, or concentration measuring campaigns.
- Advanced analytical capability, with excellent critical thinking, problem-structuring, and data interpretation skills, gained working with environmental datasets and modelling outputs.
- Ability to interpret complex findings and communicate them clearly verbally and in writing, using compelling visualisation and tailoring messages for technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong understanding of data quality, reproducibility, and governance principles, applied in an analytical or regulatory setting.
- Ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams to identify, share, and effectively leverage existing expertise, tools, and data.
Desirable criteria for the role:
- Direct experience working on aviation or transport-related climate change and AQ issues.
- Ability to operate with strategic awareness, balancing analytical rigour with delivery, stakeholder needs, and organisational priorities.
- Experience applying analytical evidence to real-world climate change and AQ policy or regulatory questions, with an understanding of how evidence influences decision-making.
- Experience supporting modernisation or automation of analytical processes or reporting pipelines.
Additional Information
- Occasional travel for conferences, workshops, and engagement events.
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For many appointments within the CAA, these roles require access to operationally sensitive infrastructure and/or Nationally Protected information. For these roles the post holders must undergo National Security Vetting and achieve the appropriate level of clearance. To be vetted you must have the right to work in the UK so that meaningful checks can be undertaken.
If you do not meet these requirements, we may not be able to accept your application.
For more information on BPSS clearance please visit - [BPSS clearance](BPSS clearance)
The CAA values high ethical standards and personal integrity among employees. If invited for interview you will be asked to complete a declaration of interest.
Relocation & Property
The CAA will be relocating from Aviation House (Our Gatwick Office) to new premises in a few years’ time. Our move is driven by strategic, operational and environmental considerations.
We will be moving to a new local home, up to a 15-mile radius of Aviation House, to minimise disruption for our valued colleagues and customers.
We are now working with colleagues and visitors to understand what we need in our new office, before we start our property search. We will sell Aviation House and land, vacate the site and move to new premises, but we do not expect to move before 2028
Inclusive Recruitment
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome applications from all backgrounds. As a Disability Confident employer, candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be guaranteed an interview. Find out more about the Disability Confident Scheme. If you require any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.
Use of Artificial Intelligence by candidates in the CAA recruitment process
We recognise that many of our candidates find Artificial Intelligence to 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 rejected on that basis.
Working With Us
Explore What We Offer section on our careers website to find out about our benefits and how we support work-life balance.
Our Values
- Do The Right Thing
- Never Stop Learning
- Build Collaborative Relationships
- Respect Everyone – For more information please [Click Here](Click Here)
Closing Date: Friday 11th September
Interview Date: w/c Monday 21st September – Westferry Circus
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
No recruitment agencies please.
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