Rail Programme Director

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

AECOM seeks a strategic Programme Director to lead growth and delivery of major Rail & Transit programmes across Ireland. You will report to the Ireland Sector Director and collaborate with the Transportation Ireland Sector Leadership team to shape a 3-year growth strategy and deliver high-value, complex projects.

You will drive work-winning initiatives, manage multi-disciplinary teams, ensure safety and quality, and build enduring client relationships with operators and contractors.

Qualifications

• Proven market leader with a strong track record of positioning, leading, and winning major opportunities.
• Extensive experience delivering large-scale, multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects profitably.
• Demonstrated success working with infrastructure owners, operators, contractors, and partners.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing financial performance and project metrics.
• Experience operating within a global organisation, collaborating across sectors and geographies.
• Strong leadership capability, with a focus on developing teams and building long-term capability.
• Passionate about safety leadership, wellbeing, sustainable delivery, quality and innovation.

Responsibilities

• Lead growth and bid activity for major Rail & Transit programmes in Ireland.
• Oversee end-to-end work winning process for sector projects >$5M.
• Ensure safe, high-quality delivery and project performance.
• Collaborate with global teams to support growth across regions.
• Act as senior representative in delivery of major programmes ≥$5M.

Skills

Market leader

Major opportunities

Infrastructure projects

Global organisation

Leadership capability

Safety leadership

Team development

Job description

Company Description

Work with Us. Change the World.

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world's most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations.

There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Job Description

AECOM is seeking a strategic and commercially driven Programme Director to lead the growth and delivery of major Rail & Transit programmes across Ireland. Reporting directly to the Transportation Ireland Sector Director and working closely with the Ireland Sector Leadership team and the Transportation Systems (Rail and Transit) Practice as well as AECOM's global Transportation leadership, you will play a critical leadership role in shaping and delivering the sector's 3-year growth strategy.

This role is focused on winning and delivering major projects, building high-value client relationships, and driving excellence in project performance, safety, and operational outcomes.

Here's what you'll do:

Strategic Growth & Work Winning

• Support and drive the sector's 3-year growth plan across UK & Ireland, in support of the Sector Director's strategy
• Lead positioning, client engagement, and bid activity to win opportunities ≥$5M, including early and enabling packages
• Manage the end-to-end work winning process for major programmes
• Define and implement the hybrid Enterprise Capability (EC) and. home country delivery model for bids
• Enhance AECOM's market presence and reputation with infrastructure owners, operators, and contractors
• Collaborate with global teams to support growth across Europe and India through capability, knowledge, and resource sharing
• Act as AECOM's senior representative in the delivery of major programmes ≥$5M
• Own and lead strategic client relationships, ensuring high levels of satisfaction and repeat business
• Drive continuous improvement based on client feedback and performance outcomes
• Lead collaboration with contractors, partners, and supply chain to ensure high-performing delivery teams

Delivery & Commercial Performance

• Accountable for successful delivery of Sector owned projects, typically >$5M in revenue, ensuring performance across:
  • Schedule, cost, and quality
  • Project governance compliance
• Drive strong commercial performance, including:
  • Sales bookings and revenue growth
  • Gross/net revenue and margin
  • Cashflow and DSO performance
  • Optimisation of EC utilisation
  • High-quality project data and reporting
• Deliver programmes profitably and sustainably, aligned with business objectives

Leadership & Capability Development

• Work within Transportation to build capability and capacity aligned to long-term growth
• Lead collaboration across Business Lines, sectors, and geographies to unlock opportunities and strengthen delivery
• Contribute to the development of a high-performing, globally connected team
• Support the implementation of strategic workforce planning and resourcing models
• Champion and actively lead the SHE & Wellbeing agenda across all major projects
• Ensure strong performance against both leading and lagging safety and sustainability metrics
• Act as a visible safety leader, embedding best practice across delivery teams and partner organisations

Qualifications

Ready to push the limits of what's possible?

Here's what we're looking for:

• Proven market leader with a strong track record of positioning, leading, and winning major opportunities
• Extensive experience delivering large-scale, multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects profitably
• Demonstrated success working with infrastructure owners, operators, contractors, and partners
• Strong commercial acumen with experience managing financial performance and project metrics
• Experience operating within a global organisation, collaborating across sectors and geographies
• Strong leadership capability, with a focus on developing teams and building long-term capability
• Passionate about safety leadership, wellbeing, sustainable delivery, quality and innovation

Additional Information

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

About AECOM

AECOM is the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle - from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you're working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We're the world's trusted global infrastructure firm, and we're in this together - your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you'll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm - access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person's potential, and we'll help you reach yours.

We are aDisabilityConfidentEmployer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address [e-mail] if you would like to apply through theDisabilityConfidentInterview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.