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Exeter (other locations may be considered)

£45,000 - £60,000 depending on experience

Who are we?

GWR is the proud custodian of Brunel's railway - one of the most prestigious networks in the world. We have some of the newest trains in the country and exciting plans to extend our services. With more than one hundred million passenger journeys each year, we carry people to over 275 stations in the South West, from Cornwall and South Wales to London, passing through beautiful country and some of the UK's top tourist destinations.

We are transforming the way people think about train travel, empowering our team of over 6,000 people from all different backgrounds to make it a great experience for our customers. Together, we will revalue rail as a very special way to travel – relaxing, fast, efficient, friendly and fun.

About the team

GWR has had great success in working with industry and local authority partners to secure investment into the railway. The Project Development Team supports the development and delivery of a wide variety of investment projects, improving our stations and services for the benefit of our customers, colleagues, and communities. The team consists of Project Development Managers who work closely with internal and external stakeholders to deliver outputs that meet our commitments to the Department for Transport and third-party funders. The team also supports the delivery of new stations and enhancement projects delivered by Network Rail and third parties.

The Project Development Manager will report to the Head of Project Development who is also accountable for feasibility and development of projects, Community lead projects, and commercial management. The team sits within the Business Development Directorate which also consists of project delivery, strategic service development, community and third-party engagement and project interface with third parties.

About the job

As a Project Development Manager, you will play a key role in managing our pipeline of enhancement schemes and developing them into deliverable and funded projects. You will oversee a portfolio of 3rd party, Network Rail and GWR-funded enhancements, ranging from minor works, new stations, station redevelopments and forecourt improvements.

Leading schemes from conception through to handover to our project delivery team, you will engage with internal and external stakeholders to develop designs that deliver benefits for our customers, colleagues and communities and work to secure delivery funding.

During the delivery phase, you will remain engaged, acting as the funders' representative, championing the project internally and managing communications and funding agreements.

With a wide-ranging portfolio of schemes, you will need to balance your time to ensure all key milestones are met, whilst adhering to GWR, Network Rail and wider industry governance processes.

Your main responsibilities will be:
The purpose of the Project Development Manager is to develop improvement ideas into funded and deliverable projects and securing funding for their implementation. This will be achieved through identifying key projects requirements, developing funding bids, managing a wide range of external and internal stakeholders (including but not limited to, Local Authorities, internal stakeholders & the local community) and working with Project Managers to ensure the successful delivery of enhancement projects to an agreed scope, budget and programme.

Specifically, you will review project remits to confirm their viability and identify key project requirements; securing agreement to the project aims and scope, optimising client requirements, value for money, capacity for future development and whole life cost; be accountable for the development of the project plan and budget.

When a project is developed through feasibility and fully funded, you will secure capital authority and lead the handover to our Project Delivery team. You will then remain involved through the remainder of the project lifecycle, managing relationships and agreements with third party funders, leading the communications workstream and championing the project internally on the client's behalf.

About you

• Ability to lead on multiple projects at any one time and manage conflicting priorities.
• Experienced in working in complex multi-stakeholder environments.
• Confident with the ability to liaise across the organisation ranging from peers to SME's.
• You'll have experience in reporting to all levels of seniority and stakeholders both internal and external.
• A team player who can build strong and trusted relationships and manage GWR's reputation externally.
• A critical thinker who enjoys effective problem solving.

What do I need?

• Experience of working in projects or programmes (Prince II, APM or equivalent would be advantageous).
• Some knowledge of railway or civil construction would be beneficial.
• The ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbally, with a variety of stakeholders.

About the location

Home office location is Exeter St David's station. You will also be expected to travel as the nature of the role will require a degree of travel and working location patterns that will vary according to project location and stage.

Working pattern

Working hours are as demanded by the role but will typically fall somewhere between the hours of 8am-6pm from Monday through to Friday (37hr week contract), flexible working patterns can be discussed. Attendance at stakeholder meetings outside of office hours may be required on an ad-hoc basis.

The Reward:

As well as a great team environment and comprehensive training, all GWR colleagues enjoy a range of benefits including on-going development, defined benefit pension scheme, free rail travel across the GWR network for you and your family, company-sponsored health care plan, discounted shopping and gym membership and an employee assistance programme.

We all belong at GWR. This is our vision for providing an inclusive environment for all our colleagues, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.

We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.

We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.

We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.

If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below. We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.