Principal Engineer - Communications and Control Systems

Metro Trains Sydney Pty; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fitness Passport discounts

Vehicle Leasing

Employee Recognition Awards

EAP services

Job summary

Metro Trains Sydney Pty is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead Communications & Control Systems across our rail network. You will govern OT assets, drive system performance, and ensure safety and regulatory compliance while partnering with internal teams and project streams.

You will mentor engineers, oversee governance and change control, and deliver technical assurance across live operations and new initiatives for reliable, safe network performance.

Qualifications

• Degree qualified engineering professional with significant experience in Communications and Control Systems within rail or similar safety-critical environments.
• Strong background in asset management, lifecycle engineering, maintenance strategy and reliability improvements.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical ownership and asset stewardship of Communications & Control Systems and Cybersecurity Infrastructure across the rail network.
• Lead asset strategy, maintenance planning and lifecycle decision making for COM, CCS and CSI.

Skills

Engineering degree

Comms & Control

Rail safety-critical

Asset management

Lifecycle engineering

Maintenance strategy

Reliability improvement

Performance optimization

Risk management

OT governance

Systems integration

Education

Engineering degree

Job description

Principal Engineer - Communications and Control Systems

Posted: 14/10/2026

Closing Date: 30/10/2026

Job Type: Permanent - Full Time

Job Category: Engineering

Metro Trains Sydney (MTS) is the private operator and maintainer of the M1 Northwest and Bankstown Line, Australia’s first and only fully accessible, driverless train service. We are helping redefine rail in Sydney through safe, seamless and reliable services, supported by world-class technology, a high performing team and a growing network that is transforming the way people move across the city.

Job Description

About the role

As Principal Engineer – Communications & Control Systems , you will act as the discipline expert for a broad portfolio of operational technology and infrastructure assets. You will provide strategic engineering leadership across maintenance, asset planning, network expansion, technical assurance and system performance, while partnering closely with internal stakeholders, service providers and project teams.

Key responsibilities

• Provide technical ownership and asset stewardship of Communications (COM) & Control Systems (CCS) and Cybersecurity Infrastructure (CSI), ensuring system integrity, availability, and performance across the rail network.
• Lead asset strategy, maintenance planning, and lifecycle decision making for COM, CCS and CSI.
• Provide technical leadership and subject matter expertise for project scoping, defect resolution, engineering change management, and asset acceptance.
• Lead system governance and approvals, including configuration control, access management, and engineering decisions impacting operational technology (OT) environments.
• Monitor system performance and reliability, conducting root cause analysis (RCA) and implementing practical, data-driven improvement initiatives.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, safety, and technical governance requirements, including configuration management and standards adherence.
• Develop and maintain engineering procedures, technical instructions, and training materials to support consistent and safe system operation.
• Manage technical deliverables, contractor performance, and engineering outcomes, ensuring alignment with business objectives, safety requirements, and service expectations
• Lead technical assurance activities, including testing, verification, and compliance across operational and project environments.
• Mentor engineers and support capability development, fostering technical excellence and continuous improvement across the discipline.

Desired Skills and Experience

About you

You’re a degree qualified engineering professional with significant experience in Communications and Control Systems within rail or another complex, safety critical environment. You bring strong technical capability across asset management and lifecycle engineering, including maintenance strategy, reliability improvement, performance optimisation and risk management.

You also have solid experience working within live operational technology environments, with a good understanding of configuration management, system integration and governance requirements. In addition, you’ve supported major infrastructure or operational projects through activities such as technical assurance, design reviews, defect management, engineering change control and asset acceptance.

Alongside your technical depth, you understand the importance of safety, compliance and engineering governance, and are comfortable applying standards, assurance processes and risk-based decision making in practice. You’re also able to investigate faults, lead root cause analysis and use data to drive practical system improvements.

Just as importantly, you’re an effective communicator who can work across technical and non-technical stakeholders, manage contractor and technical interfaces, and translate complex engineering issues into clear, actionable outcomes aligned to operational and business needs.

Why apply?

This is an opportunity to step into a highly influential engineering role where your expertise will directly shape asset performance, safety and long term network reliability. You will work across critical infrastructure, support major projects, and help drive engineering excellence in a fast paced and high impact environment.

What’s on Offer

We are offering apermanentopportunity with access to a wide range of benefits:

• Fitness Passport discounts and access to gyms across NSW
• Vehicle Leasing options
• Employee Recognition Awards
• EAP services including confidential advice

The future of train travel, today. That’s what we intend to deliver. And it all starts with our people. Positive and upbeat with an ‘anything-is-possible’ approach, the MTS team is rewriting expectations.

MTS is an equal employment opportunity employer. We are committed to an inclusive workforce and welcome applications of candidates from culturally diverse backgrounds, people with disabilities, and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.