Rail Operations Performance & Improvement Lead (12m FTC)

FirstGroup; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free Travel for you and a nominated to

75% season ticket discounts

Discounts on European rail services

First Xclusives benefits portal

Employee Assistance Programme

Job summary

First Rail London is recruiting an Operational Performance & Improvement Manager on a 12-month fixed-term contract to lead performance and people improvements across the North London Railway.

You will drive sustainable change, embed best practices, and work with the FRL and Network Rail teams to deliver enhanced train performance, reliability and customer satisfaction through structured programmes and governance across the SDC and related forums.

Qualifications

• Essential: Railways operations experience.
• Essential: Understanding of concession and industry performance regimes.
• Essential: In-depth knowledge of railway operational processes and procedures.
• Essential: Understanding of how railway concession models work in day-to-day delivery.
• Essential: Ability to engage with people at all levels and manage relationships.
• Essential: Effective problem solving.
• Essential: High standard of written and verbal communication.
• Essential: IT literate.
• Essential: Confident, professional communicator.
• Essential: GCSE English and Mathematics.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and delivery of performance, operational and people improvement initiatives across the North London Railway.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement within the Upminster Service Delivery Centre, embedding sustainable change and best practice.
• Support the Control Leadership Team and local management teams in achieving strategic, operational and customer performance objectives.
• Own and facilitate performance and improvement forums, ensuring actions are tracked and aligned to business priorities (e.g., Service Delivery Group).
• Analyse performance data and trends to identify opportunities and support evidence-based decision making.
• Lead cross-functional projects that improve train performance, operational reliability, customer satisfaction and employee engagement.
• Promote collaboration between routes and functions, sharing best practice and driving a consistent approach to performance improvement.
• Facilitate structured problem-solving and root cause analysis to address recurring challenges and improve resilience.
• Monitor, measure and report on effectiveness and benefits of improvement activities for stakeholders.
• Act as a champion for operational excellence, fostering innovation, accountability and continuous improvement across the North London Railway.

Skills

Railways operations

Performance regimes

Stakeholder engagement

Problem solving

Communication skills

IT literacy

Influential leadership

Education

Degree educated

GCSE English & Mathematics

Tools

Railway control systems

Job description

First Rail London is recruiting an Operational Performance & Improvement Manager on a 12-month fixed-term contract to lead performance and people improvements across the North London Railway.

You will drive sustainable change, embed best practices, and work with the FRL and Network Rail teams to deliver enhanced train performance, reliability and customer satisfaction through structured programmes and governance across the SDC and related forums.