Principal Maintenance Technician

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Key Information

Job title: Principal Maintenance Technician
Salary:  £48, 616 - £54,000
Band: 3b
Contract type: Permanent
Reference: 4082
Location:  Plumsted Depot

Application closing date: 26/04/2026 at 23:59pm 

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right‑to‑work checks.  Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK.  At the present time TfL is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.   

Overview of project/role 

The Principal Maintenance Technician Crossrail is responsible for coordination and delivery of safety of line inspections, asset monitoring, maintenance, like for like renewal and enhancements works including asset fault response, infrastructure inspection, asset data management, safe delivery of reliability centred maintenance and approval of contracted works. Initially, this role will assist the DIME and IMDS ensuring that the new Crossrail railway can be brought into service and be maintained safely, efficiently and effectively delivering defined Crossrail performance requirements. Upon introduction of Crossrail into operation, the Principal Tech will assist the DIME and IMDS in their responsibilities for the safety critical deployment and tactical direction of the maintenance teams with technical decision authority and execution of maintenance engineering stewardship plans, directly managing cross functional teams. Accountable for approving Senior Maintenance Technicians and associated team works as the responsible lead for decision making in accordance with relevant Principal Maintenance Technician technical and leadership competence. This is a generic job description and is supplemented by a more specific role addendum (see additional information)

Key Accountabilities  

1. Overall responsibility for delivery and execution of Infrastructure maintenance works, renewals works and supervision of contracted services. This includes completion of infrastructure inspections, self assurance checks and quality checks.
2. Influencing and supporting the IMDS and DIME in delivering a 5 year asset investment budget. Establish and lead the fault response teams and the delivery of maintenance tasks as defined by the IME's, complying with defined Crossrail standards, processes, procedures and performance to be delivered. The level of intervention includes leading the defect rectification teams and opening the railway to safe operation following maintenance and renewals works completion.
3. Deliver maintenance deployment planning with operations colleagues, ensuring that the operational requirements align with the maintenance engineering asset management requirements and deliver a compliant, safe, operable and maintainable railway including the undertaking of on-call duties.
4. Perform validation plans to ensure that Crossrail Ltd fully address the specification, planning, execution and quality of the maintenance engineering and safety management requirements. This is part of the asset management strategy and plan to deliver the required asset whole life, Reliability Availability Maintainability (RAM) and Remote Condition monitoring
5. Ensure Infrastructure and Asset maintenance standards are met by applying established policies and procedures to ensure safety and functional limits are included in the design and construction phase.
6. Continuous improvement through a delivery of change initiatives; specifically using Reliability Based Maintenance as part of the "Predict and Prevent" asset stewardship strategy.
7. Manage directly Senior technicians and associated team. Deliver the IMDS recruitment, competence and training strategies.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience  

Skills

• Team leader experience with leadership skills to motivate professionals from multiple disciplines.
• Excellent communication skills with proven negotiation and influencing skills explicitly with external contractors
• Excellent decision-making and analytical skills
• Established risk management skills.
• Ability to formulate and articulate clear visions for the planning and delivery of initiatives and programmes

Knowledge

• HND or equivalent qualification
• Member or Associate of a relevant professional institution (such as ICE, IstuctE, ImechE / IEE / IRSE)
• Demonstrable understanding of the business structure of and agencies associated with the Rail Industry
• Demonstrable application of railway safety-related standards regime and processes
• Knowledge of Network Rail Safety standards

Experience

• Experience in the rail or other infrastructure and asset critical industries
• Experience in the management of infrastructure stewardship and maintenance
• Experience of successfully managing a range of maintainers
• Experience of producing and delivering maintenance engineering stewardship strategies.
• Experience of working alongside other engineering functions.

Application Process   

• Please apply using your CV and a two-page covering letter
• Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter 

• PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images 

Equality, diversity and inclusion 

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair. 

Benefits  
In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow.  Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:
 
Final salary pension scheme 
Free travel for you on the TfL network 
Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home or 75% reimbursement on a 28-day flexi ticket
30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays 
TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional) 
Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
Retail, health, leisure and travel offers 
Discounted Eurostar travel
 

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.