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Candidate Opportunity Brief
Position: Director of Systems Safety and Health
Reporting to: COO
Confidentiality: N/A
Client Opportunity Statements:
This opportunity is focused on moving RSSB from reporting risk to influencing what the industry does about it. We have huge credibility and access to rich, industry-wide data, but the challenge now is turning that insight into action and measurable change.
That means challenging how we have traditionally operated. We need to move beyond legacy forums and talk shops towards a more agile, outcome-focused approach, positioning RSSB as a trusted advisor that helps the industry solve problems, not simply understand them.
Data is central to that shift. We want to harness AI, predictive analytics and our specialist expertise to identify where intervention can have the greatest impact, then translate that into practical recommendations the industry can act upon.
Ultimately, this is about proving RSSB s continued relevance in a changing rail landscape. The successful individual will need to lead from the front, influence senior industry stakeholders and bring together data specialists, risk experts and industry leaders behind a common purpose.
Client Company Overview
The Rail Safety and Standards Board is the independent safety, standards and research body for Great Britain s rail network. We work across Britain s evolving railway to improve safety, efficiency, and sustainability.
Our purpose - To help our members keep Britain moving with safer, smarter rail.
Our goal - By 2030, every rail employee will rely on an RSSB tool or service daily.
Our approach - RSSB is a membership organisation that is owned by and serves Britain s rail industry. It is a non-profit company limited by guarantee and governed by a Board. Its way of working is set out in the Constitution Agreement and its Articles of Association, which include the memorandum of association.
We were established in 2003, in the aftermath of the Ladbroke Grove rail crash. Since then we have been supporting Britain s rail sector.
Our work - We work collaboratively with an evolving industry to ensure that it is operated safely, and cost-effectively to the benefit of passengers and freight.
Our work focuses on six key areas. These are safer, healthier, harmonised, efficient, future and sustainable rail. We develop standards, monitor safety and health performance, and provide sustainability guidance, underpinned by research and data.
Our member-focussed tools and solutions are developed for our members. Designed to address the most pressing industry challenges; cost reduction, safe and satisfied passengers, improving system reliability and resilience, adopting new technology, improving freight safety and growth, and increasing rail s sustainability and its benefit to society.
We are proudly impartial, and home to some of rail s leading experts. Guided by facts and data-driven analysis, we help to bridge knowledge gaps, optimise technology use, and disseminate and systemise industry best practice.
Through our strategy we aim to benefit members by: - Ensuring financial sustainability through cost efficiencies and centralised technical services.
- Delivering outstanding service and engagement.
- Reducing direct cost to members by expanding commercial activities.
- Improving RSSB s organisational health to attract and retain skilled staff.
- Leveraging digital transformation to enhance efficiency, customer understanding, and provide optimal solutions.
Why it matters - The rail industry has grown considerably, but to reach its full potential we must increase the mobility of people and goods while reducing emissions, pollution and road congestion. Unlocking the railway s full potential is a massive technical challenge. Doing it safely, sustainably and efficiently is an even bigger one.
Many businesses and organisations contribute to this increasingly dynamic system. Our skills and experience in collaborating with operators and innovators, co-ordinating research and development, and codifying technical knowledge will be crucial for the rail network. Working with the industry, we ensure that its users enjoy the benefits of rail for decades to come.
Helping us all work smarter, as well as safer.
Key deliverables within the first 12 months include: - Create clear centres of excellence, improve accountability and align capability around customer need.
- Drive outcomes, not outputs. Success is no longer measured by reports produced, but by the impact delivered.
- Secure industry buy-in for change. Bring together data specialists, risk experts and industry leaders behind a common vision.
- Cut through complexity and drive delivery. Lead large-scale transformation in a complex, safety-critical and highly stakeholder-driven environment.
Key Accountabilities: - Lead the SSH&W Directorate, ensuring an appropriate structure, providing clear purpose and direction, instigating a developed and dynamic capability to meet a changing environment and robust and responsive management of all staff within the directorate.
- Advise the COO and ExCo of key health and safety performance issues that impact the industry and RSSB, including working with Futures Lab to horizon scan for future threats to health and safety performance.
- Working to direction from ExCo set the vision for RSSB s work on System Safety Health and Wellbeing. Proactively work with fellow COG directors to help lead the company and deliver the solutions within Healthier and Safer Rail as part of the overall RSSB business plan.
- Lead on the directorate s contribution to the generation of margin as part of RSSB s wider income generation plan.
- Support the broader industry in the monitoring of railway wide health and safety risk, ensuring all forms of health and safety information are gathered and analysed, and that parties inside RSSB and beyond are aware of the contributors to risk.
- Provide and apply appropriate risk modelling tools and techniques to enable risk-based decision-making and ensure that they are applied within RSSB s outputs.
- Ensure effective risk, safety and human factors contribution and sign off of railway group standards.
- Working with other directorates, support the effective working of RSSB s key assurance schemes (RISQS, RISAS etc) and in particular robust undertaking of scheme management and assurance activity, consistent with principles of good governance, and good practice health and safety management.
- Represent the company in Director level external groups / meetings at both national and international fora.
- Maintain beneficial contact with risk and safety professionals in other industries and countries to ensure that RSSB adopts best practice in these disciplines.
Essential Hard Skills (Skills & Experience) - Experience operating within safety-critical environments such as rail, utilities, aerospace, nuclear, defence or transportation, with a strong understanding of regulatory and operational constraints.
- Consultative, delivery-focused leader with a demonstrable track record of influencing stakeholders and driving transformation programmes from strategy through to implementation.
- Strong consulting background, with experience leading client engagements, shaping solutions and building trusted advisor relationships at senior stakeholder level.
- Demonstrable success translating complex data, analytics and digital insights into practical, scalable solutions that improve performance, efficiency, safety or decision-making
Essential Soft Skills (Attributes & Behaviours) - Consultative and collaborative leadership style.
- Outcome-focused approach.
- Strong influencing and stakeholder management with the ability to bring people on a journey.
- Gravitas and ability to cut through the noise and hold a room '.
- Innovative mindset and willingness to challenge established ways of working.
Working Arrangements & Location: - 25 Fenchurch Avenue, London, EC3M 5AD
- Hybrid working, typically 2 to 3 days per week in the office
- National industry stakeholder engagement as required
Ford & Stanley Executive Search Pre-Submission Process: - First Engagement: A short engagement and introductory conversation to position the opportunity, gauge candidate early interest level and arrange a time and date for a more detailed discussion. NDA sent (if applicable) upon receipt of signed NDA - Candidate Opportunity Brief shared.
- Candidate Discovery: An open, conversational and consultative discussion where candidates and executive search consultant explore and discuss the opportunity brief. Candidates are assessed on their suitability for the role in the context of the key essentials and challenged on how the opportunity lines up with their career aspirations, motivations, financial expectations and personal circumstance. The search consultant will utilise the information captured during candidate discovery to start to build your profile on suitability . click apply for full job details
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