Are you commercially minded, financially astute and ready to influence the cost foundations of one of the UK’s most complex infrastructure programmes?
Do you thrive in environments where long-term strategy meets real-world operational detail?
Salary: £79,863.60 to £99,819.20 package
Location: London (3 days per week in the office)
Closing date: 8 December 2025
I am recruiting an Operating Cost and Value Lead for a major UK infrastructure programme. You will sit at the heart of commercial operations, developing and owning the operational cost baseline and ensuring long-term value is understood, controlled and well governed.
This could suit someone from a public sector, transport, energy or major infrastructure background who wants to step into a visible, influential role.
About you:
You will be comfortable working with both the “business end” of numbers and the strategic context they sit within. The ideal background is likely to include:
5–10 years’ experience in one or more of the following:
Public sector or regulated infrastructure (rail, wider transport, energy, utilities, national highways, nuclear or similar).
Train operating companies or transport operators, particularly with bid modelling, revenue and operating cost projections.
Multi-disciplinary or major consultancy with project costing, operational cost or investment analysis focus.
Cost accountant, senior investment analyst, commercial manager or portfolio manager roles in complex organisations.
Strong financial literacy with proven experience building and interrogating complex models in Excel, including IRR and scenario analysis.
Experience contributing to or developing business cases in complex, political environments.
Proven ability to challenge assumptions constructively and “own the numbers” in front of senior stakeholders.
Comfortable dealing with long-term generalisations alongside the need for short-term accuracy and defensible detail.
Desirable:
Rail or major transport project experience.
Background in strategy, sponsorship, regulatory or commercial teams.
Understanding of whole-life cost modelling and operational readiness.
Familiarity with major project or contract environments (e.g. NEC) is helpful but not essential.
This role could be a strong step up for someone with a solid analytical and commercial background who wants to move into a central, influential position on a nationally significant programme with a decade or more of delivery still ahead.
If the experience aligns and you'd like to discuss the role in more detail, please get in touch:
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- (phone number removed)