Role: Regional Growth Manager Contract Type: Permanent Location: Flexible – London, Banbury, Leamington, Birmingham - – you should be comfortable working in a Chiltern location 3 days a week. Salary: Up to £60,000 per annum Job Purpose: * To lead on developing excellent stakeholder relationships which will deliver the expansion of the Chiltern railways network across the East-West Rail CS1 geography. * To lead day-to-day engagement and build strategic relationships. The post holder will facilitate partnerships between the private and public sectors, seek third party funding which will deliver rail enhancements such as greater rail capacity, accessibility and integration as well as improvements to the passenger experience and safety. * Identify opportunities and funding streams then work to secure third party investment to support Chiltern’s modernisation and growth agenda. * Deliver Chiltern’s Stakeholder strategy, developing and enhancing external relationships with political, rail industry, business, tourism and community organisations. * Strategically communicate Chiltern’s business objectives and modernisation plans to stakeholders, seeking to build political and community support for investment in the organisation. Key Accountabilities: The post holder’s key accountabilities are: * To lead our stakeholder relationships related to the expansion of the Chiltern Railways network to cover services between Oxford and Milton Keynes. To ensure the successful launch of the new rail services by facilitating excellent collaboration between the relevant organisations. * To collaborate with Arriva Trains UK and external partners to deliver strategic priorities for Chiltern Railways. Examples include making the case to the Department for Transport for fleet renewal on the Chiltern network. * To actively seek out leads and opportunities for leveraging in third party funding from outside bodies including private businesses to help improve amenities and passenger services. * Manage external project working groups which will include devolved bodies and local authorities and be responsible for driving forward specific projects. * To manage and enhance Chiltern’s relationship with political partners including route Members of Parliament, regional transport authorities and local Councillors on the route. Support the senior leadership team by organising an annual programme of stakeholder engagement events. * Work closely with other teams; for example, property and HSSE and provide the media team with regular news content for positive publicity. * To draft responses and presentations on behalf of the Managing Director and other senior leaders. Examples include MP letters, responses to Transport Watchdogs and preparing content for speaking briefs. * Develop, improve and maintain the stakeholder database. * To be a member of the commercial on call team. * Any other managerial requests. Person Specification: * Strong professional communications experience. * Experience of working within the rail industry or major projects environment. * Building and managing relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders. * Strong analytical skills with the ability to make rational decisions based on consideration of the full range of contributing factors. * Ability and experience of influencing at a senior level, individually and through others. * Demonstrable negotiation and persuasive skills to ensure the right decisions are made. * Strong people management skills with the ability to engage and manage stakeholders. * Experience in driving innovation and change. * Experience and confidence in dealing with high levels of uncertainty and ambiguity in a constantly changing and challenging environment. * Experience in building relationships with community organisations. * Demonstrable negotiation and persuasive skills to ensure the right decisions are made. * Excellent presentation skills and experience of public speaking