HSEQ Senior Business Partner - Rail

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The Opportunity

The HSEQ Senior Business Partner - Rail will work closely with Rail leadership, project directors, project managers and technical teams to provide strategic and operational HSEQ support across Arup's UK Rail business, with wider contribution across the EIMEA region.

The role will help strengthen HSEQ performance, support safe and compliant project delivery, and enable consistent application of Arup's management systems across rail projects, bids, assurance activities and client engagements.

This role is UK based, with a primary focus on the UK Rail business and an expectation to support selected rail-related priorities, programmes and assurance activities across EIMEA.

Strategic Direction:

• Strong understanding of the strategic direction of the UK Rail business, key rail clients and wider EIMEA priorities, and how HSEQ strategy can enhance project delivery, client confidence and operational performance.
• Ability to translate HSEQ and firmwide strategic plans into practical actions for Rail leadership, project teams and supported geographies.
• Broad understanding of the operational risk profile of rail projects and programmes, including design safety, project delivery, client assurance, site interface and works near operational railway environments.

External Influence:

• Build external presence and trusted relationships with rail clients, delivery partners, industry bodies and professional networks relevant to Arup's Rail work.
• Collaborate with a professional network within and outside Arup, investing time to understand how rail organisations, infrastructure clients and professional communities' approach HSEQ, assurance and continuous improvement.
• Build client partnerships with key rail clients and partners within the UK and EIMEA region, moving beyond contractual interactions towards industry influence, learning and change.
• Expectation for this role is to develop skills and knowledge across all three disciplines of HSEQ, with particular emphasis on their practical application in rail, infrastructure and high-risk project environments.

Quality Management

• Lead assurance activities across Rail projects, including project reviews, internal audit planning, complex audits, client audit preparation, close-out of findings and analysis of recurring themes across the UK and wider EIMEA Rail portfolio.
• Lead rail teams ahead of and during external audits and client assurance reviews. Review findings, ensure actions are appropriate, tracked and managed to completion, and produce insights and recommended improvements.
• Ensure rail project teams understand quality management system requirements, including individual roles, responsibilities, assurance tasks and client-specific obligations.

Health, Safety and Wellbeing

• Promote a culture of care where health and safety is everyone's responsibility and integrated within everything we do, advising and coaching leadership on role modelling.
• Provide Rail teams with professional health and safety advice for bids, projects, site visits, travel and project delivery interfaces, including works near operational railways and other high-risk environments.
• Promote design safety and designer duty awareness, supporting project teams to integrate Arup's design safety assurance framework, CDM requirements and key safety concepts into rail designs and project decisions.

Environment and Sustainability

• Support Arup in achieving its sustainability goals by promoting the environmental management system and integrating sustainable concepts into Rail business operations, project delivery, processes and local decision-making.
• Validate and assure Rail project environmental outcomes against contractual, client and legal obligations within the UK and, where relevant, across the wider EIMEA region.
• Partner with Rail leaders and project teams to provide environmental compliance advice and assurance, ensuring they understand their obligations as duty holders and project leaders.
• Support Rail leadership and project teams in preparing for local emergencies, project disruption, serious incidents or business continuity events, ensuring plans are maintained and lessons are captured, escalated and embedded into future planning.
• Oversee relevant emergency plans and routine testing of emergency communication systems, such as Everbridge and International SOS, ensuring arrangements are appropriate for office, project and travel-related rail risks.
• Oversee contractor safety management where required, including assessment of contractors' HSEQ policies, risk assessments and project safety arrangements, particularly where Rail project interfaces or client requirements apply.

Rail Health and Safety Activities

• Oversee rail specific H&S activities including fatigue monitoring, Sentinel compliance checks, Sentinel card management and competence reviews.
• Develop, deliver, monitor and manage rail-related H&S training, including coordination of external requirements such as Network Rail and London Underground etc training.
• Support the creation, review and management of rail-specific competencies, including TVP and other business-critical rail competence requirements.
• Lead or support regular rail safety communications, including monthly rail safety briefings, quarterly standards updates and briefings on upcoming rail standard changes.
• Maintain active involvement in relevant rail industry groups and forums, including ISLG, supply chain meetings and wider industry networks, representing Arup where appropriate.
• Plan and support medicals and periodic random drugs and alcohol testing in line with rail requirements and business risk.
• Review regional rail policy, rail procedures and management system requirements, ensuring they remain current, practical and aligned with client, industry and regulatory expectations.
• Provide planned and ad hoc advice, guidance and support to the Rail business on site work, design safety, project delivery, bids and client requirements.
• Lead or support rail-related accident and incident investigations, ensuring learning is captured, communicated and embedded into management system improvements.
• Maintain the competence, experience and professional currency required to advise the Rail business and support effective management of rail H&S risks.
• Support the management and development of the Rail Safety team, ensuring capability, workload and priorities are aligned to business needs.

Is this role right for you?

For this opportunity, we are seeking the following qualifications, skills and attributes:

• A recognised health and safety qualification, such as NEBOSH Diploma, NVQ Level 6 in Occupational Health and Safety, or an equivalent professional qualification.
• Chartered or working towards Chartered Membership of IOSH, or equivalent membership of another relevant professional body.
• Demonstrable and sustained HSEQ experience in rail project environments.
• Formal incident investigation training and demonstrable competence in a recognised methodology, such as TapRooT, Kelvin TOP-SET, etc with experience leading or supporting rail-related incident investigations and embedding lessons learned.
• Experience supporting rail, infrastructure, transport or other high-risk project environments, ideally within consultancy, design, project delivery or client-facing settings.
• Practical knowledge of UK health and safety legislation, CDM Regulations 2015, designer duties, risk assessment, incident investigation, assurance and safe systems of work.
• Rail-related competence or awareness such as PTS, COSS awareness, Sentinel scheme familiarity, or experience working with Network Rail, TfL, HS2 or similar rail clients.
• Knowledge of rail industry frameworks such as RISQS, Railway Group Standards, or client-specific assurance requirements is essential.
• Ability to influence and constructively challenge senior stakeholders, project directors, project managers and technical teams across the UK and wider EIMEA region.
• Experience supporting rail project assurance, bids, client audits, incident learning, safe systems of work, method statements, project safety plans, action close-out and continuous improvement.
• Collaborative, culturally aware and adaptable, with the ability to work effectively with stakeholders across different geographies, regulatory contexts and project environments.

What We Offer you

At Arup, we care about each member's success, so we can grow together. Guided by our values, we provide an attractive total reward package that recognises the contribution of each of our members to our shared success. As well as competitive, fair and equitable pay, we offer a career in which all of our members can belong, grow and thrive - through benefits that support health and wellbeing, a wide range of learning opportunities and many possibilities to have an impact through the work they do.

We are owned in trust on behalf of our members, giving us the freedom, with personal responsibility . click apply for full job details