Senior Rail Policy Manager

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity where you will be at the forefront of work to address the global climate emergency and the transition to a net zero Scotland?

Tackling the climate emergency and growing the economy are two of the First Minister’s top four priorities for delivery and the Rail Directorate plays a key role in both of these. Rail Directorate is part of Transport Scotland within DG Net Zero.  

The main objective of this role is to lead on all rail freight policy matters to support the delivery of rail objectives, the outcomes of the National Transport Strategy and the Scottish Government’s climate change plan which all have a key focus on the reduction of transport emissions.  Responsibilities

• Working collaboratively with teams across the rail directorate and more widely to lead on all rail freight policy development ensuring policy alignment with broader policies and strategies that cover a wide range of activities across the transport portfolio.
• Lead for rail directorate on rail freight specific projects including third party projects as well as rail infrastructure projects in the wider portfolio which have benefits for rail freight including rail decarbonisation.
• Lead for rail directorate attending industry meetings, including boards, workshops and other fora improving the reputation and credibility of Transport Scotland and driving positive outcomes for rail freight.
• Engage with external experts and key stakeholders including businesses to build understanding of issues related to freight modal shift drawing out key issues, risks and opportunities.
• Take ownership of the rail freight core brief, ensuring it reflects updated positions, seeking clearance when appropriate.
• Drafting speeches and supporting Ministerial engagements on all matters relating to rail freight.
• Lead on supporting the correspondence team with drafts of all relevant PQs, correspondence, and FOISA requests relating to rail freight to agreed timescales.
• Coordinate with broader rail directorate team members and industry stakeholders to support the efficient management and delivery of railway services.

Success ProfileSuccess profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on. Technical/Professional

1. Policy Context and Purpose - Level 2 - Practitioner
2. Working with Ministers – Level 2 - Practitioner

You can find out more about the skills required, here.

Experience

• Experience in developing policy and working with stakeholders.

Behaviours:

•  Seeing the Big Picture - Level 3
• Communications & influencing - Level 3
• Making effective decisions - Level 3 

You can find out more about Success Profiles here: Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot
 How to apply Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.   

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation. Assessments are scheduled for w/c 24 November 2025,  however this may be subject to change.

About Us

Transport Scotland is the national transport agency, seeking to deliver a safe, efficient, cost-effective and sustainable transport system for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Transport Scotland is accountable to Parliament and the public through Scottish Ministers, with a budget of over £4 billion per year. Transport is a vital feature of the Scottish Government's focus on increasing sustainable economic growth, and transport investments and policies have major impacts on the economy, people, and the en