Senior Commercial Insights Manager

East Midlands Railway; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 59,000 - 73,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

32 days holiday

Free First Class travel

Free leisure travel on EMR network

75% discount on national leisure, for

Friends and Family discounted tickets

Employee benefits portal with generous

Job summary

East Midlands Railway seeks a Senior Commercial Insights Manager in Derby (Head Office) on an 18-month fixed-term contract. You will lead commercial insights, combine customer research with revenue reporting, and drive growth opportunities across departments.

You will manage a high-performing team, oversee forecasting and financial modelling to maximise ROI, and champion data-driven commercial thinking across the business.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical expertise in data analysis, forecasting, financial modelling and visualisation.
• Highly commercially astute with ability to translate performance drivers into actions.
• Proven leader with experience developing high-performing teams.
• At least 3 years’ experience leading a data or insights team.
• Strategic thinker with excellent problem-solving skills.
• Confident communicator able to translate complex data into clear insight.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail.
• Advanced use of Excel, Power BI and Tableau.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Experience or knowledge of UK rail revenue processes and industry systems is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver the commercial analysis and insights strategy, providing robust revenue reporting and actionable insight to inform wider commercial plans.
• Lead customer and market research projects, building strong business cases and ensuring outcomes directly shape strategy.
• Provide clear, tailored analysis to senior stakeholders to support data-driven decision-making.
• Oversee annual budgets and quarterly forecasts across passenger revenue, car parks and commissions.
• Monitor and mitigate commercial risks, protecting revenue through periods of change and operational disruption.
• Ensure commercial programmes and initiatives are optimised to deliver expected revenue benefits.
• Lead and develop a high-performing Commercial Insights team, setting clear priorities and supporting capability growth and succession planning.
• Champion commercial thinking across the business, educating stakeholders on revenue drivers and influencing decision-making.
• Represent the business at industry forums, maintaining expertise in rail demand and advocating organisational interests.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Power BI

Tableau

Data analysis

Forecasting

Financial modelling

Team leadership

Strategic thinking

Education

Degree level education

Tools

LENNON

ORCATS

MOIRA

Job description

Commercial Strategy and Business Planning

Location: Derby - Head Office Contract Type: Fixed Term Salary: £66,000 dependent on experience Closing Date: Sunday 25 October 2026 Reference: 2026-SCIM3

We are proud to be One Team at East Midlands Railway (EMR). We are passionate about keeping people safe, delighting our customers, doing the right thing and putting customers at the heart of our sustainable railway for the East Midlands.

With over 2,600 employees, our people are the reason we are so successful. Ten times accredited as a Top Employer, we value our people and are dedicated to making sure that everybody feels empowered to bring their authentic self to work.

At EMR we want to proactively embrace diversity across our workforce and recognise that we are under-represented in terms of females and ethnic minority groups. We’re therefore taking positive steps to promote a positive and inclusive culture; we welcome applications from those that identify with these groups to better represent our communities.

We have an exciting opportunity to join #TeamEMR as a Senior Commercial Insights Manager.

Please note that this is an 18-month fixed-term contract (FTC) to cover maternity leave.

In this role, you will lead EMR’s commercial insights and analysis activity, combining customer research with robust revenue reporting to understand performance and identify growth opportunities.

You will manage and develop a high-performing team, oversee forecasting and financial modelling to maximise ROI, and act as a key link across departments – championing commercial thinking and delivering initiatives that grow passenger revenue.

What else you’ll be involved in:

• Develop and deliver the commercial analysis and insights strategy, providing robust revenue reporting and actionable insight to inform wider commercial plans.
• Lead customer and market research projects, building strong business cases and ensuring outcomes directly shape strategy.
• Provide clear, tailored analysis to senior stakeholders to support data-driven decision-making.
• Oversee annual budgets and quarterly forecasts across passenger revenue, car parks and commissions.
• Monitor and mitigate commercial risks, protecting revenue through periods of change and operational disruption.
• Ensure commercial programmes and initiatives are optimised to deliver expected revenue benefits.

Leadership & Commercial Culture

• Lead and develop a high-performing Commercial Insights team, setting clear priorities and supporting capability growth and succession planning.
• Champion commercial thinking across the business, educating stakeholders on revenue drivers and influencing decision-making.
• Represent the business at industry forums, maintaining expertise in rail demand and advocating organisational interests.

What we need from you:

• Strong analytical expertise in data analysis, forecasting, financial modelling and visualisation.
• Highly commercially astute, able to interpret performance drivers and influence outcomes.
• Proven leader with experience developing high-performing teams.
• At least 3 years’ experience leading a data or insights team, with a proven ability to develop capability and deliver high-quality outputs.
• Strategic thinker with excellent problem-solving skills.
• Confident communicator, able to translate complex data into clear insight for varied audiences.
• Highly organised, with strong attention to detail and workload management experience.
• Advanced user of Excel, Power BI and Tableau.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent.

Experience or knowledge of UK rail revenue processes and industry systems (e.g. LENNON, ORCATS, MOIRA) is advantageous but not essential.

As well as a competitive salary, we’ll also offeryou:

• 32 days’ holiday per year, rising to 34 after 2 years
• Free First Class duty travel on the EMR network
• Free standard leisure travel on the EMR network and Train Operating Companies under Transport UK & LNER
• 75% discount on national leisure travel (inc partner and dependants)
• Friends and Family discounted tickets on the EMR network
• Employee benefits portal with access to generous discounts, Cycle 2 Work Scheme …and many more!

EMR has a hybrid working policy which is applicable for this role. This means the role can be based at home 2-3 days per week and on site 2-3 days per week. Should you wish to work full time on site, this is also an option.

We are open minded to applications from people who wish to have flexible working. Many of our staff work flexibly in many different ways. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you need. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Important Notice to Candidate: AI Use Monitoring

Please be advised that all responses to questions on this application form will be carefully monitored for indications of AI assistance. It is important to us that you are being your authentic self so please base your answers on your personal knowledge and experience.

Any detected use of AI-generated content will result in disqualification from the application process. We value integrity and transparency in all applications and appreciate your cooperation in maintaining these standards.

If you're successful in this role, you'll be expected to support our frontline colleagues at some points throughout the year. This might be undertaking safety critical work, for which you'll receive training, but it could just be helping out with Customer Service when our stations are busy. We're One Team, and that means our managers step up for the frontline, not just manage from a distance. Supporting frontline colleagues is part of our DNA at EMR.

We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds

we promote equal opportunities for all. East Midlands Railway is a non-discriminatory employer committed to the recruitment and promotion of all on the basis of ability and merit irrespective of disability, race, gender, health, social class, sexual preference, marital status, nationality, religion, employment status or age. We’ll treat your application fairly and assess you for the job based on merit and skills.