Full-time CTO, First Rail

01About Us

FirstGroup plc is a leading provider of transport services in the UK and Ireland, and a member of the FTSE 250. Our 30,000 colleagues work across the UK to provide easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities.

02Position: Head of Engineering

• Location: Home based with travel to our UK based portfolio of Coaching entities.

The Head of Engineering will provide senior engineering leadership across all coach operations, ensuring the consistent application of engineering standards, regulatory compliance and best practice. The role will work closely with the Managing Director Coach, Coaching Directors, General Managers, Operations teams and depot engineering leaders to drive performance, reliability and continuous improvement while supporting the business's commercial, operational and sustainability objectives.

Key Details:

03Salary up to £95,000 - £100,000 DOE

Monday-Friday

The Head of Engineering is accountable for establishing and maintaining a robust engineering framework across all coach operations.

Operating as a key member of the Coach Leadership Team, the role holder will provide visible leadership across multiple businesses and locations, ensuring engineering activities support the delivery of safe, reliable and customer-focused transport services.

The role will develop and embed engineering standards, governance and continuous improvement practices while acting as the senior escalation point for complex technical, compliance and fleet performance issues.

Through strong stakeholder engagement and coaching of local engineering leaders, the Head of Engineering will build engineering capability, drive operational performance and support the successful delivery of the Coach strategy.

What We're Looking For:

Significant senior engineering leadership experience within a transport, fleet, automotive, commercial vehicle, coach, bus, logistics or related engineering environment.

Extensive knowledge of vehicle engineering, maintenance management and regulatory compliance requirements.

Proven ability to lead engineering performance improvement across multiple sites or business units.

Strong understanding of engineering governance, risk management and assurance processes.

Demonstrable success in coaching and developing engineering leaders.

Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Strong commercial and financial acumen.

Experience leading transformation, change and continuous improvement initiatives.

Ability to analyse complex operational and technical data to drive performance improvements.

A strategic thinker who is equally comfortable operating at both operational and executive levels.

Professional engineering qualification or equivalent technical experience preferred.

Applicants are advised that background checks will be conducted as a standard part of our recruitment process and to comply with UK employment requirements, we ask all applicants to confirm their right to work in the UK.

04Equal Opportunities

We aspire to be a diverse and inclusive employer because we believe that diversity brings benefits for our customers, communities and our people. Valuing our differences and drawing on our collective knowledge and experience helps us develop new services, open up new markets and broaden our customer base. We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome everyone regardless of social background, gender or gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, marriage or civil partnership status, race, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, sex or age.