Director Rail Performance and Sponsorship

Job summary:

The Rail Strategy and Reform Group is leading a transformative initiative to create a unified, simplified, and publicly owned rail system that delivers better services for passengers and improved value for taxpayers. Central to this vision is the establishment of Great British Railways, marking a once-in-a-generation reform of the UK’s railway infrastructure.

A key responsibility of the Director will be to lead cross-government engagement on the railway’s financial strategy and act as the lead sponsor for the sector’s transformation.

 

You will also be responsible for leading change and transformation within your team and the wider Department – establishing a newly formed Directorate designed to set an example for the way the Department intends to lead and collaborate with the rail sector going forward – as well as participating as a key member of the wider senior leadership team as we deliver this generational change to the UK railways.

 

You will be responsible for:

Setting the financial strategy for the Department’s interest in rail and engaging across Government and the rail sector to deliver it, bringing together financial sponsorship in one place and working in close partnership with the sector to maximise the benefits from the Government’s significant programme of investment to secure revenue and deliver efficiencies by ensuring alignment across infrastructure, services and operators.
Ensuring strategic direction for the railway is defined and delivery against it supported, challenged, and tracked – focussing always on what our passengers and freight users want.

Representing the Secretary of State’s interests as you ensure each organisation is democratically accountable for its overall performance – and that each is an effective, efficient and well-governed organisation delivering on our plan to overhaul the railways. You will hold the sector to account for delivery of improvement to reliability on the railways during this Parliament – taking a system view across the sector by encouraging collaboration on resolving challenges to reliability and performance in general and acting as the voice of the Secretary of State in challenging the sector to go further. In turn you will support the sector to get the support, levers, and capability it needs to be as effective as possible.
Establishing a new function designed to transition sponsorship of the existing rail sector to the future GBR – ensuring the Department is ready to sponsor the work of what will be a very large public company, at the same time as establishing positive working relationships with those organisations that will become part of it in due course.
You will own the Department’s relationship with a large part of the private rail sector and broader delivery organisations, including the freight sector, Channel tunnel, and HS1 and will lead our efforts to build effective partnerships with the industry and hold them to account for delivering the rail freight growth target, while identifying opportunities for growth in the international rail market.
Delivering a step change in the way the Department is leading and delivering rail transformation alongside ensuring an effective transition and glidepath to GBR by working alongside the Director General and Rail change Portfolio Director and wider Group SLT.
You will lead the rail analysis team, ensuring our decisions, strategic direction and overall grip on the long-term plan to overhaul the railways is underpinned by the best evidence – delivering complex, challenging and high impact analysis to support a broad range of decisions across rail.

 

Person specification:
You will need to be able to show, through your application, that you have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Director level in the Senior Civil Service.

 

The successful candidate will be an outstanding, visible leader who will demonstrate the following criteria throughout the selection process;

Highly developed interpersonal and influencing skills including the ability to work within a complex stakeholder and political environment with large public-facing delivery obligations.
Ability to digest and communicate large amounts of complex information with clarity and handle sensitive issues with tact.
Highly developed leadership skills including the ability to build, inspire and develop high performing inclusive teams.
Experience of aligning complex activity to deliver objectives, considering the wider context when making decisions while having a firm grip on customer impact and commerciality / operational reality.
Strong strategic thinking skills and the ability to apply them in a complex financial, operational, and customer-driven environment.
Excellent commercial acumen with ability to drive a commercially-driven approach in your work and with colleagues and stakeholders.

 

Desirable:

Experience of large scale operational or programme delivery.

 

Selection process details:

Application

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online form. This should be completed no later than 23:55 on Sunday 14th September

 

The application will include;

A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. You are encouraged to keep your CV to 3-pages at a maximum.
A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 1000 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.

 

Interview:

You will be asked to attend a panel interview to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification.

Interviews are expected to take place face to face in our London office, all shortlisted candidates will be asked to prepare a 5 minute presentation.

 

Nationality requirements:

This job is broadly open to the following groups;

UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Tagged as: national rai, rail frei, uk railway