Senior Programme Manager

East West Railway Company

Senior Programme Manager at East West Rail managing complex infrastructure delivery and strategic oversight. Resolving delivery challenges while ensuring safety and project success.

Posted 7/8/2026full-timeMilton Keynes • 🇬🇧 United KingdomSeniorWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Support the Delivery Executive Director and Deputy in resolving key delivery issues, acting as a senior troubleshooter for complex, unexpected, and cross-functional challenges.
Provide strategic delivery oversight across the function, applying lessons from major project experience to set the programme up for success.
Represent the Deputy Executive Delivery Director at executive, management, and Board level meetings as required.
Respond to executive requests and represent EWR Co at stakeholder events.
Lead cross-functional delivery readiness, with particular focus on integration across disciplines, resourcing, and establishing the conditions for a safe and efficient start on site.
Support baseline management across the delivery team, ensuring that scope, schedule, and cost plans are aligned and delivering the required outcomes.
Support governance development, strengthening the effectiveness of meetings to drive decisions, assurance, and accountability.
Provide visible safety leadership, actively shaping a culture where safety is a core organisational value.
Support delivery teams in identifying and mitigating risks, leading recovery actions where needed, and escalating issues to the executive in a timely manner.
Provide senior-level quality assurance of business papers, presentations, and programme documentation.
Support the executive team in deepening relationships with key strategic stakeholders, including senior officials in Government and industry.
Help maintain employee engagement, communication, recognition, and wellbeing across the function.
Model EWR Co’s values and ways of working, and support others to do the same.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Substantial experience managing and delivering complex infrastructure investment schemes across the full project lifecycle.
A strong record of senior leadership in matrixed, cross-functional environments, with the ability to influence without direct authority.
Proven ability to engage effectively with a wide range of stakeholders, translating complex technical and programme issues into clear strategic narratives for different audiences.
Excellent communication, relationship management, and presentation skills, with the ability to make complex issues clear to a wide range of audiences.
Strong understanding of infrastructure delivery, design integration, and schedule and cost assurance.
Sound judgement in high-pressure environments, with experience of identifying, resolving, and escalating risks and issues effectively.
Experience engaging with senior Government officials, industry leaders, or boards.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Salary - Competitive, reflecting your skills and experience
Pension - Up to 12% employer contribution
Annual leave - 36 days (including bank holidays), plus option to buy 2 more
Family policies - Enhanced family-friendly policies to support you and your loved ones
Volunteering - 2 paid volunteering days per year
Life assurance - 4x annual salary
Wellbeing - Employee Assistance Programme and access to Perkbox discounts
Recognition - On-the-spot and annual awards programme
Development - Advanced learning and growth opportunities

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

Project Lifecycle ManagementSchedule AssuranceCost AssuranceDesign IntegrationQuality Assurance

Soft Skills

Relationship ManagementCommunication SkillsPresentation SkillsJudgement in High-Pressure Environments