Chiltern Railways
Future Operations Manager
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Role: Future Operations Manager
A variety of soft skills and experience may be required for the following role. Please ensure you check the overview below carefully.
Location: Marylebone Station - Can also be based at any other location on the Chiltern network
Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract - 6 Months
Salary: Up to £65,000 per annum
Help shape the future of Chiltern Railways
We're looking for a forward-thinking Future Operations Manager to help shape how Chiltern Railways operates in the future.
This is a unique opportunity to lead the planning and coordination of operational change, ensuring our people, processes, and infrastructure are ready to support new services, industry programmes, and future growth. Working across Operations, Engineering, Commercial, and Network Rail, you'll play a key role in delivering safe, efficient, and customer-focused change.
Please See Below For a Full Job Description....
Role Purpose
The purpose of this role is to ensure detailed operational plans are developed and deployed in line with the requirements of the proposed industry change programmes that will deliver sustainable growth.
This role is not about day-to-day operational management. Instead, it focuses on shaping the necessary systems, people, and infrastructure to enable the deployment of new operational plans.
The role will need to work extensively across all internal functions to ensure alignment and a robust delivery plan is in place.
Key Accountabilities
Operational Requirements & Long-term Planning
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
- Develop operational plans aligned to business objectives and future passenger demand (industry programme proposals or future service aspirations)
- Develop or identify the associated operational readiness change activities required to implement strategies or operational change
- Lead internal operations collaboration between (but not exclusively) Control, Stations, Traincrew, Performance, and Train Planning functions
- Represent operations for cross functional collaboration between Engineering, Commercial, Stations, and Network Rail where appropriate.
- Ensure operations are aligned with Chiltern’s strategic goals, sustainability commitments, and customer experience ambitions.
Workforce Strategy & Capability Development
- Across Control, Traincrew, and Performance
- Understand or propose overall resourcing plans to support the operational plans and change requirements
- Identify associated business change processes
Project Reporting
- For each industry programme, ensure that for operations appropriate PM controls are in place:
- Governance
- Risk, Actions, Issues, Decisions
Stakeholder Engagement & Industry Collaboration
- Work closely with Network Rail, DfT, and industry partners to shape future operational interfaces
- Represent Chiltern in cross industry working groups, and future projects forums
Safety, Assurance & Compliance
- Ensure future operations changes comply with safety standards, regulatory requirements, and industry best practice
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Person Specification
Experience
The job demands the following blend of experience/knowledge, skills, and behaviours (all are essential, unless otherwise shown, and will be assessed by application and/or interview/assessment):
- Experience of working as an Operations professional within rail or similar operationally complex industry
- Detailed knowledge of rail resourcing/traincrew management policies and practices including the RDG KPI framework
- Experience of working or good knowledge of Integrated Control Centre systems and processes
- Experience of leading and influencing new initiatives and rolling out new ways of working
- Good knowledge and understanding of Operations policies and processes
- Good technical knowledge of change management models and theories
- Experience of conducting diagnosis, analysing findings, generating options, and building commitment to solutions
- Degree or equivalent with significant post-qualification experience
Skills/Behaviours
- Strong interpersonal, communications, influencing, and negotiating skills
- Ability to establish rapport and credibility at all levels within the organisation
- Proactive and flexible
- Pragmatic in approach
- Strong presentation, data interpretation, and report writing skills
- Demonstrates a strong commercial/business-led approach to problem solving
- Able to travel across the network to our different locations
- Willing to support and engage with colleagues through ‘frontline days
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location