Governance and Assurance Manager

Who are we?

South Western Railway (SWR) operates over 1,500 services each weekday across the network and employs more than 5,000 people. We provide easy and convenient mobility, connecting people and communities in South West London, southern counties of England, and the Isle of Wight.

Join our team and help us continue to improve quality of life, by bringing people together to get the most out of life.

SWR is part of FirstGroup, the largest rail operator in the UK and second largest bus operator in the UK outside London. FirstGroup operates services throughout the UK and Ireland, with over 30,000 employees providing services that make travel smoother and life easier. FirstGroup works hard to reduce its impact on the environment, introducing cleaner and more environmentally responsible methods of transport.

About the job

The Governance and Assurance Manager supports the sharing of best practices across our project, project managers and wider business. This is done by providing robust governance and assurance processes to the management of projects to give the best chance of success

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Owns the governance and assurance elements of the SWR Project Management Framework.
• Develop, agree on, and maintain a project audit plan linked to key risk areas to drive measurable improvement in project delivery and share best practices.
• Undertake project assurance reviews to provide periodic independent assurance of project performance and recommendations on both good practices and areas for improvement.
• Own and manage the project risk management process, which enables consistent identification, evaluation and management of risk related to projects within SWR.
• Ensure the consistent application of the risk management process across projects by coaching and supporting PMs.
• Support project managers through the end-to-end project management framework
• Provide expert support, guidance and technical knowledge concerning risk evaluation and management for projects.
• Undertake reviews and analysis of risk to identify trends and produce risk reports, highlighting risks and issues associated with project delivery.
• Provide input to the corporate risk register for the Projects & Change Directorate.
• Own the project change control process and ensure it is consistently applied, including adequately assessing changes (for impact across the business, including risk) and approving them.
• Lead the escalation and resolution of change proposals.

Safety Responsibilities:

• Take responsibility for the safety of yourself, colleagues and anyone else who could be affected by what you do, or don't do;
• Follow the rules and procedures that apply to your role;
• Never walk by an unsafe condition or an unsafe act without either taking action or reporting it to somebody who can take action;

You'll need:

• Experience in Project Management with relevant training.
• Relevant successful experience in project management.
• Ability to develop robust processes based on best practices and lessons learnt.
• Ability to conduct assurance reviews to provide confidence in project delivery.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with an ability to work collaboratively with people across functions and departments, both internal and external.

Applicants who require a visa must have 6 months remaining at the time of their appointment.

About the location

South Western Railways HQ is based on the 4th Floor at South Bank Central, a stone's throw from the River Thames and a 10 minute walk from our busiest station, Waterloo. It is local to many well-known attractions, restaurants and retail facilities and is easily accessible by public transport

Working pattern

On average you will be working 37 hours per week across 5 days, Monday to Friday, office hours.

The Reward

In return we offer a competitive salary and a variety of valuable benefits, including:

• Free duty and leisure travel on SWR services for employees
• Free leisure travel for spouse/partner and dependants (criteria dependent)
• 75% discount on many other train operating companies
• Full training and support with development
• Large range of exclusive retail offers
• Excellent pension scheme

We all belong at SWR. FirstGroup's vision is to provide an inclusive environment for all colleagues, across its group of businesses, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment.

We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA+, ethnicity, religion, and disability. We maintain a zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers, and future talent.

We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive.

We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details.

If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition, for example, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below. We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply.

https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/

https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/

Location: London, GB

Posted Date: 10/5/2024