Fire Safety & Emergency Planning Manager

Final date to receive applications: 21 October 2026

Department: Safety

Employment Type: Permanent
- Full Time

Location: Rail House

Reporting To: Lisa Benson

Job Title: Fire Safety & Emergency Planning Manager

Location: Liverpool
- Hybrid work

Salary: Competitive

Contract Type: Full Time Permanent.

Hours: 35 Hours per week

At Merseyrail, safety is at the heart of everything we do. We are seeking an ambitious, dynamic and highly motivated Fire Safety and Emergency Planning Manager to lead the continual improvement of fire safety, emergency preparedness, resilience and business continuity arrangements across our network, including our underground stations.

This is a rare opportunity to influence the safety across the Liverpool City Region, helping to protect our people and passengers while supporting the delivery of a modern, resilient railway.

The successful candidate will act as Merseyrail's lead specialist for fire safety, emergency planning and resilience, working across the business and with key external partners to ensure the organisation remains prepared to prevent, respond to and recover from emergency situations and operational disruption.

• Lead the development, implementation and continual improvement of Merseyrail's Fire Safety Management System.
• Ensure compliance with fire safety legislation, railway fire safety requirements and industry standards across the network.
• Act as Merseyrail's competent person and subject matter expert for fire safety, emergency response and resilience matters.
• Provide specialist fire safety advice and assurance for station enhancements, infrastructure projects and operational changes.
• Lead investigations, debriefs and lessons-learned reviews arising from fire incidents, emergency events, exercises and operational disruptions.
• Ensure actions arising from audits, incidents, exercises, inspections and assessments are tracked through to effective completion.
• Develop, maintain and assure the Company's Emergency Plan, emergency response procedures and resilience arrangements.
• Lead the development and maintenance of business continuity arrangements, supporting departments in producing effective plans.
• Develop and maintain operational contingency and severe weather response arrangements.
• Ensure employees with emergency responsibilities are trained, competent and confident in fulfilling their roles.
• Design, coordinate and evaluate tabletop exercises, simulations and live multi-agency exercises.
• Act as lead coordinator for emergency preparedness activities and support the organisation's response to significant incidents.
• Maintain Merseyrail's engagement with the Local Resilience Forum and wider resilience community.
• Maintain Merseyrail's information and planning arrangements within Resilience Direct.
• Provide specialist advice on emergency evacuation, egress, crowd management and passenger safety arrangements.
• Represent Merseyrail at industry forums, working groups and resilience meetings, identifying emerging best practice and embedding learning into the Safety Management System.
• Maintain effective relationships with emergency services, enforcement bodies, regulators and industry partners.

We're looking for a confident and engaging professional who combines technical expertise with strong leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills.

You’ll be passionate about driving continuous improvement and capable of influencing people at all levels of the organisation.

Essential

• A recognised fire safety, health and safety or equivalent professional qualification.
• Demonstrable knowledge of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
• Understanding of the Fire Precautions (Sub-Surface Railway Stations) Regulations 2009 and associated guidance.
• Experience of developing, implementing or managing fire safety systems, emergency plans, resilience arrangements or business continuity frameworks.
• Experience of planning, delivering and evaluating emergency exercises.
• Experience of incident investigation and lessons-learned processes.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to work effectively with emergency services, operational teams and external partners.
• Excellent communication, influencing and report-writing skills.
• Experience working within a regulated, safety-critical or operational environment.

Desirable

• Experience with in the rail, transport or infrastructure sector.
• Membership of a relevant professional body.
• Business…