Project Support Officer

About DFTO

Join Our Team at DFTO

DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.

DFTO has over 30,000 employees, runs over 8,500 services a day and delivers over 640 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000 people joined the railway family in the last year

Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia and WM Trains.

We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose Of Job

The railways are undergoing a significant transformation with the Public Ownership Programme, which will transfer all privately managed Train Operating Companies into public ownership as contracts expire. This Project Support Officer role will lead on management and optimisation of the performance related incentive framework (Performance-Based Fee (PBF)) for the legacy private sector operator National Rail Contracts (NRC) - a vital component of the contract that rewards effective private sector delivery and validates the right outcomes for passengers and taxpayers.

In this role you will also support planning and delivery of the annual Quantified Target Measures (QTM) setting process across Train Operators and be part of a team ensuring effective and efficient contract system management. As we move towards Great British Railways (GBR) roles will evolve and there may be opportunities to work across other areas requiring a similar skillset.

Key Deliverables

• Ensure that the Performance-Based Fee process runs smoothly, working collaboratively with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Support planning and delivery of the annual Quantified Target Measures as required.
• Provide flexible support across other areas which may include stakeholder engagement (across contract managers and legal) to ensure contracts are up-to-date or support on specific projects to strengthen our effectiveness as we move towards GBR.

You will need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and advising senior internal and external stakeholders on matters relating to the work and will be warmly welcomed into the team. This is an excellent opportunity to grow your knowledge of Train Operators and contract and performance management, while drawing on your project management skills to drive and deliver positive outcomes for rail passengers.

Key Responsibilities

• Take a leading role, working with colleagues, to develop and baseline the target setting and scorecard evaluation programmes. Critically analyse the trade-offs including duration, assurance and resource requirements to achieve the optimal balance in delivering the evaluation process and target setting.
• Work effectively with stakeholders to ensure everyone is clear on their roles and responsibilities and the programmes are on track to meet the contractual deadlines. Answer clarifying questions from stakeholders as required. This may involve contract management of external advisors.
• Monitor programme progress ensuring they deliver outputs in line with aims, with any risks or issues identified and suitably mitigated.
• Work closely with the business planning team to ensure the target setting programme is seamlessly integrated in the wider business planning process. Deliver excellent communication and stakeholder updates, for instance attending informal forums and where necessary providing updates for external parties. Organise contractual meetings and ensure accurate meeting minutes.
• Identify and deliver improvements to the evaluation programme and process, taking onboard stakeholder feedback as appropriate. Promote best practices and lessons learned to support continuous improvement.
• Oversee document storing and management of the Operator Assessment team SharePoint archive in line with relevant data management policies.
• Support the Head of Operator Assessment, Contracts and Systems with management of the cost and budget for external advisors.

Key skills/competency

• Project Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Performance Management
• Contract Management
• Risk Management
• Data Analysis
• Communication
• Process Improvement
• Reporting
• Team Collaboration