Network Rail
Senior Communications Manager [West Coast South]
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Who We Are
Join Network Rail! Where People and Connections Matter
We get people where they need to be, whether they are commuting to work, visiting friends or family, or travelling the length and breadth of Britain.
Network Rail operates and maintains the railway infrastructure 24/7 365 days a year. Every day our 40,000-strong workforce strive to put passengers and freight first by keeping trains running on time.
Those trains carry millions of passengers as well as millions of tonnes of freight, keeping power stations running, construction projects building and supermarket shelves stocked.
We make millions of lives better every day and have a vital job in driving the economic prosperity of the nation. Our work matters to millions.
This Senior Communications Manager role, for our West Coast South route which covers London Euston to Crewe, is crucial in telling that story.
West Coast route forms one of three in our North West & Central region, which sees 1.3 million daily passengers and moves 700,000 tonnes of freight weekly, with 571 stations making up a quarter of Britain's rail network.
You can learn more about our route and region here: North West & Central region - Network Rail. To find out more about us - Take a look here!
We're passionate about great service and commit to our service equation vision by "putting passengers first". Performance, safety and getting the fundamental basics right, is something we strive for as well as asking ourselves - what can we do to put our passengers and freight users at the centre of everything we do?
That will be core to your role in Communications - helping to shine a light on what's good - but also providing answers and transparency to passengers, the wider public and political stakeholders when we fall short.
Does this sound like a role for you and a team you'd love to be a part of?
Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our safety vision.
About The Role
We have an exciting opportunity to join one of Network Rail's busiest communications teams.
We're looking for a Senior Communications Manager in our West Coast South route, part of the West Coast Main Line which is a complex and critical piece of railway stretching over 1,000 miles, with 64 operational stations and one Network Rail managed station, London Euston, which is one of the top 10 busiest in the UK.
It's also the busiest mixed-use railway in Europe, forming Anglo-Scottish journeys between London, Glasgow and Edinburgh via the West Midlands and North West, as well as providing commuter links direct to the capital through Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.
The ideal candidate will have extensive communications experience, trusted to lead communications for complex projects while working with multiple partners and stakeholders both internally and externally. They will line manage a team of two across internal communications, external media relations and complaints handling and be responsible for managing relationships with key transport partners and political stakeholders. They will have a strategic mindset to ensure all projects and stories are told for every audience, but also spring into action during a crisis to communicate quickly, clearly and concisely when there's an operational incident which grinds the railway network to a halt.
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.
We'll encourage them to get out and about - engaging with our teams and train operators to showcase some of our biggest projects to improve journeys for our passenger and freight customers.
It is not a sit at your desk job, it's a get out and meet people job, it's a grab a camera and make a film job, it's a ring your internal contacts to find a unique story job, it's an everyday is different job, it's a job you'll love in a place where you can develop your career and never stop learning.
The role is based in either London Euston or Birmingham and will work within the geography of our West Coast Route, covering areas including London, Rugby, Milton Keynes, Stoke and Stafford. We offer a hybrid working policy with 3 days in the office or on site, and 2 days from home each week. With many of our projects taking place overnight when trains aren't running, there may be occasions when out of hours working is required.
This is an exciting 12 month fixed-term contract opportunity.
What does our recruitment process look like?
Once you have applied, our Recruitment Specialist will look at your CV. If your experience matches what we're looking for, you will be invited to face to face interview with the hiring manager. You will also prepare a communications plan to be delivered as a 10-minute presentation as part of your assessment; followed by a 50- minute competency-based interview. The brief for presentation communication plan will be provided a few days before the assessment date.
Assessments will be held in London w/c 24 August (Subject to change)
What's In It For You
Salary: Band 3B Zone 1 £46,701 - £56,963 Depending on experience
Here are a few of the benefits we have to offer:
- 28 days annual leave - with the opportunity to buy and/or sell up to 5 days
- Access to a range of contributory pension schemes
- The potential to top up your competitive salary with a bonus
- A subsidy of up to 75% on rail and underground season tickets if you travel to work on the train
- Privileged staff travel - Discretionary leisure travel discount of 75%
- We can offer you a season ticket loan, annual season tickets are discounted.
- A 35-hour-per-week contract with flexible working options available to help support your work-life balance
- Hybrid working where possible and enhanced family-friendly support
- Take advantage of healthcare offers (including discounted healthcare club membership), discounted cycle hire, and online shopping sites
- 5 days of paid volunteering leave
- 2 weeks paid reserve leave for the Armed Forces community
To find out more about what we offer, click here
Our aim is to ensure your candidate experience is as positive as possible. If you require reasonable adjustments at any point, simply let us know and we'll do our best to assist you.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
You can visit Evenbreaks Career Hive for advice on accessibility support if you're unsure of the options available. Should you require any reasonable adjustments/modifications, please add a note to your application.
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a large volume of applications is received.
Your Experience And Skills
What you'll be doing:
- Develop, drive and implement communications plans for key projects, working collaboratively with stakeholders to create content, campaigns and events, to support the delivery of business objectives and drive performance.
- Establish and maintain strong and trusting relationships with key stakeholders, working collaboratively in order to support the identification, development and delivery their internal communications goals.
- Lead communications activities which present reputational risk or opportunities for the business.
- Establish an effective network of internal and external contacts and provide direction/influence to senior managers and external industry parties where appropriate.
- Identify and supply content for internal communications channels and act as a conduit for material/information across communications teams.
- Provide advice/guidance on communications activity undertaken by key personnel including directors, project managers and sponsors, delivering consistency with the national communications strategy and in accordance with Network Rail's corporate policies.
- Check all branding used complies with Network Rail's policy on branding, visual identity and image.
- Evaluate communications activities on the project, from effectiveness to budget spend, so that improvements can be identified during and after the project.
- Create and lead a team including carrying out regular 121s, appraisals, objective setting and performance monitoring and onboarding contractors as appropriate.
- Implement the major incident communications plan as required.
What You'll Have
- Educated to degree level or a professional communications qualification (eg IoIC, CIPR, PRCA) or demonstrable equivalent experience
- Substantial experience in corporate communications
- High standards of written and spoken communication
- The experience and personal credibility to work effectively with senior managers
- Strong influencing skills
- Proven ability to grasp, understand and promote complex and sensitive issues in a persuasive and sensible way
- Ability to develop and maintain a wide network of stakeholder contacts
- Evidence of good planning and financial skills, with the ability to deliver projects and activities on time and within budget
We would also like but it isn't crucial to have/to be:
- Experience of directing and managing agency support
- Relevant professional qualifications
- Evidence of continuing professional development
- Campaign management
- Event coordination / project management
- Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Premiere Pro, InDesign)
“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