Change and Transformation Lead in Wokingham

Wokingham is a Unitary Council with associated Highway and Transport responsibilities. It is also a rapidly growing Borough. The Office for National Statistics reports that between the last two censuses (held in 2011 and 2021), the population of Wokingham increased by 15.0%, from around 154,400 in 2011 to around 177,500 in 2021. This means Wokingham's population saw the third-largest percentage increase in the Southeast. The population of the Southeast increased by 7.5%, while the population of England rose by 6.6%.

The Borough sits within one of the most economically dynamic areas of the Southeast, where strong strategic connectivity supports access to employment, education and services across the wider region. This connectivity underpins growth and prosperity but also places increasing pressure on the transport network.

Wokingham is one of the UK's most prosperous areas, with around 8,900 registered businesses. Rail passenger movements in 2025 totalled 4.79M, spread across Wokingham's six railway stations. Rail patronage has increased from 3.4M in 2000, an overall increase of 37%. Bus patronage has grown from 2.1M passenger journeys in 2011 to 2.6M in 2025 (a 25% increase). This compares favourably to the rest of the southeast, which has seen a 5% reduction over this same period.

The Highway network has grown commensurate with the Borough's growth and between 2011 and 2021 grew by 8.3%, from 742km to 804km. The network continues to grow commensurate with development and continued prosperity. A practical example of this growth is the South Wokingham Distributor Road, which is key to enabling infrastructure and supports the borough's wider growth ambitions by unlocking approximately 1,800 new homes and facilities, including potential new community facilities, public transport, walking and cycling infrastructure, and green spaces. The scheme improves connectivity across Wokingham by providing an alternative east-west route that reduces pressure on existing residential roads and helps accommodate future population and employment growth.

This context is underpinned by a desire to see transport contribute to several wider policy objectives, such as getting people more active, reducing carbon emissions, improving safety and sustaining economic growth. In summary, Wokingham is successful, prosperous and growing and transport policy and infrastructure is integral to this sustained success.

The Council delivers many of its functions using contractors; the current contractual arrangements have existed for many years. The professional services contract (WSP) and the term maintenance contract (Volker Highways) expire in March 2029 (with an option to extend until 2031) and the Council is keen to embrace the opportunity afforded by the ending of these contracts to reimagine and reshape how Highways Services are provided.

The model post 2029 is intended to be a mixed economy of delivery, with some services delivered internally where they fit into the Council's wider strategy for integrated place operations aligned with neighbourhood models and some services continuing to be delivered by specialist contractors. The Council has a broad concept of which services should be delivered via which model but the work between now and 2029 is to give greater definition to this broad concept and ensure successful delivery, both an in-sourcing and mobilisation programme and a successful market engagement and procurement exercise.

Our current Service Director of Highways and Transport will be integral to the realisation of this strategy and shaping an entirely new Highways Service, reflective of the Council's wider policy agenda, building upon the Borough's unquestionable strengths and opportunities. The role will support our Service Director to deliver this ambitious change programme, we are seeking an experienced Highways and Transport professional leader, who has experience of both in-house service delivery and large-scale contract management.

This may not be a full-time role, but it is a role that requires strategic gravitas and significant experience of large-scale change management within a Highways and Transport context. This is not a generic change management leadership role. We are seeking someone with a specific background in Highways and Transport Services and is likely to have operated as a previous Director of Highways and Transport (or similar) at a large Unitary Council. They are likely to be a professionally qualified Chartered Engineer or similar. And have a healthy change appetite given the scale of change this programme envisages.