Planning & Performance Director

GTR; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

GTR, in collaboration with Network Rail Sussex, seeks an exceptional Planning & Performance Director to lead an integrated approach across planning, performance, and timetable development. You will unite infrastructure, engineering access, rolling stock and service delivery into a coherent operational plan to meet customer needs.

You will lead a large, matrix-driven team with substantial budget responsibility and report to the senior leadership team, influencing partners and stakeholders to

Qualifications

• Experience leading large and complex functions or programmes.
• Track record of improving performance and delivering change across matrix or partner models.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders at executive/board level.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction for planning and performance.
• Oversee timetable and train-plan development including major operational changes.
• Lead governance and decision-making across the integrated railway.
• Build relationships with government, regulators and industry partners.
• Manage a function of ~300 colleagues with significant budget accountability.
• Influence expansion plans to meet extraordinary demand.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Rail industry experience

Stakeholder management

Data analysis

Commercial & financial judgement

Education

Degree in a relevant field

Job description

Shape the future performance of an integrated railway.

We are bringing GTR and Network Rail Sussex Route closer together to create a more integrated railway, connecting infrastructure and train operations around a shared purpose: delivering a safer, simpler, and better-performing railway for our customers.

We are looking for an exceptional Planning & Performance Director to join our senior leadership team and lead the development of an integrated approach to planning and performance across GTR, Network Rail Sussex and the wider network on which we operate.

You will have 1 million reasons to deliver outstanding results, because that is how many customers travel on our railway on our busiest days.

This is a significant leadership role with responsibility spanning train and operational planning, engineering access, performance, operational readiness, contingency planning, and service development. You will lead a combined function of approximately over 300 colleagues with significant budget accountability.

At its heart, the role is about bringing together the different components of the railway to deliver better outcomes. You will establish the strategic direction for planning and performance, ensuring that decisions about infrastructure, engineering access, rolling stock, and train services come together as a coherent operational plan.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the joint Planning & Performance function across GTR and Network Rail Sussex, creating an increasingly integrated approach to how we plan and operate the railway.
• Work closely to influence and partner other Business Units to deliver the outcomes required for our customers.
• Support the expansion plans required to meet the extraordinary demand on the Thameslink Growth Corridor.
• Set the strategic direction for short, medium, and long-term service planning, performance improvement, operational readiness, engineering access, and contingency planning.
• Lead the development of future train services, balancing operational performance and customer experience with capacity, affordability, and value for taxpayers.
• Oversee timetable and train-plan development, including major operational change, new and refurbished rolling stock, and improvements to journey times and service frequency.
• Build a strong, data-led performance capability, turning complex operational information into clear insight and action.
• Work closely with Engineering, Operations and Service Delivery to ensure infrastructure access, maintenance and train operations are planned effectively together.
• Establish effective governance and decision-making across the integrated railway, enabling issues to be resolved quickly and at the appropriate level.
• Build influential relationships across government, regulators, industry partners, and other senior stakeholders.
• Develop constructive relationships with our trade union partners and lead an inclusive, high-performing leadership culture across the function.

About You

This is a role requiring both strategic leadership and significant operational credibility.

You will have experience leading large and complex functions or programmes, with a track record of improving performance and delivering change across matrix, alliance, or partner-organisational models. You will be comfortable operating at Executive, Board, or Industry leadership level and influencing senior stakeholders where priorities and accountabilities may not always naturally align.

You will bring strong commercial and financial judgement, excellent analytical capability, and the ability to translate complex information into clear decisions.

Experience within rail, transport, infrastructure, or another highly regulated operational environment would be valuable. For candidates from rail, knowledge of areas such as operational planning, performance regimes, Network Code, track access, and timetable development will be particularly relevant,

Experience of integrated, alliance, or partnership-based operating models, major operational change, or service recovery would also be advantageous

Importantly, you will be an inclusive and collaborative leader who can bring people together across organisational boundaries create clarity from complexity and build a shared focus on delivering for passengers and the railway.

The opportunity

This is an opportunity to influence how Britain's largest and most complex rail operations evolves at a pivotal point for the industry.

You will have the scope to move beyond separate infrastructure and operator planning processes and help create a genuinely integrated approach that connects workforce planning, access and train planning, performance, infrastructure, and train operations around critical outcomes: safety, reliability, customer experience, and value for money.

If you have the leadership, operational judgement, and ambition to help shape that next chapter, we'd like to hear from you.