BUSINESS FUNCTION: Service Planning

GRADE: ML2/SB1

SALARY: £48,048 to £59,514 per annum

ROLE TYPE: Hybrid

HOURS: 37 per week

Is optimising resource and driving efficiencies ‘Your Thing’?

We seek a strategic individual driven by data to join our Service Delivery Team as the Traincrew Strategy Manager, responsible for optimising traincrew resource planning across the Northern network. If you’re passionate about leveraging strategy and data driven insight to influence outcomes, this role is for you.

Connecting millions of people and communities across the North is our mission. With 2,500 trains a day, we connect people to jobs, friends, family, and the wonders of the North.

We're improving rail travel, enhancing the experience on board and at stations. Customers are at the heart of our business as we improve performance and create a better way to go.

We're driving economic value and sustainable growth for the North and its people. Our commitment to the environment means reducing our impact and enhancing the world around us.

Make a difference. Make it last. Make it easy. Make it happen. Make it yours. These are our values.

Ready to make them yours? Join us on this journey.

About the role:

As the Traincrew Strategy Manager, you’ll be responsible for leading the Northern Resource Planning (NRP) process; ensuring we have sufficient Driver and Conductor resources to maintain current and future train service plans. In this role, you’ll accurately reflect the needs of the business to ensure we have the right people, in the right roles, at the right time.

Reporting to the Head of Operational Readiness, you’ll develop forecast establishments, manage the establishment calculator, collaborate with Service Planning and monitor industry activity. Foresight is valuable in this role, and you will be required you to analyse resourcing data to drive efficiencies, inform future timetables and traincrew diagrams, as well as shaping the recruitment plans and establishment numbers for timetable changes, shaping the traincrew landscape of the company.

You’ll ensure the cost-effective management of NRP, providing guidance to various teams involved in deploying traincrew, including Finance Managers, Operations Manager, Union representatives and other internal and external stakeholders.

If this sounds like your thing, we’d love to hear from you.

Key responsibilities:

As the Traincrew Strategy Manager, you can expect a role which is challenging and rewarding; here is a glimpse of what your day to day activities could look like:

• Leading the development, implementation, and ongoing refinement of Northern Resource Plans for all traincrew grades.
• Conducting periodic reviews of the Northern Resource Plan for each region, ensuring all workforce changes and future requirements are captured and up-to-date.
• Analysing resourcing risks for traincrew, such as retirement risks and risks from other operators, and providing reports and recommendations to the Director Group.
• Assessing timetable changes to create future establishments using Tracsis software or spreadsheet models
• Chairing forecasting meetings to present resource plan data and discuss potential risks and opportunities
• Providing traincrew recruitment forecasts to the Training School for future training schedules
• Offering guidance to the recruitment team in developing traincrew recruitment plans
• Monitoring the financial implications of the Northern Resource Plan and collaborating with regional Finance Managers to develop accurate budgets
• Presenting periodic Traincrew Resource Planning updates to the Operations Delivery Group
• Leading the continuous development and operation of the Traincrew Establishment Calculator
• Analysing Availability & Utilisation data for traincrew resourcing purposes.
• Providing support as the company expert in traincrew establishments for development projects
• Analysing aspects of traincrew resourcing to drive efficiencies and improve resource utilisation
• Informing the development of future timetables and traincrew diagrams, identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Supporting the analysis of future timetables and special projects
• Ensuring all traincrew rosters adhering to established Fatigue Management protocols
• Advising Heads of Trains & Stations and Operations Managers on optimal traincrew management approaches
• Providing quarterly traincrew status reports to government bodies
• Liaising with other Train Operating Companies and representing Northern at industry forums

About you:

You possess excellent communication and rapport building skills, demonstrated by your ability to deliver complex information to a wide variety of stakeholder. You’ll be highly organised with the capacity to ensure deadline are met and the detail is maintained. As well as having the confidence and ability to assert oneself appropriately, which providing strategic judgement to influence decision making.

We’re also looking for the following:

• A high level of numeracy and an intuitive ability to manipulate complex numerical information
• Effective report writing to provide crisp, concise qualitative as well as quantitative analysis
• An appreciation of how financial budgets are developed and agreed
• A talent for clear thinking, strategic judgement and organisational skills in all areas of responsibility
• Able to intuitively use Information Technology including MS Excel, MS Word. Experience of MS Access preferable but not essential
• Experience of dealing with traincrew grades highly preferable
• Willing to work flexibly to achieve key outputs including travel around the Northern network

Our Benefits:

Because we value our people and reward hard work, we’ve created a benefits package that we think you’ll love. So, you’ll be able to make the most of:

• Opportunities to progress and grow - including comprehensive training schemes and a range of online learning courses.
• Agile working for non-train crew - many of our roles can now be based at both home and the office, which is great if you are looking for flexibility.
• Cycle to Work Scheme - save up to 42% on the cost of a bike, while also spreading your payments throughout the year.
• Free Travel on Northern services - everyone who works at Northern, plus their partners/spouses and dependents, can travel for free right across our full network of services. *Certain eligibility criteria will apply.
• 75% discount with other Train Operating Companies - after 2 years with us, you’ll also get discounted travel on many other rail services in the UK and Europe.
• Defined Benefit Pension Scheme - you’ll rarely find a pension as good as a Northern pension, and we top up your pension with a generous 1.5 times your contribution.
• Maternity and Paternity Benefits - we go above and beyond the standard, and mums can enjoy 9 months’ maternity leave on full pay while dads can make the most of 2 weeks’ paternity leave on full pay.
• Employee Assistance Programme - advice, support and useful information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on everything from family issues to lifestyle matters.
• Exclusive benefits with Northern Perks - enjoy retail discounts, instant vouchers, cashback, wellbeing support and much more.

You can find out more here.

Please note that Northern reserves the right to close recruitment for this role before the published closing date if high volumes of applications are received.

However, if you miss the application window for this particular role, please keep checking back for other opportunities. We are always on the lookout for great people to join the Northern Team!

We’re an equal opportunities employer and a promoter of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We encourage and welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds, regardless of gender, sex, ethnicity, race, religion, education, socioeconomic background, disability, or sexual orientation.

We also have Disability Confident status, which means we’re committed to making the most of the talents that disabled people can bring to the workplace.