Lead Overhead Catenary System Engineer - High Speed

Lead Overhead Catenary System Engineer, High Speed Rail

Our client is recruiting a Lead OCS Engineer to take technical ownership of the overhead catenary system on one of the most complex railway infrastructure programmes ever delivered in the UK. The standards that govern high-speed rail are not the same as those applied on the conventional network, and the person they are looking for will understand that distinction from direct experience. Your day-to-day purpose is to lead the technical assurance of the OCS design, provide professional leadership across the discipline, and make sure that what the contractor specifies and installs genuinely meets the programme's requirements. This is a client-side role. You will be the technical authority for OCS Engineering on the programme, setting the standards that the contractor works to, assuring the design against those standards, and working through issues where the two do not align. You will provide technical advice across the wider programme and to external stakeholders, coordinate with colleagues in other engineering disciplines to ensure that OCS does not sit in isolation, and contribute to governance processes including peer reviews and stage gate assurance. You will also develop best practice and look for opportunities to drive consistency and efficiency across delivery, drawing on engineering innovation where it adds genuine value.

The role sits at the intersection of several complex engineering interfaces. Prior to contract award, the team acts as system specifier and carries responsibility for railway systems integration as civil design progresses. That responsibility does not go away after contract award: your team retains accountability for successful integration throughout. The programme environment is fast-moving and the demands on it change, so the ability to stay focused and effective in a shifting landscape matters as much as technical depth.

The role can be based in London, or Birmingham

What you need to bring Your background is in overhead catenary or overhead line engineering on programmes of genuine scale and complexity, and that background must include high-speed rail. Experience gained only on the conventional UK network is likely not sufficient for this role in isolation. Our client needs someone who understands how high-speed standards differ from Network Rail standards, and who has applied those differences in practice, most likely through experience on comparable programmes in other countries or across international systems.

Interoperability is central to the work. You will need to understand OCS and OLE in the context of the wider railway system, not as a self-contained discipline. That means a working knowledge of interoperability standards and how they sit alongside national technical specifications and applicable legislation. You will have led engineering on large, multi-disciplinary infrastructure programmes, managing competing technical and commercial demands where cost and schedule are live pressures. Experience of the Common Safety Method for risk evaluation and assessment, and familiarity with UK construction regulations including CDM, are expected. You will be able to communicate clearly with contractors, colleagues and senior stakeholders, and you will have the confidence to hold a technical position under scrutiny. Useful to have

Experience on programmes of comparable scale and ambition to HS2, particularly where you have worked across the full lifecycle from requirements and design through to construction assurance. A background that spans more than one railway system or national context, giving you the breadth to apply standards critically rather than by rote. Experience of value engineering and whole-life cost thinking on major infrastructure programmes.

If this looks right for you, please send your CV across and we will be in touch