Overview

Operations Director role at Network Rail. This is an exceptional opportunity to lead the operations team at Scotland’s Railway, driving delivery against defined safety, performance, and financial objectives while balancing the needs of our diverse customer base.

About Network Rail

At Network Rail, 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. Watch our video to find out more!

Location

Glasgow, GB

Division

Scotland's Railway

Brief Description

This is an exceptional opportunity to lead the operations team at Scotland’s Railway, driving delivery against defined safety, performance, and financial objectives while balancing the needs of our diverse customer base. As our Operations Director, you will lead a large, multi-disciplinary team through divisional leaders in signalling, integrated control, electrical control, staff resourcing, and the two largest stations in Scotland: Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central. Your leadership will be pivotal in driving real-time train service delivery, improving performance and safety, ensuring seasonal readiness, and maintaining compliance—all to deliver a seamless experience for all who rely on the railway.

Success in this role demands exceptional leadership and communication skills. You’ll need to inspire and motivate teams, foster collaboration across departments, and build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders. A strategic mindset and deep understanding of railway operations are essential, as is the ability to navigate complex challenges with confidence and clarity.

Responsibilities

• Direct the management of operational and workforce safety within Scotland’s Railway and act as a role model in the promotion of safety and environmental excellence.
• Lead your team to achieve business objectives and meet key performance measures.
• Create a culture to enable customer and frontline employee feedback to be reflected in policies and procedures to deliver continuous performance improvement.
• Achieve financial, technical, safety and customer satisfaction targets.
• Lead the delivery of operations in compliance with policies, procedures and standards and direct the development of disaster and incident management plans. Support the on-site management of recovery from major incidents.
• Act as the Designated Competent Person (DCP) for both formal and local investigations. Report on accidents/incidents and undertake investigations as required.
• Manage the development and implementation of safety, train performance and customer satisfaction initiatives. With the Head of Maintenance Delivery, create plans to address customer needs and performance issues.
• Lead real-time delivery of train performance and implement processes to deliver continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Chartered member of relevant professional body or equivalent experience
• Significant successful experience in operational management in a Safety Critical Industry
• Recognised operational delivery leadership capability
• Able to demonstrate in depth knowledge and experience of health and safety management and compliance management processes
• Proven ability to influence decision making and build cross functional / cross company relationships
• Proven track record of customer relationship management
• Significant knowledge of rail industry
• Successful experience of managing business unit financials
• Able to demonstrate understanding of NR safety management system

How To Apply (External)

• Salary: starting at £116,753 rising to £146,591 per annum plus £8K car allowance
• Network Rail Benefits – to find out about what benefits we offer, click here
• Closing date: Midnight of 17 October 2025. Interviews will take place in person on 30 October 2025. This will involve a presentation.
• Please get your application in as soon as possible; we may close the advert before the listed closing date if we receive enough applications. Late applications will not be accepted.
• All offers of employment are conditional upon satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks.
• Some roles may require face-to-face Drugs & Alcohol testing. Further details will be shared with you as part of your formal offer.

Safety and Equal Opportunity

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 demonstrate your personal dedication to safety on your application. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.