Operational & Customer Standards Manager

Operational and Customer Standards Manager

Birmingham | Fleet & Safety | Reporting to the Head of Safety & Assurance

Help shape safe, consistent and customer-focused railway standards

• Lead the development and embedding of operational standards for service delivery, station management and frontline conduct.
• Act as Professional Head of Operational Standards, supporting continuous improvement in operational safety and customer experience.
• Work collaboratively with Operations, Control, Fleet, Safety, HR and Learning & Development to make standards practical, understood and consistently applied.
• Use audits, performance measures, service quality reviews and customer feedback to identify improvement opportunities.
• Take a whole-system view of safety and operational performance, balancing primary risks with secondary or less visible risks that could create unintended consequences.
• Champion smarter ways of working, using pragmatic judgement, innovation and fresh perspective to achieve the intent of standards without unnecessary complexity.
• Prepare meaningful dashboards, reports and trend reviews that turn data into actionable insight.
• Lead through people by setting clear direction, creating shared ownership, supporting colleagues and maintaining momentum.
• Represent Cross Country in forums focused on operational excellence, service quality, customer experience and passenger rights.

You do not need to have followed one fixed career path, but you will need relevant railway operations experience. The role relies on credibility, practical judgement and the ability to build trust with operational colleagues. We are looking for someone who is curious, pragmatic and collaborative; someone who can bring a fresh perspective, test assumptions and work with others to find smarter, simpler and more effective ways to achieve safe, customer-focused outcomes.

• Operational railway experience, with the credibility and judgement to shape standards, influence decisions and build trust.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills across frontline, technical, management, trade union, accessibility and senior stakeholder groups.
• The ability to turn complex requirements into clear, usable standards and guidance.
• An analytical, objective mindset, using data, feedback and evidence to test assumptions and make balanced recommendations.
• Whole-system safety thinking, including awareness of how decisions, standards and mitigations can affect wider operational risk.
• A collaborative, inclusive and people-focused leadership style that builds confidence, creates alignment and supports change through others.
• A willingness to bring fresh perspective and champion innovative, practical ways of working smarter rather than simply adding more process or effort.
• Experience in customer service, safety, service quality, performance improvement or standards management within a railway or closely related operational environment.

This role is about making standards meaningful. By applying whole-system safety thinking and objective, evidence-based judgement, you will help Cross Country consider both obvious and less visible risks, avoid unintended consequences and make better-informed decisions that support positive change.

You will have the opportunity to shape how standards are developed, communicated and improved across a busy national railway operation, working with colleagues who care about safety, service quality and doing the right thing for customers.

Cross Country is committed to building a workplace where everyone feels respected, supported and able to contribute fully. We know people can sometimes rule themselves out if they do not meet every requirement. If you have relevant railway operations experience and believe you can bring the leadership, judgement and fresh thinking this role needs, we would strongly encourage you to apply.

We are committed to developing the right person. If you bring railway operations experience, curiosity and the leadership behaviours we are looking for, we will support you to build any additional technical knowledge, confidence or organisational understanding needed to succeed.

We are particularly keen to hear from women and others who may be under-represented in operational railway leadership roles. What matters most is your ability to work with people, build trust, think objectively and help us improve how standards support safe, customer-focused…