Quality & Business Improvement Manager

HS2 Rail Systems Package 2 involves the design, supply, build, testing and commissioning of all tunnel and lineside M&E systems between London and Birmingham. Scope of works includes installation of tunnel ventilation, cable management, containment and earthing, fire suppression systems, LV distribution and tunnel lighting, cross passage doors, earthing & bonding, points heating, junction lighting and power installation. Costain will be prime contractor, delivering the works with the support of a design team and specialist supply chain partners.

Reporting to the Lead Engineering Manager, the Quality and Business Improvement Manager is a lead role to drive excellence in delivery and ensure right first time is consistently and predictably achieved. This includes identifying and prioritising behaviours, processes and activities that improve the productivity of teams, measuring the quality of outputs and wellbeing of stakeholders engaged with the project. The role needs to work collaboratively with the wide project team, including partners and subcontractors to ensure robust evidencing, compliance measures and targeted resources are in place to support delivery to requirements. Sharing excellence, challenges and reporting is a key role requirement, to evidence compliance with and improve standards on the project.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for engaging senior stakeholders and reviewing activities and teams relating to productivity planning and critical delivery.
• Drive a delivery quality excellence culture and compliance in the delivery team, through leadership, ownership, influence and expertise.
• Drive a ‘right first time’ culture.
• Review and implement strategic direction / objectives / targets for productivity improvement ensuring alignment to wider SCS strategic goals.
• Ensure quality requirements are defined, communicated and delivered in an efficient and effective manner including resources, budget, people, subcontractors and third party providers.
• Ensure the project remains compliant to all requirements with robust evidencing in place.
• Drive a progressive assurance ethos to handover and close out.
• Collaborate with all parties on the project and support wider business / industry.
• Support leadership and business performance, using data to make fact-based interventions and improve quality and efficiency.
• Work with senior management across the project providing data driven support in their planning processes.
• Manage and develop improvement and change teams based in multiple locations.
• Champion a project wide culture of continuous improvement, quality, innovation, knowledge transfer to empower and engage project teams.
• Issue accurate and compliant reports, forecasting status, areas of concern, shared excellence and similar, elevate project challenges to ensure resolution.
• Oversee change and transformation initiatives in the short, medium and long term, leading others along the journey.
• Work with senior leaders to implement efficiency and improvement strategies, embed best practice and strategic thinking whilst working with stakeholders to ensure innovation that supports future delivery.
• Responsible for representing and promoting team and project successes to enhance SCS and HS2 reputation and legacy across parent companies, HS2 route and across industry.
• Act as a connector building relationships and networking across parent companies (UK and globally) and other HS2 MWCC.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Have a strong understanding and experience of quality and handover management to guide project.
• Can produce/manage the production of business improvement plans and quality related documents, databases, reports, inspection requirements and similar.
• Strong leadership, communication and conflict management skills with project/client and corporate.
• Knowledge of industry best practice and quality management systems in UK infrastructure, engineering and construction project delivery.
• Knowledge of supply chain partners who can support project delivery, e.g. inspections, audits.
• Able to identify, triage, control and complete quality requirements and in particular higher quality.
• Comfortable taking on a “disrupter” role, challenging norms and driving change that benefits project.
• Strong written and analytical skills to assess information, understand trends and instruct action based on data.
• Experienced in the whole project lifecycle – can support tendering, delivery, commissioning.
• Strong people skills, can train, support, influence and manage to get the best from our people and supply chain.

Qualifications

• A Chartered Member of the CQI (Chartered Quality Institute).
• A professional qualification or degree (or equivalent) in an aligned subject.
• Auditor training and experience, ideally IRCA.

About Us

Costain helps to improve people’s lives with integrated, leading edge, smart infrastructure solutions across the UK’s energy, water, transportation and defence markets. We help our clients improve their business performance by increasing capacity, improving customer service, safeguarding security, enhancing resilience, decarbonising and delivering increased efficiency. Our vision is to be the UK’s leading smart infrastructure solutions company.