Light Rail Fleet Planner

Location: Wednesbury, WS10 0AR
Salary: £40,000 per annum
Contract: Permanent, Full-Time
Benefits: Free Travel on Trams & NX Buses (for you and your partner) + MML Pension + 25 Days Holiday (plus Bank Holidays)

West Midlands Metro is looking for an organised, analytical and forward-thinking Light Rail Fleet Planner to play a key role in maximising fleet availability and ensuring our tram network operates safely, efficiently and reliably.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced planner from a rail, transport, engineering, manufacturing or other asset-intensive environment to take ownership of long-term fleet maintenance planning, recovery programmes and resource forecasting across our modern tram fleet.

Working closely with Engineering, Production, Operations and Supply Chain teams, you will provide a clear picture of fleet availability, ensuring maintenance activities, overhauls and recovery programmes are planned and delivered effectively whilst balancing depot capacity, resources, suppliers and parts availability.

• Create and maintain a 52-week rolling forecast for the availability of our tram fleet.
• Monitor fleet availability against operational requirements, identifying potential risks and opportunities ahead of time.
• Keep track of trams that are out of service, ensuring recovery plans remain on track and obstacles are addressed quickly.
• Update plans as circumstances change, whether that's maintenance priorities, operational demands or supplier lead times.
• Develop and manage annual maintenance plans for the fleet.
• Schedule planned maintenance, inspections, overhauls and fleet improvement programmes.
• Work closely with Engineering and Production teams to help return out-of-service trams to service as efficiently as possible.
• Balance priorities and workloads to ensure the depot can deliver maximum fleet availability.
• Support the planning of major maintenance programmes, including overhauls, wheel and tyre work, bogie maintenance, modifications and warranty activities.
• Build and maintain resource plans that consider staffing, workshop capacity, equipment availability and supplier support.
• Collaborate with Engineering Support teams to ensure parts, materials and consumables are available when needed.
• Anticipate future challenges and develop practical solutions to minimise disruption.
• Highlight risks and resource constraints early, providing clear recommendations to support decision-making.
• Maintain accurate planning information within our maintenance and planning systems.
• Produce regular reports that provide clear visibility of fleet performance and future availability.
• Review planning performance and forecast accuracy, identifying opportunities to improve.
• Use reliability and maintenance data to support better planning, forecasting and decision-making across the fleet.

• Understanding of resource constraints, supplier capacity, long-lead components and critical spares management.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to assess fleet availability impacts and planning risks.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Highly organised, methodical and detail-focused.
• Ability to challenge assumptions, drive actions and maintain ownership of complex plans.
• Additional Requirements
• Ability to work across West Midlands Metro locations as required.
• Must meet the company's medical, fitness, drugs and alcohol requirements.