Job Description

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.

We\'re continuing to build a more diverse and inclusive organisation which is representative of the passengers we serve. To do this, it is 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 believe that investing in our people is one of the most effective ways of improving the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the railway. For more information about Network Rail and how we recruit, please refer to the Network Rail Careers website.

Brief Description

Technical Authority (TA) are a vitally important part of the freight and passenger business. We are here to consistently deliver for our front line and customers today, tomorrow and for the future.

TA\'s purpose is to support our front line to deliver safe and efficient performance for passengers and freight. We do this through providing technical leadership and specialist expertise, managing the National Control and Competence Frameworks, facilitating technical growth and lateral learning and assuring regional delivery.

Our role is to find creative technical solutions to problems, to set effective strategy and policy, to cut red tape, to find better ways of doing things and to provide strong competence and assurance regimes that make sure we do things effectively.

We are recruiting for a Principal Engineer to provide technical expertise and direction for the Distribution and Fixed Plant disciplines.

About the role (External)

What are the key accountabilities in this role?

In this role, you will undertake a diverse range of tasks which includes, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Lead the provision of expert advice, input and support associated with the provision of services for our customers and suppliers.

2. Provide professional leadership for the development of engineers aligned to the engineering discipline and undertake professional mentorship of engineers in support of their achievement of professional registration to their relevant Engineering Council.

3. Lead the technical input to accident and incident investigations and CIPs for safety verification.

4. Lead the setting of policy and standards, operational processes and systems. Manage the design and delivery of programmes for the development of technical capability required within Network Rail, including competence frameworks and effective training materials

5. Lead the technical input to the development of the standards, specifications, means of compliance (including applications for derogations and non-compliance) and KPIs for Asset Management, including system risk and Product Acceptance process and vehicle/infrastructure interface.

6. Set strategy within the technical engineering area in liaison with experts internally and externally including regulatory bodies.

7. Proactively research and respond to changes in the internal and external requirements and practice, which impact upon policy and standards

8. Act as Delivery Manager for delivery of a specific project or portfolio of projects and deliver projects within time, cost and quality.

9. Identify opportunities for technical and business process improvement and innovation, developing business cases and Investment Papers where required.

10. Manage Engineering Verification activities.

11. Represent Network Rail externally to the industry and input to European issues as required, speaking on and publishing in relevant platforms.

12. Integrate and co-ordinate activity across different engineering disciplines and contribute to the development of engineers within the Practice.

13. Support the development and implementation of competency frameworks and specify the engineering discipline training needs.

What are the essential skills and experience we\'re looking for?

\xc2\xb7 Chartered Engineer or demonstrate equivalent experience (Level 7)

\xc2\xb7 A sound knowledge of applicable policies, standards and national legislation

\xc2\xb7 Experience of developing technology and product strategies

\xc2\xb7 Knowledge of the safety management and risk assessment process

\xc2\xb7 Experience in the engineering, maintenance and asset management of HV and LV electrical assets or fixed plant.

We would also like, but it\'s not essential:

\xc2\xb7 Formal Project Management qualification (e.g. APMP, PRINCE2, PMIP, MSP)

\xc2\xb7 Strong commercial awareness and financially astute

\xc2\xb7 Broad and extensive experience in the development of engineering technology

\xc2\xb7 Experience of working in railway infrastructure management or a similar safety critical environment

For a full list of the key accountabilities and essential/desirable criteria, please click apply and you will be taken to the network rail external site where you can see the attached Network Rail .

How to apply (External)

A message from our Chief Executive, Andrew Haines:

\'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.

We\'re continuing to build a diverse organisation which is representative of the people we serve. We want to harness the skills and expertise of our people and attract the best talent, to enable a safe and accessible railway for everyone. To learn why inclusion is important to us, please click .

Duration: Permanent, Full Time

Location: This role is based at The Quadrant:MK. For roles based in the Quadrant:MK, you must live within 75/90 minutes of The Quadrant. Other locations will be considered on a case-by-case basis

Closing date: 6th August 2023. On occasions, we may need to close the advert early based upon application volumes. Late applications will not be accepted.

Band & Salary: Band 2C - \xc2\xa385,395 -\xc2\xa396,070 plus car allowance and benefits

What can we offer you in return?

We have a range of benefits including:

\xc2\xb7 28 days annual leave entitlement, plus Bank Holidays and five volunteer days

\xc2\xb7 My Benefits - our discounted online shopping site

\xc2\xb7 Flexible and family friendly policies and practices

\xc2\xb7 A range of discounted offers including, Healthcare offers, cycle to work, healthcare club discounted membership and other benefits

\xc2\xb7 Subsidies of up to 75% on rail and underground season tickets

\xc2\xb7 A range of pension schemes

\xc2\xb7 Two weeks paid reserve leave for our Armed Forces community

\xc2\xb7 Training, development and employee assistance programme available

\xc2\xb7 To learn about the benefits we offer please .

About our people and the recruitment process\xe2\x80\xa6

We\'re an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone!

We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don\'t always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we\'ll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.

We\'re also a employer and we\'ll try our best to adapt the process and offer a reasonable alternative to help support people with disabilities access, apply and interview for roles.\'

Visit should you need accessibility support to apply or should you require any reasonable adjustments/modifications, please contact and have your IRC number ready as this will be required.

As an arm\'s length department of the UK Government, Network Rail is required to comply with a well-established pre-employment vetting process for all prospective employees. Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks require prospective employees of Network Rail to meet the following requirements.

• Provide eligibility to work in the UK and identity documentation

• Complete a satisfactory 3-year employment history check

• Complete a satisfactory unspent criminal conviction disclosure check for more information regarding BPSS pre-employment related checks, please visit the UK Government website for further information - UK Government - BPSS Checks

Network Rail welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, marital status (including civil partnerships), pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender status, sex (or gender), employment status, trade union affiliation, or another factor.

We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria.

Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our Safety Vision

Network Rail positively embraces flexible working recognising that employees may wish to balance work and family/home life.

We\'re delighted to have been named as one of .

Drugs and Alcohol Standard:

Our Drugs and Alcohol Standard is changing as of 16.01.2023. All prospective candidates who have not been offered a conditional role by 16.01.2023 will be required to undergo and pass a drugs and alcohol test. Your application will be rescinded if you record a positive test. All positive drugs and alcohol test results for prospective candidates will be securely held on database and a 5 year suspension from applying for a safety critical role, a role which requires PTS certification or a Key Safety role on Network Rail Managed Infrastructure will be enforced.

Network Rail