Helping maintain railway tracks and equipment.
Occupational Profile
A Rail and Rail Systems Principal Engineer is a senior strategic role and provides industry wide leadership related to their chosen specialism. Specialisms include Rail Civils; Rail Track; Rail Signalling and Control; Rail Systems & Integration; Rail Traction & Rolling Stock, Rail Telecoms, Network & Digital; Rail Electrical, Mechanical & Building Services. They are responsible, and where appropriate accountable for, defining the scope of the railway related (conventional or high speed)– work to be done within their specialism. They liaise with industry partners beyond their immediate organisation and this can include other train operators and government departments. They lead integrated safe design, construction, installation, maintenance, renewal, or decommissioning, to provide a safe and reliable railway. They have a deep understanding of how their organisation fits into the national railway network and their responsibilities regarding legislation and government policy.
They are a key decision maker, influencer and leader who will be proactive in finding different potential solutions to problems and identifying areas for improvement at a project, organisation or rail industry level. They are likely to be a subject matter expert and the technical lead for their organisation or professional engineering discipline with the associated accountability for the interactions between rail technical areas and inter-disciplinary and inter-organisational teams.
They can be responsible for:
- Taking the lead on national railway schemes/projects relating to their area of expertise.
- The quality, accuracy and timely delivery of work undertaken by others, for the business and broader areas of influence within the industry. Assessing and managing complex rail system risks and taking proactive actions/decisions to avoid asset, equipment, process and systems failures across the railway, working collaboratively in the industry.
- Leading individuals and teams (often with complex interfaces) associated with organisational policy and railway standard setting, or large scale Rail Engineering projects and programmes in line with government funded enhancements.
They lead rail and rail systems engineering teams, often comprising several disparate Engineering disciplines across multiple locations/worksites.
Typical job roles include: Principal Railway Systems Integration Engineer, Head of Track (Lineside), Principal Electrification Engineer, Head of Rail Building Services, Principal Telecoms Engineer, Principal Modelling Engineer, Principal Mechanical Engineer, Principal Signalling & Control Systems Engineer, and Principal Traction and Rolling Stock Engineer.
Summary of Standard
Full Standard
