Rail & Major Programmes Architecture Director

Company Description

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There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

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Job Description

The Rail & Major Programmes Architecture Director is a senior technical and project leadership role responsible for fronting major rail design programmes across the UK & Ireland.  
The role provides senior leadership on flagship rail programmes and major pursuits, complex regulatory environments and multi-partner delivery models within live operational stations.

Operating in close collaboration with Market Sector Leadership and Client Account Managers, the role has a primary focus on project leadership, delivery assurance and bid credibility, providing confidence and continuity from early concept and statutory stages through procurement and transition into delivery. 

This role requires a recognised rail architecture expert with a strong industry profile, deep technical competence, and the gravitas to lead major pursuits and represent AECOM credibly at executive client and stakeholder  level. We would expect the right candidate to have active contacts with key decision makers at Network Rail, Transport for London, TfGM, and other transport authorities to help build our expanding rail business. 

The overall aim for this position is to ensure AECOM is recognised and enhanced reputationally 
as a high-quality design partner in the rail industry, and is firmly in the minds of key decision makers as a consultancy to engage with at all stages of significant projects.

The successful candidate will:

• Engage with and further develop our current mid to long term development strategy 
• prepared by our current multi-disciplinary team of experts 
• Work collaboratively with our existing team of senior personnel to build our expanding 
• rail business 
• Critically assess our current operational model and consider how it can be improved 
• and evolved to support business development and expanding market share 
• Tangibly increase in the near and mid-term the number of commissions we have and 
• expand our multi-disciplinary scope of services as part of those projects 
• Expand our business with high quality and committed personnel added to our team 
• based on a sustainable revenue uplift from new commissioned projects 
• Position AECOM to successfully capture key design frameworks for the rail business (for example, the GLA Architecture + Urbanism Framework)  

Key Responsibilities - Project Leadership & Delivery 

• Lead the multi-disciplinary delivery of large-scale rail programmes, including stations, depots, and ancillary assets such as headhouses and OCS systems within live operational rail environments, ensuring quality, safety, innovation, and client satisfaction.
• Oversee multidisciplinary coordination across architecture, rail systems, civils, structures, MEP, fire, security, digital, and specialist transportation systems. 
• Serve as Design Lead / Project Director on complex rail projects or wider rail development programmes. 
• Ensure compliance with rail regulations, including rail station planning principles, passenger flow strategies, security requirements, and operational and commercial constraints.  
• Manage risk, project governance, technical reviews, and quality processes. 

Client & Stakeholder Engagement 

• Act as the primary senior interface with rail authorities, operators, concessionaires, developers, contractors, and regulatory bodies. 
• Influence early-stage strategy, rail station concepts, optioneering, and masterplanning decisions. 
• Represent AECOM in workshops, steering groups, executive reviews, and project governance forums. 
• Build long-term relationships that drive repeat work and client trust. 

Business Development & Bids 

• Act as the accountable multi-disciplinary design lead and a visible differentiator on major rail pursuits, adding sector credibility and technical authority. 
• Shape winning strategies for Major Pursuits, ECI bids, frameworks, and design competitions, and long-term rail programmes and partnerships. 
• Collaborate with our Work Winning team to develop proposals, presentations, and client engagement plans. 
• Identify new business opportunities across UK and international rail networks, emerging rail technologies, and major rail redevelopment and expansion programmes. 

Technical Leadership 

• Lead and mentor teams on stations planning, wayfinding, passenger experience, flows, resilience, security and operational readiness. 
• Operate effectively within highly regulated environments, including DCO processes, operational change, security compliance and safety-critical interfaces. 
• Drive innovation in digital delivery, including BIM, computational design, digital twins, and simulation. 
• Champion sustainability, low-carbon solutions, and AECOM’s ESG commitments within Rail environments. 
• Provide specialist guidance on station planning, constructability, logistics, forecourts  and multi-modal access 

Team & Practice Development 

• Work closely and collaboratively with our existing senior multi-disciplinary B+P Design team 
• Mentor the next generation of rail architects, engineers, and project leaders with a focus on high-quality design, project delivery, major bids and client-facing capability. 
• Support recruitment, succession planning, and capability development within the B+P multi-disciplinary design practice. 
• Help shape AECOM’s UK and Global rail strategy in collaboration with business line leadership. 

Qualifications

• Qualified Architect (ARB / RIBA) or equivalent.
• Industry-recognised leader in rail architecture and complex rail environments, with a portfolio of major rail developments.
• Experience delivering large-scale projects (£200m+) with multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven project leadership experience in high-pressure, complex environments.
• Credibility to act as Design Lead or Project Director on flagship aviation programmes.
• Demonstrated success in bids, client leadership, and market-facing roles.
• Strong understanding of rail Architecture, and complex rail environments.
• Proficiency with BIM-based workflows; familiarity with computational/digital tools.

Additional Information

Preferred Experience

• Leader of major UK stations and design programmes
• Experience interfacing with contractors under DfMA, ECI, and Design &Build environments
• Understanding of global rail trends

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

 

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address ReasonableAccommodationsUKI@aecom.com  if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.