Head of Operations in Doncaster

Ready to take the next step in operational leadership?

Join CRSA as Head of Operations on a secondment until the end of March 2027. Based at Doncaster Depot, you’ll lead the NWR East Midland route team and take ownership of a programme of works, empowering your team to deliver safely, efficiently and to the highest standards.

Reporting to the Operations Director, you’ll combine visible leadership with commercial oversight to keep the depot’s programme on track and ensure work meets the required specification.
As a key contact for regional customers and internal stakeholders, you’ll work closely with planning and development colleagues to turn plans into successful delivery. This is an opportunity to broaden your leadership experience, champion teamwork and continuous improvement, and help your team maintain high standards.

• Leading safe delivery: Oversee works across both teams, ensuring compliance with Group Standards, safety legislation and health, safety, quality and environmental requirements, including CDM obligations.
• Driving commercial performance: Manage plans, resources, costs and delivery to meet or better tendered margins; report on performance and targets, escalating issues to the Operations Director.
• Keeping delivery on track: Maintain robust risk and change management and ensure methodologies, estimates, work package plans, task briefs and contingency arrangements meet required standards and timescales.
• Building relationships: Be the depot’s initial contact for regional customers and internal stakeholders, collaborating with planning, development and supply chain colleagues.
• Championing governance: Support Network Rail’s End to End/PACE governance, lead planning reviews and audits, and ensure incidents, non-conformances and actions are investigated, reported and closed out.
• Developing your people: Lead visibly, promote welfare, maintain training and competence arrangements, and support development reviews, succession planning and teamwork.
• Providing operational support: Deliver on-call and on-site cover as required by the programme.

• Experience successfully managing major programmes of work in construction and/or rail.
• Strong commercial judgement and financial awareness, including business investment processes and procedures.
• A sound understanding of health and safety, quality and environmental legislation and best practice, including the Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with experience leading people and behavioural change within a large organisation and contributing to cross-functional strategic discussions.
• A visible, collaborative leadership style: you listen, build consensus, champion change and make sound decisions under pressure.
• The relevant track safety competence required for this safety-critical role, which is also designated a key safety post.
• A degree, HND or HNC, or equivalent relevant engineering and commercial experience, alongside at least five years in middle management roles.

Desirable: Membership of a relevant professional body with chartered status and/or degree-level education, plus a NEBOSH and/or accident investigation qualification.

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…