Lead Planner (Access) (Wessex)

Network Rail; Greater London; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave

Defined benefit pension

Rail and Underground season ticket 75%

Up to 75% off leisure travel

Carer's leave

Healthcare Scheme

GymPass discounts

Cycle to work

Job summary

Network Rail in London is seeking a Lead Planner to bring people, priorities and complex planning requirements together to create a safe, efficient and robust Route Engineering Access Plan. This is a key leadership role shaping engineering access across the Route and supporting the Route Strategic Business Plan.

You'll build and develop a planning team, resolve access conflicts with stakeholders, and ensure work can be delivered safely while protecting Route performance.

Qualifications

• Able to lead a team and motivate team members.
• Experienced and skilled in leadership and development of people.
• Proven ability in building organisational capability through the development and implementation of processes and business disciplines.
• Proven ability to engage with customers and build collaborative relationships with stakeholders at a senior level

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of the Route Engineering Access Plan, safely bringing together access, isolations, protected paths and TSR requirements in line with relevant standards.
• Bring teams together to solve complex planning challenges, coordinating Work Deliverers and balancing different priorities to create a safe, optimised and robust engineering access plan.
• Lead the late change process, making informed prioritisation decisions within your authority and escalating where appropriate to make sure changes remain safe and compliant.
• Identify opportunities to use access more effectively, considering financial efficiencies and the Schedule 4 & 8 impacts of different options and making recommendations where required.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, encouraging open communication and constructive challenge.
• Lead, coach and mentor the planning team, providing clear direction while helping colleagues build their confidence, capability and performance.
• Maintain a competent planning team, supporting compliance through appropriate competency assessment systems.
• Champion continuous improvement, encouraging people to share ideas, knowledge and best practice across the wider industry.
• Support Route and National communications relating to engineering work, helping provide accurate and effective information.
• Lead and validate planning information for the Route, helping ensure stakeholders have reliable information to support effective decision-making.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Planning

Communication skills

Decision making

People development

Negotiation skills

Job description

What You'll Be Doing

As Lead Planner, you'll:

Who We Are

Join the Southern Region where your work truly matters. Covering Wessex, Sussex, and Kent, the Southern Region is one of the busiest and most dynamic parts of the railway. Our teams keep some of the UK's most vital passenger and freight routes moving every single day. This is a place where collaboration, innovation, and resilience are key and where your contribution will directly impact millions of journeys. We are entering an exciting new chapter as we integrate with train operating companies under one national leadership, creating even greater opportunities to shape the future of rail. From supporting major modernisation programmes to improving performance for local communities and enhancing safety across complex operational environments, Southern offers a fast‑paced, rewarding environment to grow your career and make a real difference.

Safe behaviour

Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our safety vision.

About The Role

Lead Planner

The opportunity

We're looking for a Lead Planner who can bring people, priorities and complex planning requirements together to create a safe, efficient and robust Route Engineering Access Plan. This is a key leadership role where you'll shape and integrate engineering access across the Route, helping to support delivery of the Route Strategic Business Plan. You'll work collaboratively with teams across the industry to resolve access conflicts, identify efficient solutions and ensure engineering work can be delivered safely while protecting overall Route performance. Just as importantly, you'll lead and develop a planning team, creating an environment where people feel supported to contribute, develop their skills and continuously improve.

