HM Inspector of Railways Electrical Safety Specialist

Job Description

ORR's Function

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain’s railways and monitor of performance on England’s strategic road network.

This is an exciting time to join ORR, we are delivering a significant transformation programme to create a consistently agile and enabling organisation, with the right capability and a strong, inclusive culture that reflects our talented people. This will ensure we continue to operate as an independent, expert regulator, fit for the future and equipped with the capabilities and ways of working required to support sector-wide rail reform, while contributing to the government’s broader agenda on regulatory reform and economic growth.

Our directorate

Railway Safety Directorate ensures duty-holders in the railway industry manage health and safety risks effectively and comply with their statutory duties.

Our team

Join us at the forefront of rail safety and help shape the future of Britain’s railway system.

ORR’s Railway Safety (RS) directorate plays a vital role in keeping Britain’s railways moving safely and efficiently. From the entire mainline network to the London Underground, light rail, trams and the heritage sector, we oversee the safety of one of the most complex and dynamic transport systems in the world.

We want to ensure our railway is not only a safe way to travel, but also a safe place to work.

Across RS, more than 100 health and safety inspectors and specialists are recognised and respected throughout the industry. With significant enforcement powers and deep technical expertise, they help ensure the rail system operates safely and efficiently.

The Specialist Team leads strategic intervention in high-risk areas of railway health and safety, helping to shape strategy, improve industry risk control, and support operational teams with specialist knowledge.

We ensure the Railway Safety Directorate maintains a deep understanding of health and safety risks and drives continuous and sustained improvement across the rail sector for our specialist areas.

Our work contributes to the delivery of ORR’s strategic objective of a healthier and safer railway.

You will play a key role in shaping electrical safety across Britain’s railways, using your technical expertise to advise, inspect, support investigation and work closely with duty holders and industry bodies. Your engineering skills and specialist knowledge will be put to real-world use, helping to control electrical risks, drive high standards, and ensure compliance with vital safety legislation. Through your work, you’ll help make sure the right controls are in place to manage electrical hazards and keep the railway safe.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Support the development of railway safety’s strategic direction and priorities in electrical engineering.
• Carrying out inspections and support investigations on electrical engineering matters affecting railway duty holders (including mainline, Transport for London, tramways and heritage), taking enforcement action where necessary in order to protect the public and employees.
• Provide specialist electrical expertise to colleagues across ORR, contributing to intervention plans and evidence-based approaches to electrical risk.
• Sharing intelligence, support the development of and help maintain our Knowledge Hub to strengthen organisational learning.
• Engage confidently with internal and external stakeholders – from Board level to frontline staff and trade unions – to ensure ORR’s electrical safety approach is credible, consistent and well-understood.
• Delivering presentations, briefings, advice and elements of electrical safety training to promote good practice across ORR and the wider industry.
• Working alongside colleagues across ORR to drive improvements to the electrical engineering arrangements in place in all railway duty holders.

As ORR’s role in rail reform develops, the responsibilities of the role will likely evolve too, so it’s important that you can be flexible and adapt to changing needs.

We will assess your application against the following essential…