Who are we?
South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England, and the Isle of Wight.
Join our team and help us continue to bring people together to get the most out of life.
About the job
The Budget & Reporting Manager is responsible for producing robust and accurate passenger revenue and demand forecasts for budgeting and long-term business plans. The role monitors, analyzes and reports on passenger revenue performance, quantifies the causes of variance from forecast and identifies key trends. Working closely with the revenue reporting team, it leads, trains and coaches analysts to enable the team to deliver best‑in‑class revenue reporting. The manager liaises with key stakeholders within the businesses, develops an understanding of customers and markets, and drives actionable initiatives to grow revenue. This role supports SWR’s purpose by helping the business understand the impacts on passenger behaviour, demand and revenue of initiatives that bring people together to get the most out of life.
Your main responsibilities will be:
* Producing robust passenger revenue and demand forecasts for budgeting and long‑term business plans, ensuring forecasts meet both the owning group and DfT requirements.
* Monitoring, analysing and reporting on passenger revenue performance, quantifying causes of variance from budget and forecast, identifying key trends, and highlighting risks and opportunities in compliance with owning group and DfT requirements.
* Developing the revenue model and accompanying modelling suite to meet business needs, adopting a continuous improvement mindset and leading on methodology enhancements to achieve best‑in‑class standards.
* Planning an approach to identify SWR markets that require in‑depth analysis and creating analysis methods that lead to actionable initiatives driving revenue growth.
* Engaging stakeholders across the business to produce insightful analysis that identifies opportunities and supports business case production.
* Supporting analysis and reporting requirements for departments delivering revenue‑generative initiatives, designing KPIs to measure the success of initiatives against forecast benefits, and assessing their impact on revenue and demand.
* Representing SWR on industry bodies, including PDFC, and suggesting topics for PDFC‑funded studies that support SWR research requirements.
* Collaborating with counterparts across train operating companies and other industry stakeholders to share best practice and drive continuous improvement, enabling delivery of best practice reporting and forecasting.
Essential requirements:
* Expert knowledge of rail demand forecasting, including the Passenger Demand Forecasting Handbook framework, its limitations and alternatives.
* Advanced analytical and numerical skills; ability to define opportunities and problems, collect and analyse data, establish facts, and make evidence‑based conclusions.
* Skilled in translating complex data into clear and relevant management information.
* Ability to formulate recommendations and excellent verbal and written communication skills to explain complex concepts to diverse audiences.
* Commercially aware and able to challenge assumptions.
* Strong relationship‑building skills with stakeholders across business and industry.
* Experience in the commercial side of the rail industry.
* Ability to prioritise workloads and meet challenging deadlines.
* Drive for continuous improvement.
* Expert understanding of Lennon data and knowledge of rail commercial or operational systems (e.g., MOIRA, ORCATS, Cubic, BT MND).
* Experience in data analytics including handling large datasets with tools such as PowerBI, SQL, Python or R.
* Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially advanced Excel skills for designing and building complex models.
Working pattern
Working an average of 37 hours per week over 5 days, office hours.
The Reward
In return we offer a competitive salary and a variety of valuable benefits, including:
* Free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employees.
* Free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependent).
* 75% discount on many other train operating companies.
* Full training and support with development.
* Excellent pension scheme.
We all belong at SWR.
Our vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment. We value differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent. We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.
If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please let us know so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.
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