Description
As part of the Transport UK Group, West Midlands Trains delivers around 1,300 train journeys a day, for more than 60 million passengers a year, across our two brands - West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway.
We are committed to delivering a safe and reliable train service, by investing in our fleet of trains, stations and employees. As part of this investment we are looking to recruit a Depot Operations Manager - WMR on a full-time, permanent basis, based across various Depot's.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead, support, motivate, mentor and direct Depot Operations Teams to deliver planned workload.
* Ensure vehicle movements are performed in a safe and effective manner in accordance with all Company rules and regulations, Railway Group Standards and West Midlands Railway Operational Procedures and Safety Policies.
* Ensure that the depot track, points and signalling equipment is maintained to an adequate standard and any staff concerns are addressed through the track maintainer.
* Ensure Operations staff maintain effective and documented competence levels through the development of training plans, regular monitoring and audit of training and competency needs.
* Working with the Operations Standards team, ensure that the Operations Competency Management system is maintained to railway group and business standards.
* Ensure all operational procedures are up to date, valid, controlled and adhered to by all staff.
* Ensure that all staff and external contractors working on vehicles or the depot railway infrastructure are controlled and carry out their work in a safe manner.
* Work closely with Depot Driver Management Team, developing task competence and ensuring that shift by shift supervision is maintained.
* Carry out team Safety and Operational as and when required. Participate in performance appraisal process in support of business strategy and budget targets. Robustly manage the Operations budget.
* Monitor and control absence, disciplinary, training, PPE requirements and adherence to D & A policy. Ensure all staff carry out their duties in a safe and efficient manner.
* Support the company in the effective, efficient and safe management of the depot, including all QHSE processes. Generate communications relating to operational issues to the depot where appropriate.
* Ensure all production staff involved in vehicle operations and maintenance are trained in the necessary protection and movement procedures and are competent and compliant.
* Provision of adequate resources of sufficient number, skill, competence and experience to safely and reliably provide the required depot output, whilst ensuring all company policies and procedures in relation to Human Resources management are robustly implemented.
* Ensure a strong Union relationship at a local level, managing local industrial relations risks.
* To support the delivery of, and at a depot level ensure robust implementation and governance for, fleet and business projects. To lead the delivery of projects where required.
* To form strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, to ensure the needs of the depot are represented across the broader company functions, and vice versa.
* Monitor the performance of the Depot Operations Team, ensuring any delays due to Operations activities are investigated.
* All staff have a responsibility and accountability to ensure that their day-to-day activities support our commitments under the Sustainability Policy Statement and relevant management systems (e.g. ISO14001 or ISO50001); and to act in a sustainable manner and minimise impact on the environment.
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
* Educated to a Degree level in an operational, business or management discipline.
* Demonstrable experience in Trade Union engagement, including local TU relationships, negotiation and challenging discussion.
* A visionary leader who is able to look beyond day to day operations for improvements and inspire and motivate teams to achieve their potential
* You will have extensive practical operations management experience in a successful engineering environment. Knowledge of production engineering systems, financial and contract management systems will also be highly beneficial for success.
* Strong experience of people management in a unionised production environment. Experience of managing a close relationship with Trade Unions, holding challenging conversations, negotiating and adapting to different people requirements.
* Demonstrable experience of asset performance regimes management, including financial acumen and budgetary management.
* A strong communicator with the proven ability to lead and motivate a diverse team.
* Excellent written, verbal and numerical skills.
* Demonstrable experience in contractual areas of commercial acumen and an ability to manage and negotiate contracts with clients and suppliers.
* Experience of railway rolling stock operational management including planning and depot beat rates and technical discipline is essential.
* IOSHH, NEBOSH or an equivalent health and safety qualification would be advantageous.
* Demonstrable experience of managing a safety critical function, including operational Competency Management Systems (CMS), incident management, incident and accident investigation and operational procedural documentation.
* This role carries on-call responsibility
Job Benefits
* Competitive Salary + company benefits
* Free travel on all our trains and those of other train companies within our parent group company - for you, your partner and any dependent children
* 75% off all other train company travel tickets
* Retail discounts
* Career development opportunities
About London Northwestern & West Midlands Railways
We are proud to operate two new railway brands for and to the Midlands, the North West and London.
In the Midlands the West Midlands Railway brand is a local railway placing Birmingham at the centre of its network. We run the majority of the local services, as well as direct trains to many of the surrounding towns and cities, including Redditch, Stratford-upon-Avon, Worcester, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Telford, and Northampton.
Our London Northwestern Railway brand serves the London to Liverpool route on the west coast, stopping at Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Northampton, with the West Midlands at its heart.
Both services are operated by West Midlands Trains Ltd, part of Transport UK.
Each business brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the franchise and it's our aim to give you the rail experience you deserve at the price you want to pay.