Sustainable Transport Manager - DGA13853

Dumfries and Galloway Council; Dumfries; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 24 days + 11 holidays

Local Government Pension Scheme

36-hour week with flexi-time

Professional development support

Relocation assistance may be available

Job summary

Dumfries and Galloway Council is seeking an experienced Sustainable Transport Manager to lead the day-to-day delivery, safety, compliance and performance of its passenger transport services. You will oversee DGC Buses, home-to-school transport, and contracted services, while driving active travel and low-emission initiatives.

The role requires substantial local authority management experience, strong knowledge of passenger transport operations, and the ability to manage multi-million-pound

Qualifications

• Substantial management experience in a local authority or complex organisation delivering public services.
• Hands-on knowledge of passenger transport operations (bus, home-to-school, contracted transport).
• Experience managing large revenue and capital budgets with forecasting and reporting.
• Contract management of transport operators or similar service providers.
• Experience developing and implementing policies driving service delivery.
• Experience building operational partnerships with other organisations.
• Ability to challenge poor performance or behaviour.
• A degree or equivalent; relevant management qualification; CPD evidence.
• Full driving licence and willingness to work flexibly outside office hours.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day delivery, safety, compliance and performance of passenger transport services.
• Manage and lead managers and teams delivering services (DGC Buses, school/ASN transport, local bus contracts).
• Oversee active and sustainable travel leadership and funding for infrastructure.
• Monitor multi-million-pound budgets; provide forecasting and financial information for decisions.
• Lead procurement, contract management, and stakeholder reporting.

Skills

Substantial management experience

Expert passenger transport operations

Budget forecasting and financials

Contract management

Policy and plan development

Operational partnerships

Tackling performance issues

Degree or equivalent experience

Driving licence & flexible hours

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

Management qualification

Job description

Sustainable Transport Manager - DGA13853

Dumfries and Galloway covers 8% of Scotland’s land area and is home to 2.7% of its population. In most of our communities, there is no fallback if the bus doesn\'t turn up, the school transport isn\'t right, or the path to the next village doesn\'t exist. Getting passenger transport right here is hard, and it matters.

In the last two years, the Council has stepped in as operator of last resort when a major commercial operator withdrew from most local services. We now operate our own bus operation, DGC Buses, with 77 vehicles and 19 routes, alongside 45 long-term contracts with local operators and a growing active travel programme delivered with the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership (SWestrans). The network is stable. The job now is to run it well, improve it, and decarbonise it.

We are looking for an experienced operational manager to lead that work.

The role

This is a senior operational management post. You will be accountable for the day-to-day delivery, safety, compliance and performance of the Council’s passenger transport services, and for leading the managers and teams who deliver them. Your remit covers:

DGC Buses: the Council’s in-house bus operation. DGC Buses operates under permits rather than a PCV operator’s licence, but we hold it to the standards of a licensed operator: you will be accountable for maintenance and compliance regimes, drivers’ hours, depot and driver health and safety, route scheduling, and service performance.

Home to school and ASN transport: mainstream and Additional Support Needs home to school transport, including contract management of school transport operators, statutory duties and cost control.

Local bus contracts: contract management of the subsidised local bus network and operators, working directly with SWestrans under a formal Service Level Agreement.

Active and sustainable travel: leadership of the Council’s Active Travel team and the SWestrans operational staff who deliver walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure, behaviour change programmes and community transport partnerships.

Low-emission transport: public EV charging infrastructure, and securing funding to modernise and decarbonise the fleet.

You will monitor and manage multi-million-pound revenue and capital budgets on behalf of the Fleet and Transportation Manager as budget holder, providing accurate forecasting, early warning of pressures and the financial information needed for sound decisions. You will also lead procurement and contract management, work with the trade unions, report to elected members and the SWestrans Board, and drive a performance culture built on clear KPIs and reliable management information.

Requirements

Is this you?

We want to be clear about who this role is for, so that you can judge quickly whether to apply.

You will need to show, with specific examples, that you have:

1 Substantial management experience in a local authority or another complex organisation, including managing managers and leading teams that deliver services to the public.

2 Expert, hands-on knowledge of passenger transport operations: bus operations, home-to-school transport, or contracted transport services. This includes a working knowledge of the PCV operator licensing, compliance and safety framework, and the ability to run an operation to that standard.

3 Experience of managing and monitoring large revenue and capital budgets, including forecasting and financial reporting, with sound financial control and a track record of achieving Best Value.

4 Contract management of transport operators or similar service providers, including dealing with poor performance.

5 Experience of developing and implementing policies and plans that directly drive service delivery.

6 A record of building effective operational partnerships with other organisations.

7 The confidence to tackle poor performance or poor behaviour at the first sign, and to constructively challenge accepted ways of working.

8 A degree or equivalent experience, a relevant management qualification, and evidence of continuing professional development.

9 A full driving licence, and willingness to work flexibly outside office hours when the service needs it.

This post is considered as Regulated Work with Vulnerable Children, under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. From 28 February 2011, preferred candidates will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG scheme update check prior to formal offer of employment being made by Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Applicants who have been resident outside the UK within the last 5 years, if offered a position, in addition to a Disclosure Scotland Check, will be required to provide a completed police record check from the police authority in the country or countries in which they were resident.

This is not primarily a transport planning, policy or project role. Strategy and active travel are a significant part of the remit, but the core of the job is running safe, compliant, reliable and cost-effective passenger transport services and leading the people who deliver them. If your background is mainly in transport planning or scheme design without line management of operational services, this post is unlikely to be the right fit.

It would be an advantage if you also hold a relevant professional or postgraduate qualification, such as a Transport Manager Certificate of Professional Competence (Road Passenger Transport), and membership of a professional body such as CILT or CIHT.

Responsibilities

What we offer

Leave: annual leave of 24 days plus 11 public and floating holidays (35 days in total), rising to 40 days after five years’ service.

Pension: membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme, a defined benefit scheme with employer contributions, plus free life cover.

Flexibility: a 36-hour week and a flexi-time scheme that lets you manage your start and finish times within agreed limits.

Development: support for professional development, including the Post Entry Training Scheme, and the chance to shape services at a time of real change.

Relocation: relocation assistance may be available for this post.

Place: a region of coast, hills, forest and market towns, with a lower cost of living than Scotland’s cities and easy access to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle.

Here at Dumfries and Galloway Council we are committed to equality, diversity and equal opportunity with our values, which include treating everyone with dignity, fairness and respect, driving us to tackle inequality. We are looking for people that can bring different perspectives and experiences and especially welcome applications from those who are underrepresented in our organisation.