Strategic Lead - Highways Delivery

Lancashire County Council; Lancashire; On-site; GBP 69,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

26 days annual leave plus bank holiday

Flexible working opportunities

Health and wellbeing support

Family-friendly policies

Financial and travel benefits

Training and development opportunities

Job summary

Lancashire County Council is seeking a Strategic Lead for Highways Delivery in Preston. You will provide visible operational leadership across highways, street lighting and structures maintenance, translating priorities into safe, productive programmes and managing direct labour, plant and contractors.

You'll oversee workforce planning, performance, budget control and ensure value for money, safety and quality while coordinating winter maintenance and emergency response.

Qualifications

• Degree-level qualification in civil engineering, highways, transport or related field.
• Experience leading large, complex operational services with frontline workforce.
• Proven track record delivering highway maintenance and improvements safely, on time and within cost.
• Experience in workforce planning, performance management and safe systems of work.
• Ability to manage budgets and resources including labour, plant, fleet, depots and contractors.
• Experience in winter maintenance or out-of-hours operations.
• Knowledge of highways operations, legislation, standards and CDM Regulations.
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder-management skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day delivery of highway services across Lancashire.
• Provide visible operational leadership across highway, street lighting and structures maintenance and projects.
• Oversee workforce planning, performance and wellbeing of direct labour.
• Coordinate with commercial, engineering and asset colleagues to keep services moving and ensure value for money.
• Manage Winter Maintenance and Emergency Call Out and respond effectively to incidents.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Budgeting

Workforce planning

Safety awareness

Education

Degree-level qualification in civil engineering, highways, transport or related field

Job description

Job Description

Salary £68,525 - £74,531 Per annum | Permanent, Full Time, 37 hours per week | Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Job Description

Salary £68,525 - £74,531 Per annum | Permanent, Full Time, 37 hours per week | Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Strategic Lead - Highways Delivery

We're looking for a Strategic Lead with drive and passion to deliver an effective and very specialist service to our stakeholders at an incredibly exciting time for both the present and future of Lancashire County Council and the community we serve.

About The Role

This is an opportunity to take a leading role in the day-to-day delivery of highway services across Lancashire. You’ll provide visible operational leadership across highway, street lighting and structures maintenance, improvement works and highway projects, translating our priorities into safe, productive and well-resourced programmes that make a real difference to our communities. You’ll lead operational teams and our direct labour workforce, with responsibility for workforce planning, productivity, performance, competence and wellbeing. You’ll bring together people, plant, fleet, depots, materials and contractors to keep services moving, while maintaining high standards of safety, quality, customer service and value for money. Your remit will also include countywide responsibilities for Structures, Surfacing and Grounds Maintenance, alongside oversight of Business Support and the Highways Asset Management System. You’ll be at the heart of our operational resilience, leading the coordination of Winter Maintenance and Emergency Call Out and helping us respond effectively when incidents arise. Working closely with commercial, engineering and asset colleagues, you’ll tackle performance challenges, improve how we work and ensure frontline delivery remains responsive, efficient and focused on the needs of Lancashire’s communities.

About You

You’ll be an experienced operational leader who knows what it takes to deliver complex highways, infrastructure or comparable frontline services at scale. You’ll be comfortable leading from the front, setting clear expectations and holding teams to account, while creating an environment where people can perform, develop and work safely.

• A relevant degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in civil engineering, highways, transport or a related operational field. Chartered membership of an appropriate professional body would be advantageous.
• Substantial experience of leading large, complex operational services, including managers, supervisors and a significant frontline or direct labour workforce
• A strong track record of delivering highway maintenance, improvement works or comparable infrastructure operations safely, efficiently and to demanding quality, time and cost standards.
• Strong experience of workforce planning and deployment, including managing performance, productivity, attendance, competence, employee relations and safe systems of work.
• The ability to effectively manage budgets and operational resources, including labour, plant, fleet, materials, depots and contractors, balancing service requirements with efficiency and value for money.
• Experience of winter maintenance, emergency response or other out-of-hours operational services, with the judgement and resilience to manage incidents and changing priorities.
• Strong knowledge of highways operations, legislation, technical standards and health and safety requirements, including CDM Regulations.
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the confidence to work effectively with senior leaders, elected members, partners, trade unions, contractors and other organisations.

About Us

At Lancashire County Council, we're committed to delivering services that make a real difference to the people and communities we serve. Our Highways Team is at the heart of that mission, helping ensure that customers are put first by delivering safe, reliable and accessible highways services that local communities can depend upon. When you join us, you'll become part of a supportive and knowledgeable team where your expertise is valued, your development is encouraged and your contribution has a direct impact across the organisation.

• Competitive salary
• 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Flexible working opportunities
• Health and wellbeing support
• Family-friendly policies
• Financial and travel benefits
• Training and development opportunities

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028. If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation. Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.