Rail & Transit Sector Lead Director

You are a highly motivated, organized, and proactive leader with a proven track record in leading and growing infrastructure businesses, business development, bidding and delivering major projects and strategy implementation. Your in-depth understanding of the Rail market, coupled with your grasp of the social, political, and economic drivers that influence it, will be integral to our success. With extensive experience in leading diverse teams in a fast-paced environment, you have excelled in planning, designing, and delivering projects while implementing data‑led performance improvements. As a champion of equity, diversity, and inclusion, you believe in creating a workplace that embraces and celebrates the unique talents and backgrounds of every individual.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and strategic direction for the Rail & Transit market.
• Define and lead the Rail & Transit sector strategy in alignment with AECOM’s UK and global Transportation objectives.
• Monitor market trends, policy developments and investment programmes to identify growth opportunities across Rail & Transit.
• Position AECOM as a market leader in rail and transit advisory, design and delivery.
• Serve as AECOM’s regional industry leader in Rail & Transit and collaborate with peers in other geographies to provide consistent market approaches, leverage technical expertise, ensure client satisfaction and implement best practices.
• Own coordination of the forming of teams as part of bids and mobilization.
• Work with the regional teams to analyse and understand long, medium- and short-term Rail & Transit opportunities to advise strategic planning and pursuit prioritization.
• Build and maintain senior‑level relationships with key rail and transit clients, devolved authorities and major contractors.
• Act as an executive sponsor for priority client accounts, frameworks and alliances.
• Lead strategic client engagement, ensuring AECOM is seen as a trusted, long‑term partner.
• Build and maintain C‑suite relationships with key clients, moving from a service provider to a strategic partner.
• Ensure rigorous account plans are in place for all tier‑one clients to maximize cross‑selling and long‑term retention.
• Own the integrity of sector data within Salesforce ensuring opportunity pipelines are accurate and actionable.

Business Development & Work Winning

• Actively participate in the winning of work, developing the market with key regional and global transport/transit leads to create the necessary pipeline of work to support continuing growth.
• Build relationships with key clients, funding sources, industry organisations, partners and stakeholders to identify opportunities and grow the business.
• Coordinate and collaborate across business lines to maximise cross‑selling and to offer integrated services to regional clients.
• Drive work‑winning strategy for major rail and transit opportunities, frameworks and commissions.
• Provide leadership on bids, tenders and pursuits, including client strategy, positioning and value proposition with a primary focus on bids exceeding $5m.
• Collaborate with commercial and delivery teams to develop competitive and innovative commercial models.

Delivery & Performance Oversight

• Provide executive oversight of project delivery performance, ensuring quality, safety, programme and commercial outcomes are achieved with a primary focus on projects exceeding $5m.
• Support project directors and technical leads on complex or high‑risk rail and transit programmes.
• Champion best practice in governance, risk management and assurance across the sector.

External Profile & Thought Leadership

• Represent AECOM at industry forums, conferences and client events, enhancing AECOM’s market profile.
• Contribute to thought leadership, innovation and sustainability agendas within the rail and transit sector.
• Strengthen partnerships across the supply chain and with industry bodies.
• Develop key industry relationships, promote technical practices, innovation, sharing and knowledge management.

Operational Excellence & Bidding

• Drive bidding best practices, ensuring high‑quality submissions that improve our % win rate and consistently grow the backlog.
• Work seamlessly across various technical disciplines to provide integrated solutions that meet complex client needs.
• Provide visible leadership in Health, Safety & Wellbeing, specifically championing Safety in Design principles across all sector projects.

People & Talent Development

• Partner with National Disciplines to identify key recruitment needs and bridge capability gaps.
• Proactively manage the talent pipeline for the sector to ensure leadership continuity and technical excellence.

Qualifications

• BEng/BSc in Engineering, Transportation or a related field, or demonstrated equivalency of experience and/or education, including 6 years of leadership & large team management.
• Member of a recognised professional body relative to core markets.
• Understanding of the process and practices involved in the design and delivery of infrastructure projects.
• Several years of progressive experience in the Rail Industry.
• In‑depth knowledge of rail safety, operations and compliance standards.
• Financial acumen with proven ability to manage large budgets.
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills, with a proven ability to build and maintain long‑term partner and customer relationships.
• Strategic thinker with a focus on continuous improvement and innovation.
• Firm understanding of the Rail & Transit markets and the social, political and economic drivers that influence this across the region.
• Significant experience of leading large, matrixed businesses.
• Experience of leading multi‑year, complex business transformation.
• Material experience of leading high level client engagement.
• Proven ability to develop and execute strategy for a large business.
• Catalyst for innovation and solutions for our clients - particularly digital innovation.
• Experience of building diverse, inclusive and highly motivated teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Chartered Engineer.
• Membership of a recognised professional body relative to our core market.

Benefits

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well‑being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed. You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

Additional Information

• Demonstrate your dedication to driving our inclusion and wellbeing strategies by instilling a culture of respect and care within your team, role‑modeling behaviours aligned to these strategies.
• Build a diverse and inclusive workforce by recruiting and retaining the best talent and nurturing the next generation of leaders who will do the same.
• Lead with empathy, respect and understanding, actively seeking out diverse points of view and creating a psychologically safe environment where these points of view can thrive.
• Provide all employees with the freedom they need to grow, develop, innovate and be their whole selves at work.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long‑term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.