Technical Director - Rail

Waterman Group; Redhill; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Waterman Group is seeking a Senior Rail Project/Bids Manager for their expanding team. The successful candidate will manage multi-disciplinary projects and lead bid development, ensuring high-quality delivery and client engagement in the growing rail sector, with competitive salary and excellent career development opportunities.

Benefits

Competitive salary with benefits through salary sacrifice scheme

Annual salary reviews

Holiday allowance of 26 days, rising to 31 with loyalty days

Excellent training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience managing multidisciplinary rail projects.
• Significant UK rail sector experience.
• Strong understanding of public sector frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Leading and managing rail projects, ensuring delivery on time and budget.
• Developing bids and proposals for high-value projects.
• Engaging with clients to support rail sector growth.

Skills

Project Management

Client Engagement

Bidding & Proposal Development

Risk Management

Team Leadership

Education

Chartered status (C.Eng/MIStructE)

Job description

Waterman Group is a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy with offices throughout the UK, Ireland, and Australia.

Waterman Infrastructure & Environment (WIE) has experienced significant growth in the rail sector and has been involved in high-profile projects and long-term frameworks. We have numerous ongoing projects, and more are anticipated in 2024. We are seeking a Senior Rail Project/Bids Manager to join our expanding team based at one of our national offices.

Job Description

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced consultancy professional to join our established team working on infrastructure and redevelopment projects. The team is growing due to recent successes, offering excellent opportunities for the right candidate.

The successful candidate will join a highly regarded team known for quality, technical expertise, and delivering commercially focused solutions to public and private sector clients.

Key Responsibilities

• Leading Waterman Rail projects, including planning and managing scope, cost, quality, risk, safety, health, and environmental issues
• Promoting a culture of safety and environmental responsibility within delivery teams
• Managing and delivering high-value, multi-disciplinary infrastructure bids and projects
• Engaging with clients to support growth in the rail sector
• Developing and maintaining teams to deliver projects on time and within budget
• Understanding and meeting client needs to ensure confidence in our delivery
• Briefing and directing project teams to ensure cost-effective and compliant work
• Delivering high-quality reports and bids under tight deadlines
• Leading bid development and winning proposals
• Coordinating rail bid delivery with technical leads
• Reporting project progress to the Rail sector director fortnightly
• Representing Waterman with clients
• Using Waterman's project management systems and tools
• Developing and executing project plans
• Leading cross-disciplinary teams and building stakeholder confidence
• Managing information flow between teams, clients, and stakeholders
• Applying performance management techniques, including KPIs
• Managing change control processes and producing progress reports
• Ensuring revenue delivery and profitability
• Identifying risks and opportunities, and mitigating them
• Managing subcontractors and controlling activities
• Innovating and adopting new digital tools
• Experience with Design & Build projects, especially in contractor or design organizations
• Knowledge of contract types, dispute resolution, and leveraging contracts for opportunities
• Ensuring robust programmes and reporting against milestones
• Familiarity with Network Rail, TfL, and major contractor processes

Preferred Qualifications

• Chartered status (C.Eng/MIStructE)
• Full UK driving license
• Experience with Network Rail, TfL, and key clients
• Significant UK rail sector experience in relevant engineering disciplines
• Experience in project management roles on multidisciplinary rail projects
• Familiarity with public sector frameworks

What’s on offer at Waterman:

• Competitive salary with benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Annual salary reviews
• Holiday allowance of 26 days, rising to 31 with loyalty days, plus bank holidays
• Excellent training and development opportunities