Lead Legal and Regulatory Advisor

RAIL SAFETY AND STANDARDS BOARD; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 80,000

Job description

Overview

You will provide legal and regulatory advice on rail safety, interoperability and other relevant frameworks to RSSB’s customers and internal stakeholders.

One of RSSB’s functions is to develop railway standards on behalf of the railway industry in Great Britain. Standards are an agreed way of doing something. They support the railway to function as a whole system, help manage risks, open markets, and reduce costs as the industry does not have to keep reinventing the wheel.

The Standards Management, Policy and Strategy team leads three workstreams to support the development of railway standards.

1. The ‘standards management’ workstream looks after and implements the governance arrangements for developing standards and monitors compliance. It also develops, manages and seeks continuous improvement of internal policies, processes and procedures.
2. The ‘standards delivery’ workstream leads on economic assessments and supports the development of business cases to change standards. It also provides technical expertise on regulatory policy to projects and cross-industry committees.
3. The ‘policy and strategy’ workstream sets the strategic direction for the future development of standards. Its expertise in regulatory policy helps influence changes to legislation related to standards. It works closely with industry bodies like the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

In this role you will support the team's standards delivery workstream.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert legal and regulatory advice on rail safety, interoperability and other relevant frameworks to RSSB’s customers and internal stakeholders, including the Standards Directorate and the national research, development and innovation programme.
• Lead end-to-end projects where the technical lead is the Standards Management, Policy and Strategy team.
• Actively engage with stakeholders from across the industry so RSSB’s outputs meet their needs, are of high quality, result in tangible benefits and are accepted by cross-industry groups and committees.
• Prepare and present legal and regulatory concepts to non-technical audiences in a way that engages, informs, and drives decision-making.
• Support the delivery of RSSB’s commercial work programme.
• Support the team in implementing the Rail Standards Strategy and delivering the RSSB’s Business Plan commitments to time, quality and budget.
• Provide direction, advice, and coaching to develop direct reports. Lead the development of competence across the Directorate in the knowledge, understanding, and application of legal and regulatory matters.

Qualifications

Essential:

• A minimum of a 2:1 bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Experience providing legal and regulatory advice and support within the rail industry.
• Experience in writing business cases or impact assessments and options identification and evaluation. Strong analytical skills and the ability to apply them in the context of the railway system.
• Knowledge of, and ability to use the Microsoft Office 365 suite.
• Managing, leadership and coaching skills.
• Committed to proactively seeking opportunities to broaden your skills and experience, including quickly and independently grasping unfamiliar technical areas and being willing to learn from others.
• Able to see the bigger picture and think critically to define a problem before finding suitable solutions.
• Build positive working relationships with colleagues from other disciplines across the business that help everyone achieve goals and business objectives whilst appreciating others’ motives and concerns.
• Effective communication skills to share thoughts and ideas through methods appropriate to the audience, with experience in presenting complex technical subject areas at senior cross-industry groups and committees.
• Adapt and respond effectively when embracing new opportunities, change and in navigating uncertainty.
• Actively contribute as part of a team and work towards achieving team goals and outcomes.
• Take responsibility and demonstrate accountability in completing tasks and achieving objectives, actively seeking to resolve problems and identify opportunities.
• Committed to customer service and placing customer satisfaction at the heart of our success to ensure we deliver against our shared goals.
• Can work collaboratively within an evolving industry, gaining stakeholder confidence through understanding their goals and motivations and demonstrating credibility as an expert.
• Make timely, informed decisions taking account of the benefits and constraints involved.