Programme Manager

Duration: Secondment or Fixed Term Contract until October 2027 with the potential to extend or go permanent. (Please note, secondments are subject to line manager approval, please discuss this with them before applying).

Join Network Rail ! Where People and Connections Matter

At Network Rail, we're dedicated to keeping passengers and freight moving safely and efficiently across the country. When you join us, you're not just part of a team- you're part of something that matters to millions. We believe that our people are at the heart of what we do, and every role plays a vital part in building a better, more connected railway.

We're committed to creating a diverse, inclusive workplace that reflects the communities we serve. To discover more about our ED&I commitments  .We value flexibility and understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. As a Disability Confident Leader, we'll do everything we can to accommodate any needs throughout the recruitment process.

Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our safety vision .

Some of our great benefits:

• Flexible/hybrid working arrangements considered.
• Generous annual leave (28 days plus statutory days), with the option to buy/sell days.
• Discounts at stations with your Network Rail pass.
• Defined benefit pension scheme
• 75% subsidy on train tickets.
• Interest-free travel loan for train and car park season tickets.
• Volunteer leave to make a positive impact.

What does the average day look like?

This role sits at the point where policy intent becomes operational capability. You will focus on scoping the data, systems and digital services needed for G  to apply the Access and Use Policy in practice, shaping delivery approaches, engaging and coordinating teams, and ensuring the right capabilities are designed, built and integrated into the wider rail system.

• Work with policy and operational colleagues to translate emerging policy positions into clear system, data and service requirements, identifying what needs to be designed, built or changed.
• Break down complex, cross-cutting change into structured delivery components, defining scope, interfaces, dependencies and success measures across data, systems, processes and people.
• Ensure that data and systems design supports transparency, auditability and traceability of decisions
  ¿ aligning with policy requirements and regulatory expectations.
• Coordinate delivery across multiple teams (e.g. digital, data, operational SMEs, suppliers), ensuring alignment between policy intent, business processes and technical design.
• Shape and manage delivery plans that reflect real-world constraints, including system dependencies, integration risks, sequencing, and transition requirements.
• Produce decision-ready outputs: implementation approaches, options for system design, integration strategies, and delivery recommendations that help leaders understand trade-offs between cost, risk, pace and capability.
• Establish and run a disciplined delivery rhythm and technical assurance: tracking milestones, managing risks around integration, data quality, system readiness and implementation complexity.
• Work with teams to design practical operating models and user journeys, making sure that new digital services and processes will work in practice for those applying and using the policy.
• Support planning for transition and deployment, including how new systems and processes will be introduced alongside existing arrangements, minimising disruption while enabling reform.
• Continue to refine and evolve requirements as policy develops, ensuring delivery remains aligned to intent even in an evolving environment.

You'll be a key integrator across policy, operations and technology: turning concepts into working capabilities, and ensuring that systems, data and processes come together into a coherent, deliverable whole.

A little bit about the team¿

You'll join the System Operators Policy & Reform team, working on the Access Reform Programme. The team is developing a new Access and Use Policy that will fundamentally change how decisions about access to the network are made, requiring new processes, data, systems and ways of working to support it in practice.

We are working quickly to move from policy design through to consultation and implementation planning, alongside wider system and industry change.

We're a collaborative, supportive team combining policy capability with programme and delivery…