About Network Rail

Key Information

Role: Sponsor

Salary: £46,701 to £53,589 per annum

Location: Base location for the role will be York, Leeds or Manchester with an expectation to travel between those locations when required

Contract Type: Full time, permanent

Office Requirement: Hybrid. A mix of office and home-based working to be agreed with the hiring manager

Important Notice : Candidates who are successful at the sift stage will be invited to attend formal, competency-based interviews, scheduled to take place on 23rd May 2025. Interviews will be held in either York or Manchester.

Further details regarding interview times and venue allocation will be provided to successful candidates in due course.

28 days annual leave + bank holidays

Employees will be entitled to a discretionary 75% discount off leisure travel this includes off peak and super off-peak tickets. Employees will also be entitled to 75% discount on season tickets.

Network Rail Benefits - To find out about what benefits we offer, click here

Join Network Rail - Where People and Connections Matter

At Network Rail, we're dedicated to keeping passengers and freight moving safely and efficiently across the country. When you join us, you're not just part of a team - you're part of something that matters to millions. We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do, and every role plays a vital part in building a better, more connected railway. Click here to learn more.

We're committed to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. To discover more about our ED&I commitments click here. We value flexibility and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. As a Disability Confident Leader, we'll do everything we can to accommodate any needs throughout the recruitment process.

If you're ready to make a real difference, we'd love to hear from you!

Transpennine Route Upgrade

The Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is a £10.7 billion Programme of activities that is improving the railway between York and Manchester via Leeds and Huddersfield.

Stretching across the North of England, this key 76-mile TransPennine railway serves 23 stations, crosses over and dips under 285 bridges and viaducts, passes through six miles of tunnels, and crosses over 11 level crossings.

Proposed improvements as will deliver a hard-working, reliable railway for passengers, allowing for trains with more seats, more services and faster journey times.

For more information visit www.theTRUpgrade.co.uk

Brief Description

Direct and manage the development and implementation of major renewal and enhancement projects, funded by government, customer, stakeholder, or multiple funders, where Network Rail assumes a sponsorship role. Deliver the project benefit realisation to agreed scope, time and cost.

About the role (External)

Some of the key accountabilities of this role are:

1. Build effective relationships, (internally & externally) to balance the requirements of the client, Network Rail and the industry as a whole. Champion the interests of clients, customers and stakeholders acting as the focal point for escalation within Network Rail.

2. Review and interrogate client remits to confirm their viability. Work with internal and external stakeholders to establish a scope which optimises client requirements, value for money, network availability and capacity for future development and whole life cost.

3. Be responsible for the conversion of the client remit into an agreed project requirements specification. Be accountable for the development of the initial project plan and budget; working with the project manager to specify how the project is going to be delivered, expected milestones and associated timescales, resource requirements, risks & issues and funding needs/sources.

4. Produce business cases and investment papers for projects.

5. Devise solutions which maintain the 'business as usual' accessibility for our customers, take consideration of the 7 day railway principles and therefore minimise disruption to end rail users. Take a national/route wide view across portfolios to generate additional benefits, identify and resolve conflicting work and drive efficiencies.

6. Lead the process of quantifying risk associated with the project. Devise mitigating actions and periodically review recovery progress.

7. Interrogate and challenge plans to assess the deliverability of agreed scope within stated timescales and cost parameters, presenting any required scope changes to the client for approval.

8. Hold the Project Manager accountable for programme delivery to cost, time and scope parameters. Hold periodic reviews to understand and challenge delivery progress against the client remit. Communicate progress status against defined milestones and expectations to stakeholders putting contingency measures in place if required.

9. Negotiate with customers and stakeholders on the project's commercial and contractual terms in accordance with relevant corporate policy and strategy. Act as the focal point for negotiations and resolution of external scheme interface requirements, including any Parliamentary or Statutory processes, external consents issues to optimise the value of the scheme to Network Rail and funder(s).

10. Comply with the requirements of investment regulations, other corporate governance, the Governance to Railway Investment Projects and PACE (Performance, Adoption, Confidence, and Expectation). Adhere to corporate processes, including those related to safety, finance, legal and corporate affairs.

11. Facilitate the discharge of the duties assigned by the Client as detailed within the Construction Design Management (CDM) Regulations for the programme of projects allocated to you.

We need you to have:

• Qualified to degree level or equivalent

• Experience of dealing with client portfolios and liaising with people at all levels

• Ability to articulate complex business problems into manageable work packages and produce synthesised logical solutions

• Proven ability to write coherently, conveying report / investment information in a concise manner

• Commercially astute, persuasive, and customer focused

• Proven influencing and negotiating skills

• Experience of leading a successful team

It would be advantageous if you have:

• Experience in early project development

• Experience in railway projects; specifically, asset management, digital, BiDi and/or rail freight

• Experience in management roles in a commercial environment

• ChPP, MBA or other related postgraduate qualification

• Experience in negotiating contracts to finalisation and ability to demonstrate commercial success

How to apply (External)

We are an inclusive employer of choice, Disability Confident Leader ! We encourage people to work flexibly and welcome applications from everyone Click here for more information .

Vi sit Evenbreak's Career Hive should you need accessibility support to apply. Should you require any reasonable adjustments/modifications, please contact TRUResourcing@networkrail.co.uk .

Network Rail Benefits - To find out about what benefits we offer, click here

Keeping people safe on the railway is at the heart of everything we do, safe behaviour is therefore a requirement of working for Network Rail. You should be able to demonstrate your personal commitment to safety and awareness in your application.

Salary: £46,701 to £53,589per annum .

Closing date: 14 th May 2025 Late applications will not be accepted. We retain the right to close the advert before the listed closing date based on application volumes.

All offers of employment are conditional upon satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks. Click here for more information

Some of our roles require face to face Drugs & Alcohol testing. Further details will be shared with you as part of your formal offer.*

Network Rail operates, maintains and develops Britain's railway infrastructure managing 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and thousands of signals, level crossings and stations.