Principal Sponsors for Rail Enhancement in the North of England
| Posting date: | 02 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £69,501 per year |
| Additional salary information: | National minimum salary: £69,501; London minimum salary: £74,535 |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 15 February 2026 |
| Location: | Leeds |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 445037/2 |
Summary
Have you worked collaboratively with diverse stakeholders to identify risks, resolve issues, and ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget?
Are you an exceptional communicator with the confidence to influence and secure decisions through formal governance boards?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
DfT is a high-profile department at the heart of UK government. We work with agencies and partners to support the transport network that helps businesses and gets people and goods travelling around the country. We plan and invest to make journeys better.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
- Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
- 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
- Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Read more in the Benefits section below!
Find out more about what it's like working at DFT.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXhyzRAkRH4?si=tMNj7Ez7aZpXLk5r
The Government is investing in rail infrastructure to boost growth, create sustainable jobs, and connect communities. The Rail Infrastructure North and West Directorate within the Department for Transport sponsors major rail enhancements, working closely with Network Rail and operators. We’re recruiting two Principal Sponsors: one for the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), the largest rail investment after HS2, and one for North East rail projects, ensuring integrated, sustainable project delivery across the network. Join us to shape the future of rail in the North.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Leadership - Leading and managing within a high performing team with line management responsibility for Grade 7 staff and deputising for the Programme Director as appropriate.
- Project and programme sponsorship - Operating as an intelligent sponsor and ensuring project delivery in line with the agreed requirements, cost and schedule. Working with Network Rail and other stakeholders to oversee the development, delivery and assurance of rail projects and escalating concerns where appropriate.
- Working with senior officials and stakeholders - Advising and briefing senior officials and ministers within the Department and external stakeholders, including reporting to DfT senior boards and industry programme boards.
- Managing risks and issues - Ensuring that programme delivery and integration risks and issues are identified, managed, and escalated, and that subsequent decisions are managed in line with the Department's governance procedures, project planning framework and through the appropriate decision-making authorities.
- Communications - Overseeing the delivery of programme and portfolio communications to ensure they are effective and aligned with the Government’s growth, housing and jobs missions. Ensuring that responses to Parliamentary enquiries and public correspondence are responded to efficiently and within the required time frames.
Specific to North East team Principal Sponsor role
- Integration Board – Ensuring integration of investment outcomes across the RINW investment portfolio for future passenger and freight services and a freight services. Including the development of strategies for cross cutting issues, such as freight, traction power and stabling.
Specific to TRU team Principal Sponsor role
- Ensuring TRU value for money - Undertaking a programme of targeted reviews to assess the effectiveness of the TRU Enterprise and that financial efficiency is achieved. This includes supporting a Programme Board sub-committee on cost efficiency and monitoring the Enterprise’s progress in meeting targeted efficiency savings.
Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.
For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.
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