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Base pay range
Role: Depot Manager
Location: Aylesbury
Contract Type: Permanent
Salary: Up to £80,000 per annum
Job Purpose
Provide senior leadership for all rolling stock maintenance, servicing, and depot operations at Chiltern Railways. Own the strategic direction of the depot, driving a transformational culture shift focused on safety, quality, performance, and operational excellence. Align depot performance with wider business goals while ensuring compliance with legal, regulatory, and company standards.
Key Accountabilities
* Act as the senior-most authority on site, accountable for achieving all safety, performance, quality, and customer service metrics.
* Develop and execute the depot strategy in alignment with long-term business and fleet plans.
* Provide inspirational leadership, establishing clear expectations, driving accountability, and championing continuous improvement.
* Drive a positive culture change program, embedding proactive safety behaviours, engagement, and collaboration.
* Lead cultural change to embed proactive safety behaviours and promote a high-performance, engaged workforce.
* Ensure safe systems of work are established, maintained, and followed for all depot activities, providing assurance through audits and feedback to individuals.
* Investigate and lead audits, inspections, and investigations to drive compliance, learning, and continuous improvement.
* Manage depot workload delivery to meet maintenance plans for Chiltern Railways and other customers, ensuring high-quality output and compliance with standards.
* Maintain appropriate staffing levels, skill competencies, and training plans to deliver operational needs now and in the future.
* Own the full depot budget, including staffing, tooling, facilities, materials, and revenue generation opportunities.
* Build strong strategic relationships with internal stakeholders (e.g., Safety Team, HR, Performance, Operations) and external partners (e.g., Network Rail, ROSCOs, contractors, suppliers) to achieve depot and fleet targets.
* Oversee contractor compliance, safety practices, and delivery quality.
* Maintain accurate asset condition data to support asset management planning and long-term fleet performance.
* Support depot improvements by providing input on infrastructure changes from an end-user perspective.
* Ensure compliance with all health, safety, environmental, and railway standards by collaborating with relevant teams.
* Chair and represent the depot for local consultations, influence engagement, and negotiation meetings with staff representatives and trade unions.
* Undertake general and statutory inspections as required.
* Participate in the engineering on-call rota, providing senior support for unplanned events.
* Cover other roles in the engineering team and deputise for Head of Fleet Delivery as required.
Personal Specification
* Essential - ONC NVQ Level 4 or higher.
* Desirable - Degree in engineering, management, or a relevant discipline.
* Significant experience in managing traction and rolling stock maintenance operations, including budget and team leadership.
* Demonstrated success in leading cultural change programs and improving operational maturity.
* Strong understanding of railway safety standards and regulatory requirements.
* Excellent communication skills for engaging effectively at all levels, both internally and externally.
* Analytical skills with the ability to solve complex technical and operational challenges.
* Strong experience with union engagement, chairing meetings, consultations, and negotiations.
* Proficiency with IT systems relevant to fleet maintenance and depot management.
* Commitment to continuous personal and team development.
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