Depot Programme Manager

Description

We are recruiting an experienced Depot Programme Manager to join our team at Tyseley.

You will be responsible for managing, coordinating, and delivering all engineering, operational, and heavy maintenance programmes across the fleet, ensuring safety, environmental, quality, performance, contractual, and budget requirements are achieved. This includes oversight of major maintenance, Level 5 overhauls, modifications, upgrades, and lifecycle interventions, ensuring compliance with business, regulatory, and safety standards.

You will also support the Depot Manager in planning and delivering heavy maintenance activities by leading depot teams to ensure traction and rolling stock are maintained, repaired, cleaned, and marshalled safely, efficiently, and to the required standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all fleet engineering and maintenance programmes across DMU and WMT fleets, including overhauls, refurbishments, life‑extension works, NDT, wheel lathe operations, and Level 5 maintenance.
• Plan, schedule, and oversee engineering modifications, technical upgrades, improvement campaigns, and engineering change control to enhance fleet reliability, performance, and compliance.
• Manage day‑to‑day depot operations, ensuring safe, efficient working practices aligned with standards, specifications, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure maintenance outputs, SLA targets, and fleet availability are consistently achieved through effective resource planning, workforce management, and competency assurance.
• Monitor fleet performance metrics—including reliability, availability, and delay minutes—and drive targeted improvement actions to reduce delays and optimise asset performance.
• Oversee the management of SQR defects and engineering campaigns across WMT and XC fleets, ensuring timely, specification‑compliant completion.
• Maintain the integrity of Maintenance Management Systems and ensure full compliance with Railway Group Standards, safety regulations, and audit requirements.
• Lead multi‑disciplinary engineering and depot teams across electrical, mechanical, and digital systems, providing technical leadership, coaching, and development.
• Coordinate engineering activities across depots, internal teams, OEMs, suppliers, contractors, and overhaul partners to ensure efficient and high‑quality programme delivery.
• Manage programme and depot budgets, ensuring efficient use of resources, strong cost control, and accurate reporting to senior stakeholders and executive committees.
• Lead commercial engagement, supporting procurement, contractor negotiations, costing development, and third‑party work agreements to ensure commercial performance.
• Ensure all third‑party maintenance work is planned, costed, and delivered to agreed quality standards, timelines, and operational expectations.
• Deploy fleet into service, ensuring stock allocations, formations, and availability meet operational and franchise requirements.
• Conduct incident investigations and ensure safety, environmental, and inspection standards are maintained, with corrective actions implemented where required.
• Drive continuous improvement across engineering, maintenance, and depot operations, while supporting the introduction of new technologies and contributing to strategic growth initiatives aligned with national rail strategy and sustainability objectives

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• A recognised relevant Mechanical Degree Course or equivalent (M&E HNC preferred).
• Leadership/Management experience, with Management Qualification ILM3
• Experience in Level 5 Heavy Maintenance work
• NEBOSH Certificate
• Understanding of depot operation and planning process.
• Have served an apprenticeship or equivalent, supported by appropriate technical studies.
• Sound knowledge of railway operating and safety standards, rules and instructions
• Sound knowledge and understanding of a variety of traction and rolling stock and the maintenance standards applicable to them.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Health, Safety and Environmental legislation
• Good communication skills are required, including both verbal and written
• Strong team leader and motivator
• Ability to proactively identify opportunities for and to lead continuous improvement
• Able to solve technical problems where timescales are limited.
• Good computer skills with knowledge of Microsoft office and enterprise systems.
• Self-motivated and able to react to a wide variety of situations.
• Have practical experience in a maintenance environment with proven technical fault-finding track record
• Proven track record of managing a large group of staff and meeting business specification
• Good understanding of reliability driven targets and how fleet performance is measured each railway performance period, both technical and non-technical

To ensure continuity and an effective delivery of service, successful candidates will be required to commit to a minimum 14-month period in role after achieving competence. This also includes existing colleagues who move by internal promotions and transfers. This time allows our future colleagues to support personal career development by allowing time to build strong knowledge and expertise.

Benefits

• A defined benefit pension from day 1 – one of the best in the UK.
• Free travel on all London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway services for you, your spouse/partner, and dependents.
• 75% off all other train operating companies for you, your spouse/partner, and dependents.
• 8 Friends and Family Day passes to gift per annum on our network.
• A 24/7 Virtual GP service for you and your household.
• Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)- A confidential employee benefit that supports you with personal or work-related issues affecting your home life, work life, health, or wellbeing
• Our cycle to work scheme with Evans Cycles.
• A retail discount portal- offering savings, discounts and cashback at over 800 retailers and restaurants.

About WM Trains

London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway operate rail services across the Midlands, the Northwest and London, with Birmingham at the heart of our network.

West Midlands Railway provides most of the local services across the region, offering direct connections to towns and cities including Redditch, Stratford‑upon‑Avon, Worcester, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Telford and Northampton. Our London Northwestern Railway brand serves the route between London and Liverpool via key locations such as Crewe, Birmingham, Milton Keynes and Northampton.

On 1st February 2026, London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway entered public ownership and both services are now part of WM Trains Limited operated by DFTO. Our mission remains unchanged: to provide a safe, comfortable and reliable service for passengers across 235 miles of track and 150 stations, from London to Liverpool and Hereford to Lichfield.

We expect over 80 million journeys to be made this year, that’s more than 1,252 services every day, and we remain committed to delivering the rail experience our passengers expect.