Principal Consultant

On behalf of Network Rail, we are looking for a Principal Consultant - (INSIDE IR35) for a 12 months contract working on a hybrid basis and with an expectation of 3 days attendance in the Waterloo, London or Milton Keynes office. Travel will be required for this role and rail tickets will be provided This role within Network Rail is part of team at the heart of the creation of Great British Railways. Great British Railways (GBR) will be a new publicly owned company that will unite responsibility for providing safe and reliable passenger services with efficiently managing and optimising infrastructure as a critical UK asset. GBR will provide a service that touches millions of lives daily. It will be charged with improving train performance, growing revenue, unlocking new house-building opportunities, and increasing the use of rail freight. GBR will bring together track and train to deliver a railway that is Reliable Affordable, Efficient, High quality, Accessible and Safe. At its heart, GBR is about transforming the passenger experience – making every journey seamless, safe, and satisfying. About GBR  Great British Railways (GBR) will be a new publicly owned company that will unite responsibility for providing safe and reliable passenger services with efficiently managing and optimising infrastructure as a critical UK asset. GBR will provide a service that touches millions of lives daily. It will be charged with improving train performance, growing revenue, unlocking new house-building opportunities, and increasing the use of rail freight. GBR will bring together track and train to deliver a railway that is Reliable Affordable, Efficient, High quality, Accessible and Safe. At its heart, GBR is about transforming the passenger experience – making every journey seamless, safe, and satisfying. The Role  As part of the journey to GBR, we face the have the once generation opportunity to equip leaders across the railway system with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that will be needed for the future We need a high-quality Principal Consultant who can turn design concepts into polished, delivery-ready materials —especially simulation packs and facilitator/participant assets. This role is perfect for someone who loves building the “real thing”: decks, workbooks, templates, scenario artefacts, and materials that make learning experiences run smoothly in the room. The role is to produce high-quality learning assets and simulation materials at pace to support the mobilisation and piloting of the Academy’s immersive learning days and turn into a scalable proposition for delivery to ~1600 senior rail leaders. We’re building the leadership required to lead a once in a generation change in how the railway operates. The GBR Leadership Academy needs a senior, board credible learning innovation leader to mobilise the design of immersive, practical leadership learning rooted in the realities of the future railway. You’ll work directly with senior executives to gather insight, test hypotheses, and shape a compelling learning architecture — then lead rapid design sprints to produce pilot-ready To lead the mobilisation of the GBR Leadership Academy design phase by shaping learning architecture, running stakeholder insight activity, validating hypotheses, and producing immersive, future railway learning designs. Person Profile  A board credible learning innovation leader who can uncover real leadership challenges, test hypotheses fast, and design immersive, practical learning for the future railway. Experience & Background:  Extensive Leadership Experience: In consulting and learning strategy, including Director-level roles at major UK consultancy for 6+ years, leading government and infrastructure learning consulting and capability development practices. Proven Track Record in Change Management:  Successfully delivered major transformative change and communications programs across a range of public and private sector areas, driving knowledge-sharing culture and large-scale transformation initiatives. Deep Expertise in Learning & Development:  Recognised thought leader in leadership capability development and skills strategy, with published work. Specialist in Communication of Change:  Skilled in designing and executing change. Proven track record designing immersive learning (simulations, scenarios, system leadership interventions). Comfortable synthesising insight from exec interviews and shaping strategic learning architecture. Skills & Strengths:  Systems thinking and strategic insight. Hypothesis led design. Executive facilitation and discovery. Learning architecture design and narrative creation. Ability to design future facing immersive experiences As a Principal Consultant - (INSIDE IR35), your main responsibilities will be: Lead senior level discovery, interviews, analysis and synthesis. Define learning architecture aligned with GBR culture pillars. Lead design sprints: prototype, test, iterate. Create immersive simulations based around the future railway, embedding the behaviours, leadership and decision-making needed. Produce pilot ready learning packages whilst establishing design standards and QA. Present design direction to Programme Directors and Board level governance. Deliverables: Executive insight report. Curriculum blueprint. Prototype + pilot ready System Leadership Programme Design standards and templates and governance.