Rail Operations & Maintenance Lead – Ireland​/Northern Ireland

Job Description

What if you could do the kind of work the world needs? At WSP, you can access our global scale, contribute to landmark projects, and connect with the brightest minds in your to do the best work of your life. You can embrace your curiosity in a culture that celebrates new ideas and diverse perspectives. You can experience a world of opportunity and the chance to shape a career as unique as you.

Based in either Belfast or Dublin, you will work across the full rail lifecycle—supporting projects that span infrastructure, depot operations, rolling stock, stations, asset management, operations, and maintenance. You will bring practical, real-world operational experience, complemented by consultancy and advisory expertise, to help clients navigate complex challenges and realise opportunities. As CEAS’s in-country representative, you will interface with the wider CEAS team and the broader WSP Rail business, ensuring that the right technical expertise is mobilised for Irish projects.

You will collaborate closely with disciplines such as Rail Operational Planning, Rolling Stock, Rail Strategy & Feasibility, and Rail Digital Advisory to develop holistic, multidisciplinary solutions for clients. The role includes a strong client-facing element: understanding client needs, shaping work, supporting bids, and contributing directly to project delivery. You will act as a trusted advisor, providing a single, coherent voice for all CEAS capabilities in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

• Act as the key CEAS / Rail Advisory representative for projects and clients in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Provide technical leadership and input across one or more of the following areas: rail operations, maintenance, performance and/or asset management assignments.
• Work with CEAS and the wider WSP Rail business to scope, win and deliver multidisciplinary projects.
• Engage directly with clients, helping articulate needs, shape opportunities, and secure new work.
• Draw on WSP’s extensive technical resources to bring the right expertise to each commission.
• Support project delivery through hands‑on involvement, including problem solving for complex or operationally critical issues.
• Contribute to the growth and development of CEAS capability in Ireland, supporting knowledge sharing and mentoring of junior colleagues.
• Represent CEAS’s holistic, whole system railway perspective—covering specification, commissioning, operations, maintenance and integration.

• Strong expertise in rail operations, performance management and/or rail maintenance and asset management—across infrastructure, rolling stock, or both.
• Practical, real-world operational experience gained within rail organisations, complemented by consultancy or advisory experience.
• Experience in defining operational concepts, developing operational plans, procedures, and readiness activities.
• Understanding of emerging and transformative technologies and how they will influence future railway operations.
• Ability to engage confidently with clients, understand their challenges, and convert this into work opportunities.
• Experience working within and helping to lead multidisciplinary teams.
• A relevant qualification—either degree level or vocational—and working towards or having achieved professional registration.
• Strong understanding of whole system railway considerations, including the interface between operations, engineering, and systems integration.
• Experience of multidisciplinary work winning, including formal bid input and client relationship development.
• Direct experience of working with clients in the Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland is highly desirable.

CEAS provides holistic, whole‑life solutions tailored to each client’s specific operational and strategic needs. Our advisors bring deep real‑world experience in specifying, commissioning, operating and maintaining railways. We combine technical insight with practical problem solving, often stepping in to resolve complex or challenging issues. We value entrepreneurial thinking, new ideas and…