JOB PROFILE
DEPARTMENT:
Operations
JOB TITLE:
Project Officer
LAST UPDATED: April 2015
1.
MAIN PURPOSE OF JOB
 To develop and coordinate the implementation of the project to reduce suicides on
the railways across Samaritans branch networks, Network Rail, TOCs, BTP and any
other stakeholders as necessary
 To develop and support fatality mitigation plans and documents used by Network
Rail, TOCs and Samaritans branches
 To lead and develop the outreach work stream of programme activity
 To cover an on call duty 1week in 5 and co-ordinate the 24/7 pre and post incident
support requests in the event of an incident on the railway.
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POSITION IN ORGANISATION
Reports into: Project Manager
Liaises with: All General Office departments
Liaises with volunteers at all levels, Directors, Deputies, Network Rail branch Coordinators and Regional Officers as required
Liaises with Network Rail Route Reps, senior managers, ops managers and staff as
required
Liaises with Train Operating Company staff including HR departments, Learning &
Development, Head of Ops, MDs, Safety Business Partners, Commercial
Directors and other staff as required
Liaises with BTP including crime reduction teams, Public Protection Unit and other staff
as required
SCOPE OF JOB
Project Implementation and development across nominated geographical routes
Provision of administrative support to Network Rail programme team
Communication – internal and external
Promoting Samaritans’ work amongst key external audiences
General duties of a Samaritans’ staff member
4. DIMENSIONS AND LIMITS OF AUTHORITY
 Supports the Programme and Project Manager with all major initiatives
 Provides operational coordination of the programme of work to reduce suicides on the
railways across UK, working autonomously
 Supports regional and branch volunteers to plan and implement physical mitigations,
signage and outreach locally
 Visits and support branches in securing the involvement of partner organisations locally
 Liaises with partner organisations to ensure smooth local delivery of project
 Meets cross-team objectives and ensures information about the project development is
disseminated
This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It
should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.
 Monitors and reports on the phases of the project
 Support the Project Manager in preparing status reports and information bulletins
 Develops materials and fatality mitigations for use by branches, Network Rail, BTP and
Train Operators
 Leads and manage an independent work stream of the project nationally (Comms,
Training, Outreach).
5.
QUALIFICATIONS
 Degree level qualification is essential.
6.
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
Essential
 Demonstrable experience of project management
 A positive attitude to change and demonstrable ability to problem solve in a creative and
positive way
 Good IT skills, specifically competent use of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
 Experience of facilitating meetings and preparing papers to a high standard
 Excellent organisational and time management skills. Ability to prioritise tasks and
competing timeframes
 Ability to quickly understand and demonstrate a high level of specialism with regards to
the railway industry and suicides which occur in this setting
 Communicating complex information clearly and accurately both verbally and in writing
 Reporting accurately in presentations and reports for external stakeholders and internal
audiences
 Able to influence multiple stakeholders and overcome resistance to change through a
problem solving approach
 Able to lead and facilitate meetings.
Desirable
 Understanding of railway industry would be beneficial
 Experience of using MS Project would be an advantage
 Experience of developing services/guidance/action plans would be an advantage
 Experience of working with volunteers would be an advantage
 An understanding of Samaritans organisation is desirable
 A high level of appreciation of the sensitivities surrounding the project and how it affects
key stakeholders.
7.
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES
 Emotionally intelligent
 Excellent interpersonal skills, specifically the ability to communicate influence and
persuade other staff members, volunteers and external agencies
 Enthusiastic about working with stakeholders
 Adaptable and able to view change positively
 Collaborative, flexible and resilient
 Customer focused with a desire to continuously improve the quality and relevance of
their work
 Able to achieve change by positively influencing others
 Demonstrated ability to build and develop positive relationships
 Able to act as an ambassador for the project both internally and externally
 Able to schedule work effectively and meet deadlines. Excellent personal organisational
skills.
This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It
should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.
DUTIES & KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Development & Implementation
 Co-ordinate the operational aspects of the project to reduce suicide on the railways
 Work with volunteers to set up local action plans, deliver and report against these
 Support volunteers at all levels to coordinate regional and branch service delivery on the
programme of work
 Lead and manage the project to internal and external stakeholders within the specified
route/geographical area
 Work with other staff teams to develop training and resources for volunteers
 Organise programme events for volunteers
 Plan own project work and contribute to the planning of the overall programme
 Support the process to evaluate and report on the project internally and externally,
including funders.
 Work with internal communications team to develop high quality resources to support the
programme of work.
 Be on call 24/7 one week in five and co-ordinate appropriate responses between
branches and stakeholders for the provision of pre and post incident situations.
Provision of administrative support to Network Rail programme team
 Provide administrative support to the Network Rail programme team when required
 Manage process of responding to external requests for information.
Communication (Internal and external)
 Answer external and internal enquiries about the programme of work
 Liaise with partner organisations to develop information and guidance
 Update volunteers and staff on project development, including online information
 Promote the current project and other developmental projects internally and externally
 Write/provide presentations about the project for external teams and conferences.
Promoting Samaritans’ work amongst key external audiences
 To build relationships with other local and national organisations in the UK and Ireland
which raise awareness of Samaritans’ work and to identify and develop partnership
opportunities that will benefit the project
 To represent Samaritans at key meetings and groups as required
 To ensure appropriate external communications relating to Samaritans’ development
work including writing articles for external publications, website updates.
General Duties of a Samaritans’ Staff Member
 Contribute to the effective and efficient running of the General Office as appropriate
 Participate, as appropriate, in Staff forums and meetings
 Adhere to Samaritans’ Polices and Procedures that are in effect from time to time
 Represent the General Office appropriately across the movement and Samaritans to the
wider community as appropriate
 Treat all colleagues, volunteers and members of the public with dignity and work within
and adhere to Samaritans’ equal opportunities statement and polices.
Special circumstances
 Ability to work some evenings and weekends
 Extensive travel across the UK
 Need to be emotionally intelligent and emotionally resilient when dealing with
sensitive information on a daily basis
 Provide on call 24 hour telephone support for one week out of five.
This job description is a statement of requirements at the time of writing and is not contractual. It
should not be seen as precluding future changes after appointment to this role.