Consultant (Rail technical PM) RC288

Application Deadline: 15 September 2026

Department: Transport

Location: London and Milton Keynes

Compensation: £41,555 - £54,171 / year

Description

Location London or Milton Keynes (minimum of two days a week in the office. You can do more than two days if preferable)

Working hours Full time (9day Fortnight companywide)

Contracttype/duration: Permanent

Band: 2.2

Salary: £41555 - £54171 (Dependent on office location and proven ability)

Reporting to: Head of Rail Delivery

Closing date: 10am, 15th September 2026

As a Rail Technical Project Manager, you will lead the successful delivery of complex, innovation-led projects across the rail sector. Combining strong project management capability with practical rail engineering experience, you will provide the technical understanding, structure and leadership needed to take projects from initial client requirements and proposal development through mobilisation, delivery and completion.

You will manage projects involving emerging technologies, rail systems, digital solutions and infrastructure innovation. You will work closely with multidisciplinary technical specialists, clients, suppliers and industry stakeholders to translate complex engineering requirements into clear, achievable delivery plans.

You will establish and maintain effective project controls, including project plans, budgets, resource requirements, risks, dependencies, governance, reporting and change management. You will ensure that projects are delivered safely, to the required quality, within agreed timescales and budgets, and in line with client and organisational expectations.

Your engineering background will enable you to understand technical challenges, constructively challenge delivery teams and communicate complex information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. You will support the coordination of engineering activities such as requirements definition, systems integration, testing, validation, verification and technical assurance. Where relevant, you will also help teams navigate rail-industry assurance and acceptance processes. Stakeholder and client management will be central to the role. You will build trusted relationships with rail-sector organisations, provide clear and consistent communication, and create a professional and predictable client experience. You will facilitate meetings and workshops, manage expectations, resolve delivery issues and ensure that decisions, actions and accountabilities are clearly documented and followed through.

In addition to delivering existing projects, you will contribute to the continued growth of the Rail portfolio. This will include supporting/ leading bid and proposal development, shaping scopes and work packages, estimating delivery requirements, identifying opportunities for follow-on work and applying lessons learned across projects. The role will provide consistent project management standards, governance and client engagement while strengthening the Directorate’s capacity to deliver multiple concurrent rail programmes.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced Technical Project Manager or engineer with project delivery experience who enjoys working at the interface between engineering, technology and business. You will be comfortable operating in multidisciplinary and innovation-led environments where requirements may evolve, and you will bring the judgement, attention to detail and collaborative approach needed to turn emerging ideas into well-managed, deliverable projects.

• Leading rail projects through initiation, planning, mobilisation, delivery, monitoring and completion.
• Translating client and engineering requirements into structured project plans, deliverables, milestones and work packages.
• Establishing and maintaining effective controls for scope, schedule, budget, resources, risks, issues, dependencies, quality and change.
• Coordinating multidisciplinary teams and ensuring that technical and project activities remain aligned.
• Supporting requirements management, system integration, testing, validation, verification, assurance and acceptance activities.
• Ensuring that project governance, documentation and reporting are accurate, timely and appropriate for clients and senior stakeholders.
• Managing relationships with clients, partners, suppliers and industry stakeholders.
• Facilitating technical discussions, project reviews, workshops and decision-making forums.
• Identifying delivery concerns early and leading the development of proportionate mitigations and recovery actions.
• Supporting commercial management, including forecasting, resource planning, change control and monitoring delivery against budget.
• Lead and coordinate proposal writing activities, ensuring high-quality, client-focused submissions are delivered to challenging timescales.
• Identify and support opportunity development, follow-on work, client engagement and business development activities across the rail portfolio.
• Capturing lessons learned and promoting consistent project management and governance standards across the Rail portfolio.
• Communicating complex engineering and project information clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
  
  

The business case identifies the need for a dedicated, experienced Technical Project Manager to strengthen delivery resilience, maintain consistent governance and client engagement, support bid activity and enable technical specialists to focus on high-value engineering work.

We're looking for someone who combines the credibility of an engineer with proven project delivery capability and organisational skills of an experienced project manager. You will thrive in a fast-moving environment, be comfortable leading both project delivery and proposal development activities and enjoy working with clients and technical experts to turn innovative ideas into successful, real-world outcomes with client focus and commercial awareness.

Key Responsibilities

• Support revenue targets .
• Spot opportunities.
• Contribute to bids and proposals.
• Support client confidence in and building credibility of CPC.
• Ensure CRM system is updated with stakeholder contact and any other account information.
• Support scoping and delivery of streams of work .
• Deliver plans as designed .
• Implement effective project management process .
• Organise your own contribution to the work stream.
• Collaborate effectively across the work streams/project team .
• Provide excellence in delivery .
• Meet (or exceed) utilisation targets .
• Promote innovative and professional delivery focus across project team.
• Support buy in across a range of stakeholders through professional and technical expertise .
• Accountable for timely and high-quality actions/tasks and updates .
• Update CRM system with contact of client information
• Maintain own professional development.
• Ensure an ethos of equity, inclusivity and diversity underpin your work activity, contribute to inclusive innovation across all Catapult activities.
• You may be required to undertake any other reasonable duties to support the Catapult in achieving its strategic outcomes and ensure effective business operations.
  
  

Skills, Knowledge And Expertise

• Identify new methodologies or approaches.
• Identify solutions beyond the tried and tested methods.
• Collaborate effectively across teams and disciplines.
• Influence effectively in projects and tasks.
• Customer perspective is understood and applied.
• Uses multi-channel communication to ensure clarity and connection on activities.
• Able to plan and deliver on multiple activities.
• Respond to and learns from change with ease.
• Embed inclusive and sustainability practices in planning and delivery.
  
  

Benefits

• 9 day fortnight for everyone, every other Friday.
• 23.5 holiday entitlement for everyone, with pro-rata calculations for part-time employees, along with a Christmas shutdown period for additional days off.
• Competitive pension, up to 10% company contribution to help you save for your future.
• Two paid days of volunteering leave per year (pro-rata for part-time employees) to support charitable activities.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing 24/7 confidential work/life support services to you and your immediate family members.
• Cycle to Work Scheme encouraging a healthy and sustainable commute.
• Cash Health Plan, offering reimbursement for a wide range of essential and everyday healthcare expenses, promoting your well-being.
• Payroll Giving scheme, allowing regular charitable contributions from pre-tax income, maximizing the impact of your donations.
• Discounts and offers from a wide variety of retailers, enhancing your purchasing power and providing savings opportunities.
• Mortgage Advice benefit, delivered in partnership with Charles Cameron & Associates – provides employees with free, expert mortgage advice and end-to-end mortgage support from the application process through to completion.
  
  

Employment here is based solely upon individual merit and qualifications directly related to professional competence. We strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, colour, religion, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy status, sex, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected by law. We also make all reasonable accommodations to meet our obligations under laws protecting the rights of the disabled.