Head of Readiness & Resilience

To develop and implement a range of strategies to prepare the Route for successful implementation and readiness for Route and industry wide Operational, Infrastructure & Capital Delivery initiatives. To mitigate industry wide risks and reduce business interruption to operability of the route business through influencing regional stakeholders to develop a culture of resilience and risk mitigation.

Below are some exciting projects the role is currently leading on

• The creation of Central Route's first incident ground where our operational teams will test their capability to manage emergency situations.


• Leading on Central Route's drone strategy where we aim to be the first Network Rail to achieve beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights.


• Lead the delivery of our contingency planning and testing processes to ensure Central Route is ready to respond to out of the ordinary events that could impact our ability to safely operate train services.


About the role (External)

What will you be doing?

1. Lead, direct and manage the Routes resilience team overseeing and defining readiness and resilience strategies, aligning these with a timely delivery.

2. Accountable for the development, implementation and governance of Resilience strategies and processes, which align to the corporate resilience objectives, utilising KPIs to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of these and create a culture of continuous improvement.

3. Subject Matter Expert for the provision of specialist advice to the Routes senior leadership team to challenge and provide council on the Routes ability to manage readiness and respond appropriately to risks.

4. Accountable for the delivery of Resilience activities for the Route including development, maintenance and continuous improvement of processes to manage Business Impact Analyses and Contingency Plans; in order to identify critical activities and plan for their continued operation at times of disruption.

5. Accountability for the creation and delivery of operational preparedness and readiness for capital programmes and delivery of assurance activities to the Routes leadership teams, in order to provide confidence in the Routes preparedness.

6. Lead the team managing the delivery and continuous improvement of seasonal preparedness plans.

7. Influence, understand, manage and articulate internal, external, regulatory and legal requirements and relationships for resilience that the Route must adhere to, providing assurance to senior leadership on the Route position. Particularly regarding security, terrorism, and emergency planning.

8. Management of external stakeholders, including the representation of the organisation, to influence resilience with interested parties including those from the wider rail industry, regulators, and government.

9. Lead assurance on the capability of external stakeholders and suppliers to meet the resilience needs of the organisation, identifying mitigation strategies for where critical activities are not adequately protected.

10. Represent the Route for corporate resilience issues and provide assurance and learning to the Central Resilience Team on performance and relevant risks alongside managing the embedded British Transport Police inspector to support mitigation of impact of criminal and trespass activities.

· Member of relevant professional body (for example the Institute of Railway Operators) or equivalent experience

· In depth knowledge of rail industry performance processes, regimes, and procedures

· Proven experience in multiple resilience disciplines (e.g., Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Incident Management and Emergency Planning)

· Demonstrable in-depth knowledge of resilience standards, legislation, and best practice.

· Knowledge and experience in a range of technologies/tools for Continuity planning and execution.

· Strong leadership skills with proven experience of team management in a senior management role.

· Able to set team goals, objectives and priorities, and balance these with challenging deadlines in a fast-moving environment that is dynamic, safety oriented and technology dependent.

· A proven communicator with influential, persuasive and negotiation skills across all levels in the organisation.

It's not mandatory to have the below, but it would be desirable to have:

· In-depth understanding of the railway industry and its needs and interfaces.

· Knowledge of relevant standards and procedures

Network Rail operates and maintains the railway infrastructure 24/7 365 days a year.

Our passengers and freight users are at the heart of everything we do. We help connect people to their friends and families and get goods to their destination safely and efficiently. We're an organisation where people matter. When you're part of our team, you matter to us and you matter to millions. Watch our video to find out more!

We're continuing to build a more diverse and inclusive organisation which is representative of the passengers we serve. To do this, it's essential we become a more open, diverse and inclusive organisation, harnessing the skills and expertise of all our people and attracting the best talent to help us have a safe, accessible railway for everyone. We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone!

Within this role, you will be part of the North West & Central Region, working for the Central Route.

The Central route covers a major part of the national rail network, with hundreds of thousands of passengers, and thousands of tonnes of freight carried within our route each week. Within our route is the Chiltern Main Line between London Marylebone and the West Midlands, the Snow Hill line from Stratford-upon-Avon to Worcester, the Cross City line in Birmingham, and lines to other cities including Wolverhampton, Coventry, Walsall, and Oxford.

We also have big plans under way in the Central route. The planned HS2 railway includes stops in Birmingham and Solihull, providing much-needed additional capacity on the rail network and faster journeys for passengers. East West Rail will also re-establish a rail link between Cambridge and Oxford and improve connectivity within the region.

Salary range starting from £85,395 and raising to £96,070 per annum.

Network Rail adheres to a structured pay framework, any salary offered will be within the pay range advertised.

• 28 days holiday entitlement (plus bank holidays)


• My benefits – our discounted online shopping site


• A range of discounted offers including, childcare vouchers, healthcare offers – cycle to work, healthcare club discounted membership and other benefits


• Subsidies of up to 75% on rail and underground season tickets


• 75% discount on leisure travel


• A choice of contributory pension schemes


• 2 weeks paid reserve leave for our Armed Forces community


• 5 days volunteer leave


Want to look into the benefits further? Find out here