Northern is recruiting a new head of learning, talent and development to lead the charge in all aspects of its recruitment and training programmes.
The successful candidate, who will require extensive knowledge of safety critical roles, will be responsible for the learning and development experience of everyone from the apprentices joining Northern’s industry-leading training academies and other early-career applicants right through to executive appointments.
The train operator has some 7,000 employees based across the North of England, including drivers, conductors, engineers, customer service and support staff.
Lisa Leighton, people director at Northern, said: “This is a massive job for someone passionate about helping people to succeed and achieve their potential.
“We need someone who will help secure and retain the best possible talent – be that straight out of school, college or university; by developing the skills of employees already within the business; or by unashamedly luring established professionals from other industries.
“Northern exists to make a positive impact for the North and it’s our workforce that makes that pledge a reality. They are our most valuable asset.”
In 2022, Northern was officially recognised by Ofsted as a ‘Main Provider’ of apprenticeships, a status that enables them to offer their industry-leading training services to other train operators and rail industry organisations.
As such, the successful candidate will also be responsible for ensuring a high level of governance, compliance and regulatory delivery of the apprenticeship programmes in line with the Ofsted and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) requirements.
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
Photo credit: Northern