We want our workforce to reflect the communities we serve

We want our workforce to reflect the communities we serve and welcome applications from people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If your experience doesn't match every point perfectly, but you believe you can bring the skills and approach needed to succeed in the role, we'd still encourage you to apply.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the development of the Route Engineering Access Plan, safely bringing together access, isolations, protected paths and Temporary Speed Restriction (TSR) requirements in line with relevant standards.
• Bring teams together to solve complex planning challenges, coordinating Work Deliverers and balancing different priorities to create a safe, optimised and robust engineering access plan.
• Lead the late change process, making informed prioritisation decisions within your authority and escalating where appropriate to make sure changes remain safe and compliant.
• Identify opportunities to use access more effectively, considering financial efficiencies and the Schedule 4 & 8 impacts of different options and making recommendations where required.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, encouraging open communication and constructive challenge.
• Lead, coach and mentor the planning team, providing clear direction while helping colleagues build their confidence, capability and performance.
• Maintain a competent planning team, supporting compliance through appropriate competency assessment systems.
• Champion continuous improvement, encouraging people to share ideas, knowledge and best practice across the wider industry.
• Support Route and National communications relating to engineering work, helping provide accurate and effective information.
• Lead and validate planning information for the Route, helping ensure stakeholders have reliable information to support effective decision-making.

What We're Looking For

You'll be someone who combines strong planning and decision‑making skills with an inclusive, collaborative approach to leadership. You'll be comfortable working with competing priorities, bringing different stakeholders together and making considered decisions in a complex environment. You'll also recognise that great leadership is about getting the best from people, encouraging different perspectives and creating an environment where everyone can contribute. You don't need to have followed one particular career path to make an impact in this role.

If your experience has given you strong planning, leadership, stakeholder management and problem‑solving skills, we'd encourage you to apply.

Why this role matters

The decisions made by the Lead Planner have a real impact on how safely and effectively engineering work can be delivered. You'll have the opportunity to influence plans across the Route, improve how teams work together and help identify smarter, more efficient ways of delivering access. It's an opportunity to lead people, influence decisions and make continuous improvements, while playing an important role in supporting safe and reliable railway performance.

Essential – Your experience and skills

• Able to lead a team and motivate team members
• Experienced and skilled in leadership and development of people
• Proven ability in building organisational capability through the development and implementation of processes and business disciplines
• Proven ability to engage with customers and build collaborative relationships with stakeholders at a senior level
• Good negotiating skills and ability to make objective decisions
• Able to work under pressure within a continuous planning process
• Able to evaluate complex factors and make decisions to maximise benefit to Network Rail
• Good communication skills and a customer focussed approach
• Knowledge of relevant railway geography and network capability
• Knowledge of relevant train services and network capacity

Desirable

• Understanding corporate governance e.g. procurement rules
• Understanding of company's obligations in relations to ORR
• Understanding railway industry structure and responsibility
• Experience of investigatory skills (Root Cause Analysis)
• Knowledge of isolation Planning Process

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate experience in leading and developing a team. They will also need to have a strong understanding of managing late notice changes to the Engineering Access plan, as well as a good technical understanding of planning Isolations on DC infrastructure.

Please note

This vacancy uses an application-based approach rather than a traditional CV. You'll answer a small number of role‑specific questions, which will be reviewed anonymously to support a fair and consistent shortlisting process.

Applicant Guidance

Please answer each question using a specific example from your experience. Focus on your personal contribution rather than the wider team's activity. Keep your answers concise and, wherever possible, quantify the result or impact using figures, percentages, timescales, cost savings, performance improvements or other measurable outcomes.

If you require reasonable adjustments, feel free to reach out to Southern Careers if you need any assistance. [e-mail].

Band & Salary

£46,701 per annum - £56,963 per annum

Vacancy type

Permanent

Location

London Puddle Dock

Closing date

25/11/2026

We're an organisation where people matter. We matter to millions.

Benefits

• Generous annual leave with the option to buy/sell days.
• Defined benefit pension scheme.
• 75% subsidy on rail and underground season tickets.
• Up to 75% off leisure travel.
• Carer's leave to support those who matter.
• Healthcare Scheme, GymPass discounts, Cycle to work plus more.

We offer generous maternity, paternity, and adoption leave to support our employees during significant life moments.

Discover all our benefits and what life is like at Network Rail.

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We’re proud to champion a diverse and inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. To explore our ED&I commitments, https://www.networkrail.co.uk/who-we-are/diversity-and-inclusion/.

All offers of employment are conditional upon satisfactory completion of pre‑employment checks.

For further information please contact Brian Langridge - 07771612262.