Director Customers, Markets and Access

470841 Director Customers, Markets and Access Department for Transport

Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 10th August 2026

Location:

Birmingham, Leeds or London. Frequent travel to other sites may be required.

We currently work on a hybrid basis with at least 60% of our time working in an office location

Salary: £105,000 - A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The Rail Group is responsible for delivering the Government’s vision of a unified and simplified rail system, improving services for passengers and better value for money for taxpayers. We will deliver a once in a generation change to the UK railways by bringing them into public ownership, including the creation of Great British Railways (G ).

The Director of Customers, Markets and Access plays a critical leadership role within the Group, leading the Department’s view of how the railway operates for passengers and freight users. The role shapes how trade-offs between customer experience, economic value, resilience and network capacity are made, ensuring that the railway delivers clear and measurable benefits for passengers, freight users and the wider economy, with safety as a non-negotiable foundation.

Working with the Department for Transport Operator, Network Rail, industry partners and Great British Railways, the role ensures that decisions on how the railway is accessed, priced and experienced are coherent, deliverable and aligned to Government priorities. You will also ensure that competing pressures across the network and resolved in the public interest.

You will:

• Define and lead the Government’s view of how the rail network serves passengers and freight users. Ensure decisions on service provision, pricing, access and investment deliver measurable outcomes across customer experience, economic value, safety, resilience and overall network performance.
• Set the strategic framework for competition and access within the G  operating model. Ensure alignment between public ownership, open access provision and freight operators to optimise performance, revenue, freight growth and customer outcomes.
• Lead the Department’s understanding of changing customer demand and need, embedding insight on behavioural change, demographics and accessibility into policy making and decision making to shape how the railways continue improving.
• Act as senior sponsor for critical reform programmes, including the Fares, Ticketing and Retail Programme, and oversee the transition of functions currently delivered through the Rail Delivery Group into G . Through leadership and sponsorship, ensure continuity of delivery, clarity of roles and effective transfer of capability as responsibilities shift across the system
• Work in close partnership with the Department for Transport Operator, Network Rail, and subsequently Great British Railways to ensure that policy direction is translated into delivery and to facilitate the resolution of trade-offs across organisational boundaries.

For more information on the role and responsibilities please see the full job advert on CS Jobs using the link provided.

You will need to be able to show, through your application, that you have the professional skills, breadth of experience and personal qualities for this post, as well as the leadership skills to succeed at Director level in the Senior Civil Service.

The successful candidate will be an outstanding, visible leader who will demonstrate the following criteria throughout the selection process:

• A strong, experience-based understanding of how large, customer-facing operational systems function in practice, with the ability to balance performance, customer experience and commercial considerations to deliver outcomes.
• Experience of operating in heavily regulated industry. Deep expert understanding of economic and financial drivers, including market design and market regulation and applying judgement to support effective decision making.
• Demonstrable experience of leading high profile complex change or transformation programmes, maintaining pace, delivery confidence and momentum through ambiguity, transition and intense scrutiny.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in a highly complex and politically sensitive environment, providing assurance and clear advice to Ministers and senior stakeholders and building credibility across Government and externally
• Highly developed leadership capability, with exceptional skills to build and lead high-performing teams, model pace and professionalism, and contribute as part of a senior leadership group to drive delivery, performance and organisational change.

This Final date to receive applications at 23:55 on Monday 10th August 2026