Project Manager

About the Opportunity

Join Our Team at DFT Operator

“It’s an exciting time to join DFT Operator on the journey to GBR. We are recruiting Project Managers to build a dynamic delivery pool that will lead and support projects across multiple functions and teams. Working across organisational boundaries, you will shape and deliver a diverse portfolio spanning transformation, HR, finance, digital, continuous improvement, railway operations and procurement. We’re looking for people with the drive to make a difference, and the ability to focus on what matters to deliver our strategic objectives – reduce net subsidy, improve services for customers, deliver rail reform, engage and empower colleagues, and prioritise safety and sustainability.”

DFT Operator is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.

DFT Operator has over 30,000 employees, runs over 8,500 services a day and delivers over 640 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000 people joined the railway family in the last year.

Major improvements are being delivered by DFT Operator train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia and WM Trains.

We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose Of Job

To lead the safe delivery of DFT Operator projects to achieve cost, time and quality objectives and to develop appropriate delivery and supply strategies and plans for specific projects.

This role could be based in our Waterloo Head Office or our other two locations in Leeds and Birmingham.

Key Responsibilities

• Drives successful project outcomes to drive optimum delivery of outputs, including planning at the level appropriate to the complexity of the project, structuring and sequencing appropriate sets of tasks/activities so that projects are delivered to time, cost and quality.
• Provide a professional, first class, consistent and effective project management service to DFT Operator clients, including project monitoring and reporting systems in accordance with company standards and guidelines.
• Facilitate and drive the cadence of meetings for the programme, supporting leadership and monthly team meetings with the preparation of detailed packs and reports.
• Manages risk, working with the business and using effective stakeholder management to agree common understanding to mitigate and reduce risk.
• Engages with the business and subject matter experts, in collaboration with the Business Analysts, to gather and develop a clear understanding of the detailed requirements in order to create analysis and support associated business cases.
• Manages procurement processes required for projects and manage suppliers, dependencies, milestones, and risks and issues in accordance with standards and guidelines.
• Reports on and reviews the project delivery budget, costs, resourcing and drives governance arrangements to support appropriate reporting, providing senior leadership with reports and briefings as required.
• Maintains relationships with key customers and stakeholders, making sure effective and robust communication plans are agreed and in place so stakeholders are updated, apprised of progress and committed to the project.
• Manage and maintain the overall programme baseline schedule in order to monitor and report and progress, and to reveal the critical path.
• Where relevant, identify required business process and organisational changes necessary in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness and quality of projects.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications

• Experienced in successfully delivering projects of varying complexity within different industries.
• Proven track record in delivering successful, complex projects with an element of business change.
• Proven experience in management of customer expectations, senior stakeholders and developing strong relationships across the business with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience of business requirements’ gathering.
• Strong leadership skills; motivating and inspiring confidence in others with high levels of flexibility and adaptability.
• Strong financial management skills and commercial acumen.
• Desirable: Membership of the Association for Project Management or other professional body.
• Desirable: Proven track record in supplier management.

Vacancy Details

Duration: FTC or Secondment until October 2027

Reports to: Head of Programmes

Location: Waterloo/Leeds/Birmingham Hybrid

Salary: Up to £56,000

Closing Date: 22nd July 2026

We are planning to commence interviewing as soon as suitable candidates apply, we will not wait until the closing date to commence the recruitment. If you are interested in this opportunity please apply early and do not wait.

DFT Operator Benefits

• Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days).
• DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution.
• Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry.

Additional Information…

Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.

About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.

Contact: If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact jason.blakemore@dftoperator.co.uk.

Please do not email any CV's to us, your application must be made by clicking the 'Apply' button.