Director of Service Delivery - West and North Yorkshire

Director of Service Delivery - West and North Yorkshire (6 month fixed term)

BUSINESS FUNCTION:
Operations
SALARY: £ 98,420
ROLE TYPE:
Hybrid

LOCATION:

Leeds

HOURS:

37

People come to Northern for trains they can rely on and stay for the chance to make a real difference to communities across the North. As Director of Service Delivery, you'll play a key role in making sure those journeys run smoothly, safely, and on time every single day.

You’ll be right in the thick of it, leading teams, solving problems, and collaborating with partners inside and outside of Northern. This role is about more than just keeping the wheels turning. It’s about creating an environment where people feel motivated, supported, and inspired to deliver their very best.

• Leading, inspiring and motivating operational teams to deliver on our 90/2 performance target, building a collaborative, high-performing culture.
• Taking accountability for on-the-day operational delivery throughout West and North Yorkshire making sure our services run safely and reliably.
• Working closely with other departments, including Engineering and Operational Readiness, and with partners like Network Rail, to keep things on track.
• Acting decisively in the moment while also contributing to longer-term improvement initiatives.
• Using insights and data to drive proactive decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Sharing best practice and aligning ways of working with your fellow Directors of Service Delivery across Northern.

At its heart, this role is all about making sure our trains run safely, reliably, and on time - every single day. As Director of Service Delivery, you’ll take the lead in managing the on-the-day operation of our services, ensuring everything is in place to meet performance targets and keep our customers moving.

A big part of this is about people. You’ll be responsible for the leadership, performance, development, and wellbeing of our train crew, as well as the Operations Managers who lead frontline teams. By creating the right environment, you’ll help others succeed, supporting your people to deliver a service that our customers can rely on and feel proud of.

But this isn’t just about the here and now. You’ll be looking ahead too, spotting opportunities to improve the way we work, identifying capability gaps, and driving change that raises standards across the board. You’ll work closely with colleagues in Engineering, Operational Readiness, and Business Performance, using data, insights, and your own experience to make proactive decisions that keep services running smoothly.

You’ll also represent Northern in the wider rail community, collaborating with other Train Operating Companies (TOCs), Network Rail, and local partners to align plans, tackle challenges, and improve performance beyond our own network.

Ultimately, your role is to bring it all together - people, process, and performance, ensuring we deliver a safe, seamless, and high-quality service today, while shaping the future of how we operate for tomorrow.

To succeed in this role, you’ll bring a blend of leadership, sharp thinking, and speed.

You bring people with you, leading with purpose, listening when it counts, and setting the tone from the front. From the control room to the boardroom, you’re comfortable at every level and know how to connect the dots to keep things moving in the right direction.

You spot what others miss. Whether it’s a small detail or the first sign of something bigger, you’ve got an instinct for noticing when something’s not quite right and the drive to step in and fix it.

And when the situation changes, you change with it. You know when to pause, when to act, and how to switch from strategy to action without…