Rail Operations Performance & Improvement Lead

FirstGroup plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free travel for you and a nominated on

75% season ticket discount

European rail discounts after 1 year

First Xclusives benefits portal

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

First Rail London is recruiting an Operational Performance & Improvement Manager (OPIM) for a 12-month Fixed Term Contract to lead performance and continuous improvement across the North London Railway, in partnership with FRL and Network Rail.

The role focuses on delivering the Mildmay Line Operating Plan, embedding a culture of collaboration and sustainable change to boost train performance, reliability and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Experience in railway operations and performance regimes.
• Understanding of concession models and how they affect day-to-day delivery.
• Ability to engage with people at all levels and manage relationships.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Clear written and verbal communication; IT-literate.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of performance and improvement initiatives across the North London Railway.
• Drive continuous improvement and embed sustainable change within the Upminster SDC.
• Support leadership teams in achieving strategic, operational and customer performance objectives.
• Own and facilitate performance forums (e.g., SDG) with tracked actions.
• Analyse performance data to identify opportunities and support evidence-based decisions.
• Lead cross-functional projects to improve train performance, reliability and customer satisfaction.
• Promote collaboration across routes and functions to standardise approaches.
• Facilitate structured problem-solving and root-cause analysis.
• Monitor and report on the impact of improvement activities to stakeholders.
• Champion operational excellence across the North London Railway.

Skills

Rail ops experience

Concession model knowledge

Stakeholder engagement

Problem solving

Communication

IT literacy

Education

GCSE English & Maths

Tools

None

Job description

First Rail London is recruiting an Operational Performance & Improvement Manager (OPIM) for a 12-month Fixed Term Contract to lead performance and continuous improvement across the North London Railway, in partnership with FRL and Network Rail.

The role focuses on delivering the Mildmay Line Operating Plan, embedding a culture of collaboration and sustainable change to boost train performance, reliability and customer satisfaction.