Rail systems careers

“I have worked as a health and safety practitioner for some 20 plus year working on some of the most prestigious mega engineering projects. Having joined HS2 in June 2023, it is by far the most iconic and amazing engineering project and without a doubt a great place to work, develop and grow as a health and safety practitioner.

“As the HS2 project gets ready to move into a new and exciting phase, we have some exciting opportunities to join the Rail Systems HSS team. Working within a supportive and dynamic team, I can guarantee that you will have the opportunity, to not only grow your skill set, but also leave a lasting positive legacy in raising industry health and safety standards.

“If joining the most iconic and amazing engineering project interests you, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be delighted to talk to you!”

“Working at HS2 gives me the opportunity to lead and raise industry health and safety performance in the delivery of the largest UK railway systems programme in modern history. There are new challenges to address at each stage of the delivery of the railway, new exposures and a responsibility to make a real difference.

“HS2 consists of employees having a range of backgrounds, industries and experiences, who are dedicated to delivering something exceptional. I’m proud and motivated to be part of this diverse and talented team.

“I have had a number of Head of HSS roles with HS2 over the last 8 + years; supporting HS2 select committee parliamentary process, route optioneering and stakeholder engagement, delivery of early works for the entire Phase 1 route and working with other clients, such as Network Rail and Utility providers to undertake works on existing infrastructure to pave the way for HS2. I now lead the strategic direction and engagement of Systems Delivery, the next chapter in the delivery of HS2 directly leading to railway operations. Prior to this, I worked in local government and higher education, always with a drive to challenge the norm and make a difference.”

“This is a hugely exciting project to be working on and from a health and safety perspective the challenge certainly puts all your skills as a health and safety professional to the test.

“I am currently working in the Rail Systems Shadow Alliance within the Systems Directorate and we are getting ready for welcoming the diverse range of contractors who will be involved in designing, installing and testing the rail systems that will drive the whole project. There are some massive challenges in terms of complexity but HS2 are using an Alliance model to help harness the best ideas and innovation the industry has to offer, to get all parties incentivised to work together collaboratively to achieve Best for Project outcomes.

“I have worked on other areas of HS2 for over 3 years now including Utilities, Logistics, Phase 1 Enabling works and Phase 2a. I have gained so much valuable experience in the time I have worked here, I honestly think it would have taken me decades to gain the same level of experience on an “ordinary” project, HS2 is definitely anything but ordinary!”

“I currently support the HS2 Stations safety team and work closely with my colleagues on Rail Systems and Main Works Civils developing positive relationships with our contractor partners and seeking to drive standards together to make HS2 the safest mega-project ever. As a team we all have individual strengths and experiences that we share to the benefit of the whole team. We need a range of people with a diverse set of skills and ideas to meet the many challenges of health, safety & wellbeing on the HS2 Project. You might be wondering if you are the right person for the role so if you’re looking for a new challenge with the opportunity to shape how things are done not just on this Project but influencing the wider industry, then HS2 is the place to be.”

“Designing a whole, brand new railway? Who wouldn’t be excited by that? It’s a hugely exciting, hugely challenging project. Always has been and always will be.

“To start with I was very much focused on the trains and ensuring that the railway was designed around credible train solutions. It was lots of market engagement, talking to potential train suppliers and getting a firm understanding of the capability of what was out there.

“Everything from how many people can fit on trains, how fast can they travel, how noisy are they, how do they impact the infrastructure, energy consumption. All of that fed into a whole lifecycle cost analysis and formed a major part of the business case.

“And that evolved over time to leading the engineering of the infrastructure systems and making sure we’re integrating across the railway to solve both novel and technically challenging issues from the different systems.”

“I came onboard in February 2022 after a stint at East West Rail. I was Head of Signalling and Systems for Alstom and worked for Network Rail and British Rail before that. I’ve been in the industry since 1990!

“Here? I’ve never, I could never get bored. Every day there’s something new and even with three decades of working in railways under my belt my knowledge is being stretched again. I’m learning so much and that’s so rewarding and important to me. It’s all about that reward that HS2 gives me and the phenomenal support I received from Carine, my line manager.”

“I joined HS2 in Summer 2021. Previously I was a Systems Integration Engineer for Crossrail and before that I worked with Siemens as an ETCS/ATO Engineer. I’ve helped to deliver the latest in signalling systems and technology, and I plan to use this experience in delivering the complex Control, Command and Signalling systems for HS2.

“I’m part of a project that is solving real life problems. Delivering the Control, Command and Signalling systems for HS2 ensures that the safety and performance requirements of the railway can be achieved through efficient modern solutions.

“HS2 is about freeing up capacity on the rest of the network to enable more passenger or freight services to run. That’s why I’m here.”

“I work with incredible capable people. I’ve been working directly for HS2 since November 2021 but I was effectively doing the same job before that on a consultancy basis. I had the same team but the big difference is I’m working for the company that’s actually delivering, moving into and managing the necessary requirements.

“Our team now manages contractors involved with Security Engineering and Security System Engineering. My role incorporates Project Management, Technical Engineering, and Commercial input.”

“I started working here in December 2018. I’ve worked in railways for pretty much my whole career starting off on the graduate trainee scheme with Network Rail as an Electrical Engineer.

“From there my passion grew and I moved on to work on the Westcoast Mainline for a bit and then into delivering DC lines and electrification for the Southern Region. That was all high-level upgrading power systems and electrification to enable the support of all their new trains at the time.

“I then started working in London and haven’t really stopped. I was involved with pretty much every major rail project over the last 15 years from HS1 to the Jubilee and Northern Line traction power capacity upgrades to CrossRail. I was actually at CrossRail when they went out to tender so a very similar stage to where we’re at now with HS2.

“Here I look after the teams that are developing the power systems. I’ve learnt so much from Operations and Maintenance teams on previous projects that have really helped with the delivery of this project. That’s what appealed to me really, starting this off correctly so that we have the ability to influence where this goes and that we can get what we need to over the line.”

“I joined right before the Covid pandemic which was interesting. I’m a Track Engineer – in the 30 years I’ve been working I’ve never ever, ever worked from home. I’ve worked across most of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia on French infrastructure projects and also high-speed rail projects in China. Those are big, I think we laid around 1500km of track for that one!

“I’m Romanian, but grew up here, it’s home to me. So when I saw the opportunity to finally be a part of building a high-speed railway project in my own country, the UK, I thought ‘Wow, I can’t turn this down’. And I didn’t. I’m not afraid of challenges and everything we’re doing here is about building up a team that’s confident and can deliver this huge, huge project.”

“This is my 40th year in the rail industry but I only started working at HS2 in October 2021. I’ve been around since the British Rail days; before privatisation and things like that. And aside from a couple of tempting opportunities as a sound engineer (a true passion of mine) I’ve spent my whole life associated with the railways.

“My Brother works in railways; my father did the same, and his father did too. Even my wife’s father worked fixing railway bridges during WWII – he’d be off one day and wouldn’t come back for a week sometimes, not until the job was completed.

“I’ve done pretty much everything you can when it comes to the railways but I’m currently more broadly leading a team of Project Engineers which can involve all sorts of things. That’s the thing I enjoy most about working here. It’s the scale of it. It’s like an engineering toy box – full of wonders, I can’t even explain it!

“I worked in Australia for 25 years prior to this so when I saw the opportunity at HS2 I jumped on it.”