Customer Handling Readiness Manager

Posted 21 November 2025

Salary competitive

LocationBirmingham

Job type Fixed Term - Full Time

Reference036893

Job FunctionHeadquarters

Champion Customer Confidence During Rail Transformation: Drive readiness, deliver clarity, and make every journey matter.

Are you ready to play a pivotal role in one of the UK's most ambitious rail modernisation programmes? This is your chance to lead from the front, ensuring every customer feels supported, informed, and valued during periods of planned disruption. If you're passionate about making complex projects feel seamless for customers, we want you on our team.

We're looking for a Customer Handling Readiness Manager to deliver bold, customer-focused readiness plans for major engineering works. Acting as the customer champion for the West Coast North Modernisation Programme (WCNMP), you'll represent Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, and Northern, ensuring customers remain confident and cared for throughout planned disruption.

This role is all about making a difference - coordinating resources, aligning teams, and ensuring clear communication so journeys stay as smooth as possible.

In this role you will:

• Lead Customer Readiness: Drive readiness plans for major engineering works, ensuring collaboration across multiple train operators.
• Plan & Coordinate: Define customer requirements, manage staffing plans, and align resources before, during, and after blockades.
• Deliver Exceptional Service: Work with local management and trade unions to create effective customer propositions at stations and onboard.
• Communicate & Engage: Partner with communications teams to deliver timely, accurate messaging and keep customers informed throughout disruption.
• Monitor & Improve: Track progress, maintain readiness plans, and implement lessons learned for continuous improvement.

Who we are looking for:

• Customer Champion: Experienced in leading customer-facing teams and putting customers at the heart of everything you do.
• Project Readiness Expert: Skilled in readiness principles and confident in delivering complex projects with precision and care.
• Relationship Builder: Adept at aligning diverse perspectives and building strong partnerships to achieve shared goals.
• Organised Communicator: Able to design and manage project plans, track actions, and communicate clearly and effectively, both in writing and verbally.
• Continuous Learner: Ideally holds a project management qualification (e.g., PRINCE2, Six Sigma, APM) or keen to develop further.

This position is offered on a fixed-term basis, with the possibility of becoming permanent.

Please see the attached role profile for detailed information about this role.

Benefits include:

• Final salary pension
• Free travel on Avanti West Coast for you/spouse/partner/dependents
• Privilege Travel card (75% off other train operators fares for leisure travel)
• 30 days holiday rising by 1 for every completed year of service to a maximum of 37 days (inclusive of bank holidays)
• 10 free journeys on other First Group Train Operators

Ready to make a real impact? If you're passionate about delivering exceptional customer experiences and want to play a key role in one of the UK's most ambitious rail modernisation programmes, apply today and help us keep customers moving with confidence, even during times of change.

Be You. With Us.

At Avanti West Coast, we believe our strength comes from the unique perspectives, experiences and backgrounds of our people. We are proud to build a workplace where diversity is embraced, and everyone is supported to thrive.

We welcome individuals of all races, religions, ages, genders, gender identities, sexual orientations and abilities. Our goal is to reflect the communities we serve and create an environment where everyone feels valued and heard.

When you join Avanti West Coast, you become part of a close-knit team that encourages authenticity. We want you to bring your whole self to work. No need to change who you are to fit in. Your individuality is what makes us better.

We celebrate it, we respect it and we put it to great use.