Health and Safety Lead

About DFT Operator

DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership. DFTO has over 30,000 employees, runs over 8,500 services a day and delivers over 640 million customer journeys across its networks every year.

Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia and WM Trains. We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose of Job: Lead the continuous development and implementation of DFTO’s Group Strategy to improve its health & safety performance as well as identifying and reviewing high-level group safety risks. Provide strategic health & safety expertise & input to prepare DFTO to be an effective part of Great British Railways, from a health & safety perspective.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the formulation, ongoing development and implementation of DFTO Group’s safety strategies and plans on health and safety and supporting where appropriate, through constructive industry wide programmes.
• Act as an authoritative health & safety specialist for DFTO on H&S matters, and provide management assurance to the Group HSS&S Director on the relevant legal compliance, and the extent to which the DFTO Group is managing and reducing its H&S risks.
• Identify and keep under review all H&S risks relevant to group and the controls put in place to manage the identified risks, advising the Group HSS&S Director when controls become or are likely to become ineffective.
• Lead the development and implementation of clear health & safety policies and standards to enable the delivery of DFTO strategic objectives.
• Act as an expert across the Group, leading coordination on group health and safety improvement programmes, and where required, providing guidance and support to professionals across TOCs where required.
• Co-ordinate the effective management of H&S risks and arrangements across the group to achieve compliance with all H&S related regulations, permits, and licences.
• Support the Group HSS&S Director, by providing expert input and contributions, with developing the safety arrangements for Great British Railways, including supporting the development of a new health and safety management system.
• Be the Designated Competent Person (DCP) for workforce accidents, including providing expert advice on accident and incident investigation tools, techniques and best practice. Direct the reporting of all accidents and incidents and implement the Fair Culture processes.
• Develop and embed effective performance monitoring arrangements to enable H&S performance to be understood across the group and progress against the DFTO H&S strategy and plans to be assessed.
• Identify process gaps and propose and lead improvement programmes within DFTO system, so that efficiency and compliance are enhanced.
• Contribute to, and often lead, lessons-learned reviews following incidents or near misses and so that future processes are improved.
• Liaise with the Office of Road and Rail, Rail Accident Investigation Board, RSSB and other key external stakeholders on general health and safety matters, supporting engagement.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:

• Significant experience in a management role within a safety function.
• Experience of managing safety, and/or health issues.
• Significant experience in development, implementation and ownership of H&S management systems.
• Relevant qualification (e.g. NEBOSH).
• Proven experience in strong management and leadership skills.
• Relevant experience in successful management of Health, Safety, on major programmes in the rail industry.
• Membership of relevant professional body.

Vacancy Details:

• Duration: Fixed Term contract/secondment until October 2027.
• Location: Hybrid/London Waterloo & Leeds.
• Salary: £60,207 - £73,124.
• Closing date: 8th June 2026.

DFTO Benefits:

• Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days).
• DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution.
• Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry.

If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact Jason.Blakemore@dftoperator.co.uk. Please do not email any CVs to us, your application must be made by clicking the 'Apply' button.