Northern
Traincrew Programme Manager - 2 year fixed term
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Traincrew Programme Manager - 2 year fixed term
Traincrew Programme Manager
Business Function: Operations
Salary: Circa £66,000 per annum Role Type: Hybrid Location: Leeds/York/Manchester Hours: 37 per week
About the Role
People turn to Northern for trains they can rely on. Behind every punctual service and seamless customer journey lies meticulous planning, coordination, and expertise. As our Traincrew Programme Manager, you’ll lead one of our most critical operational initiatives, shaping how we plan, deploy, and optimise train crew across the entire network for years to come.
This role sits within our Operational Readiness team and will transform our approach to workforce planning, training, rostering, and utilisation into a single, integrated programme—delivering tangible, measurable results.
With significant visibility and influence, you’ll collaborate with senior leaders across Northern and the wider rail industry, helping to build a sustainable train crew model that enhances performance, strengthens operational resilience, and supports the future of rail in the North.
If you thrive on solving complex challenges, driving alignment among teams, and leading transformative change at scale, this is your opportunity.
Responsibilities
You’ll oversee the end-to-end delivery of Northern’s Traincrew Programme, ensuring multiple workstreams coalesce into a cohesive, coordinated plan. Your key duties include:
- Programme Ownership: Define and manage the overall programme roadmap, ensuring priorities, dependencies, and milestones remain aligned.
- Strategic Translation: Convert strategic objectives into actionable programmes of work.
- Governance & Reporting: Establish robust programme governance, providing clear insights, assurance, and reporting to senior stakeholders and executives.
- Cross-Functional Leadership: Drive delivery across functions such as workforce planning, recruitment, training, rostering, and utilisation.
- Benefits Realisation: Define performance metrics and capture programme benefits, ensuring improvements reflect in day-to-day operations.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Lead and influence stakeholders across all areas of Northern, fostering collaboration and alignment.
- Risk & Mitigation: Identify and manage programme risks, developing mitigation strategies to stay on schedule.
- Long-Term Standards: Establish consistent delivery standards, governance frameworks, and ways of working that endure beyond the programme’s lifecycle.
- Team Leadership: Guide a high-performing team, prioritising outcomes, accountability, and continuous improvement.
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Requirements & Qualities
This role demands a strategic leader who can orchestrate complexity, drive meaningful change, and inspire stakeholders. We’re seeking someone with:
Critical Experience & Skills:
- Proven track record in leading complex, cross-functional programmes in large operational environments.
- Strategic change delivery with a history of achieving measurable business improvements.
- Expertise in programme management, covering governance, integration, benefits realisation, and risk management.
- Executive influence: Confidence to engage and advise senior leaders, including at board level.
- Analytical acumen: Ability to distil complex data into actionable decisions.
- Prioritisation skills: Juggle competing demands, navigate ambiguity while staying outcome-focused.
- Stakeholder management: Build alignment and transparency across diverse teams and functions.
- Exposure to large budget/expenditure management and financial targets.
- A collaborative mindset, believing the best outcomes emerge through teamwork.
Preferred Backgrounds: Experience within rail, transport, logistics, or other complex operational sectors is highly advantageous, though transformative programmes elsewhere will also be considered.
What’s in it for you?
At Northern, our people are our greatest asset—we invest heavily in their well-being, growth, and happiness. Here’s a snapshot of what you gain:
Lifestyle & Wellbeing:
- Free Travel: Unlimited free travel for you, your partner, and dependents on Northern Rail. Plus 75% off other UK and European networks.
- Cycle to Work scheme: Save up to 42% on a bike and spread payments.
- Electric Car Scheme: Access to brand-new lease models (EV or plugin hybrid).
- Discounts: Northern Perks offers perks for shopping, wellness, and more.
- 24/7 Support: Employee Assistance Programme covering life, work, and family.
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Growth & Recognition:
- Training & Career Development: Tailored learning opportunities and pathways to recognised qualifications.
- Awards: Northern Lights and Sparks Awards celebrate and reward exceptional contributions.
- Feedback Culture: Regular check-ins and growth conversations to support your progress.
Why Northern?
We’re not just a train company—we’re the heart of the North, connecting communities, unlocking opportunities, and driving sustainable growth. With 2,650 daily trains, we’re redefining rail travel, enhancing customer experiences, and championing environmental responsibility.
From the first passenger train in 1825, our legacy stretches back 200 years. Now, as Great British Rail reshapes the industry, we invite you to shape the future.
Working with Us
A Place for Everyone: Excellence thrives when everyone belongs. We actively promote an inclusive culture where diverse voices are heard. We’re a Level 2 Disability Confident employer, meaning we’ll offer interviews if you meet minimum criteria. Adjustments to recruitment processes are welcome, and our team ensures every application is fair.
To remove unconscious bias, we automate parts of our screening process. Successful offers are contingent on a DBS check and medical assessment.
Your Unique Journey Starts Here: At Northern, you’re not just a colleague—you’re a trailblazer. Our doors are open to all backgrounds and perspectives. Whether you’re familiar with our menagerie of savoury hosers, baps, bars, or cobs, we’re excited to have you on this railroad.
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