Railway Operations & Customer Standards Leader

arriva; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

CrossCountry is seeking an Operational and Customer Standards Manager in Birmingham to lead the development and continuous improvement of operational and customer service standards across the business. You will combine railway insight, customer experience data and stakeholder feedback to shape practical standards that work in real-world environments.

In Fleet & Safety, you will lead with empathy, build trust, and drive meaningful improvements at pace, balancing safety with service quality and

Qualifications

• Operational railway experience and credibility to shape and influence standards.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement across frontline, technical and management groups.
• Ability to translate complex requirements into clear, usable standards and guidance.
• Analytical, evidence-based mindset using data and feedback to test assumptions.
• Whole-system safety thinking and awareness of wider operational risk.
• Collaborative, inclusive leadership that drives change through others.
• Willingness to bring fresh perspective and practical innovations over more process.
• Experience in customer service, safety, service quality or standards management in railways.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and embedding of operational standards for service delivery, station management and frontline conduct.
• Act as Professional Head of Operational Standards and support continuous improvement in safety and customer experience.
• Collaborate with Operations, Control, Fleet, Safety, HR and Learning & Development to ensure standards are practical and understood.
• Use audits, performance measures and customer feedback to identify improvements.
• Maintain a whole-system view of safety and operational performance, balancing risks.
• Champion smarter, pragmatic ways of working to achieve standards’ intent with minimal complexity.
• Prepare dashboards, reports and trend reviews turning data into actionable insights.
• Lead through people by setting direction, ownership and momentum.
• Represent CrossCountry in forums on operational excellence, service quality and passenger rights.

Skills

Operational railway experience

Strong communication

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical mindset

Whole-system safety thinking

Collaborative leadership

Innovative problem solving

Customer service experience

Job description

CrossCountry is seeking an Operational and Customer Standards Manager in Birmingham to lead the development and continuous improvement of operational and customer service standards across the business. You will combine railway insight, customer experience data and stakeholder feedback to shape practical standards that work in real-world environments.

In Fleet & Safety, you will lead with empathy, build trust, and drive meaningful improvements at pace, balancing safety with service quality and