Partnerships Manager
Location
London - Office based
Job Type
12 Month FTC
Hours
9 – 5 Monday to Friday
Salary
Competitive with excellent benefits
About RSSB
RSSB is an expert body that helps the rail industry collaborate to continuously improve
and meet future challenges. It spans the whole railway, including in its membership
infrastructure companies, train and freight operators, rolling stock owners and suppliers
to the industry. RSSB supports rail in the areas of safety, standards, knowledge,
innovation and a wide range of cross-industry schemes.
The role
This post is part of the R&D Academic Partnerships team and is responsible for
supporting the development of RSSB’s relationships and partnerships in the UK and
international research arenas. By knowledge sharing with others, we will enhance the
ability of RSSB to provide solutions for its members and value for money.
In particular RSSB - on industry’s behalf - is investing a significant amount of effort and
money into building relationships and partnerships between the rail industry and
universities. Engagement with the academic research arena is essential to support the
long-term aims of the Rail Technical Strategy and to provide innovative solutions to the
rail industry.
Partnership building between Britain’s railway industry and universities is done in a
number of ways. The Rail Research UK Association (RRUKA) plays a key role in this space,
together with a number of strategic partnerships RSSB has in place to co-fund academic
research.
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Key responsibilities:
The two main areas that the post holder will work on are:
Rail Research UK Association (RRUK-A)
This is a partnership between industry and academia launched in November 2011 and
there is now the need to further develop the association, its members and putting on
events. The post holder will have a key role in managing the association and its activities
including
 Facilitating the development of content for workshops and seminars and assisting the
secretariat in the management and organisation of the events themselves
 Liaising with industry and academia, helping each get the most out of each other and
promoting the association
Partnerships with research institutions
In order to minimise duplication and get maximum value for money, RSSB is committed
to develop national and international collaboration and knowledge sharing partnerships
with organisations involved in rail research. These will allow RSSB to find out more about
what others are doing, and will help feed into our own solution provision to
stakeholders. The post holder will:
 Facilitate the establishment of new knowledge sharing partnerships with British and
international organisations.
 Manage some of the ongoing knowledge sharing partnerships with the objective to
ensure content is captured in SPARK and exploit the knowledge exchange to the
advantage of RSSB and its members.
Communication skills will be key to the success of the role. You will need excellent
relationship building skills, to develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders at
different levels; good facilitation skills, with the proven ability to determine
stakeholders’ real needs and issues; good creative writing skills, from website and
publicity material to writing event content, which may include describing railway
problems that need solutions. You will be both practical and creative, with the ability to
understand new concepts (including those that may be technical in nature); propose
new opportunities and translate high level ideas into workable actions.
This is an exciting and varied role, with a unique opportunity to help shape some
exciting new activities.
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Requirements
Essential:
 Educated to a degree level or equivalent
 Good influencing and negotiation skills
 Able to work confidently and independently, contribute to team thinking, challenge
others’ thinking and also to take instruction
 Excellent writing skills, from website and publicity material to writing event content,
which may include articulating key industry challenges
 Ability to quickly understand new concepts, including those that may be of a technical
or engineering nature
 Both creative and practical – have the ability to propose new opportunities and
understand the risks, issues and limitations in pursuing them
 Ability to translate high-level policies, strategies or decisions into workable actions
and see them through implementation
 Excellent organisational skills
 Energetic and persistent
 Competent in MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Desirable:
 Experience of working either in academia or with academics
 Experience of event planning and event management
 Knowledge of the railway industry
How to apply
If you’re keen to fulfil your potential in the rail renaissance by joining us at RSSB, then
please email your CV and covering letter to vacancies@rssb.co.uk.
You can find out more about RSSB by visiting our website at www.rssb.co.uk
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