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Capability Leads (CL) have a pivotal leadership role at the heart of our Transportation business, connecting our people, delivery excellence, and growth ambitions. As a Capability Lead, you help us shape the future our business by developing talent, aligning our capability to markets, and ensuring we are equipped to deliver outstanding, technically excellent outcomes for our clients today and tomorrow.

About the Opportunity

Capability Leads are accountable for the leadership, performance, and development of a defined capability within Transportation. Reporting to the Capability Director, you will be accountable for translating the overall capability strategy into actionable plans, ensuring the right skills, capacity and ways of working are in place to deliver outstanding outcomes for clients today and to build a future-ready capability for tomorrow.

You will be a trusted technical and people leader, recognised for your ability to lead through influence, collaboration and credibility. You will create an inclusive, high performing community, championing digital enablement, innovation, and continuous improvement, whilst supporting work winning and ensuring high quality delivery across projects.

This opportunity can be based out of ay of our UK/Ireland Hubs

Key Accountabilities

• We are seeking a Capability Lead to guide our Rail Capability of approximately 80 people across the UK and Ireland. The successful candidate will create a high performing culture, develop and grow our multidisciplinary rail talent, and help shape the future of the capability in response to evolving market conditions. This includes developing our capability to support a growing volume of multidisciplinary work generated through adjacent markets, strengthening our position in major client organisations, and helping to establish a sustainable and scalable presence in Ireland to support anticipated growth opportunities.
• You will work with the Aviation Rail & Technology Capability Director, Rail Client Delivery Director and Rail Technical and People Leaders to help ensure our people, skills and organisational structure are aligned to future client needs.
• Candidates should have an interest in evolving our rail business and be operating at Grade 14 Associate Director level or above, with the potential and ambition to progress further within the business.
• We are open to candidates applying from outside of Transportation but previous exposure to rail clients and projects is desirable. This is a UK & Ireland role so location is flexible.

Objectives, Accountabilities & Responsibilities

Leadership & People

• Provide visible and inspiring leadership for your capability, creating a culture of trust, inclusion, accountability, and high engagement.
• Lead and develop technical specialists and emerging talent, acting as a coach and mentor to build leadership capability and depth.
• Promote Jacobs’ culture, values, Beyond Zero Health & Safety, Inclusion & Belonging, and uncompromising business ethics within your discipline.
• Play an active role in identifying, recruiting, nurturing, and retaining key talent, engaging with people initiatives (career conversations, promotion process etc.) to mitigate attrition risk in critical roles.

Developing the Capability

• Own and deliver the Capability Plan, aligned to the wider Transportation growth strategy and market priorities.
• Develop and maintain an understanding of capability skills, capacity, utilisation, diversity, succession, and future demand.
• Identify current and emerging capability gaps based on Market and Portfolio stated needs and take proactive action through recruitment, development, upskilling, and strategic resourcing.
• Drive a future-ready business through Augmented Delivery and use of tools and process improvements to align with strategy.
• Build a strong succession pipeline for critical roles within your capability and maintain clear career pathways within your discipline, supporting learning, accreditation, and progression.

Work Winning & Market Collaboration

• Ensure capability specific input into bids and pursuits, shaping competitive, innovative, and deliverable capability solutions.
• Support the development of compelling value propositions by leveraging specialist expertise, digital tools, and new ways of working.
• Support the Capability Director and Client Delivery Director in strengthening Jacobs’ market reputation by acting as a credible representative with clients and partners.
• Collaborate with other Capability Leads to deliver integrated, multi-disciplinary solutions for clients and teams.

Deployment, Performance & Client Delivery

• Work closely with Operations and Resource Management to ensure your capability is deployed effectively and efficiently across projects.
• Champion internal mobility, enabling talent to move across projects, geographies and sectors while maintaining continuity and delivery excellence.
• Foster a strong delivery mindset, ensuring capability inputs are provided on time, to scope and to the required quality.
• Drive continuous improvement through the adoption of digital enablement, standardisation, innovation, and best practice.
• Support consistent ways of working and scalable delivery models across UK, Europe, and the Global Delivery Centres.
• Develop and maintain an understanding of capability demand by working with the Client Delivery Directors, Portfolio Leads, Growth & Sales and Engagement Managers.

Business & Operational Support

• Accountable for business metrics for specific capability in line with Transportation Financial Business Plan.
• Support the Capability Director with capability level performance insight, forecasting, risks, and opportunities.
• Contribute to gross margin and utilisation performance by ensuring smart deployment of skills and effective use of resources.
• Support implementation of agreed new ways of working and operational improvements across the business.
• Collaborate with other disciplines to remove silos and maximise value for clients and Jacobs.

• Experience of successfully leading a team, technical discipline or capability within a complex, matrixed, or multi-disciplinary environment.
• Recognised technical and professional credibility.
• Proven ability to lead through influence rather than hierarchy, inspiring high performance, and collaboration.
• Demonstratable people leadership skills, with a track record of developing talent and building inclusive teams and culture.
• Commercial awareness, with experience of contributing to bids or project delivery, and performance management

Please ensure that you attach a one page covering letter outlining your vision and how you see yourself in the role

We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.

Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.