Continual Improvement and Innovation Manager

About the Project

A long-term contract has been awarded to operate, develop, enhance and expand ticketing and access control systems across a major metropolitan transport network through to 2034, with extension options to 2039.

This programme covers the maintenance, operation and evolution of a large-scale, complex ecosystem, including turnstiles, validators, ticket machines, sales terminals, back-office systems, payment gateways, IT infrastructure, and cybersecurity, supporting millions of daily passenger journeys.

The programme will ensure the continued operation and evolution of one of the world's largest and most sophisticated ticketing systems. Following a transition period of approximately two years, the service provider will become the primary partner across a network comprising thousands of buses, hundreds of rail and underground stations, retail outlets, customer service centres, and river transport boarding points.

Drawing on decades of experience in urban public transport solutions, the project team will manage and evolve all aspects of the system while implementing new technologies to improve efficiency, automate key processes, enhance customer experience, and help create the next generation of transportation ticketing systems.

Role Overview

The Continual Improvement and Innovation Manager is responsible for leading the continual improvement and innovation function across the contract.

The role drives the identification, assessment, prioritisation, governance, and delivery of improvement and innovation initiatives that enhance service quality, operational efficiency, system resilience, maintainability, customer outcomes, and value for money.

The role ensures compliance with Continual Improvement and Innovation processes and applies the ITIL Continual Improvement Model to deliver measurable business benefits.

The successful candidate will drive the identification and implementation of innovative solutions, monitor performance to identify opportunities for improvement, and work closely with stakeholders to deliver measurable value. They will oversee improvement projects, ensure alignment with contractual requirements, promote a culture of innovation and best practice, and provide regular reporting on progress, outcomes, and continuous improvement activities.

Key Duties Include

• Responsible for the management of continual improvement and innovation processes aligned with industry best practices, corporate innovation frameworks, and contractual requirements.
• Establish and maintain the continual improvement and innovation framework in accordance with the ITIL Continual Improvement Model.
• Conduct and coordinate assessments of service delivery, operational processes, systems, asset management, and incident management to identify areas for improvement and propose actionable solutions.
• Analyse operational data, trends, incidents, service reports, and stakeholder feedback to identify opportunities to improve reliability, reduce costs, and deliver a better customer experience.
• Develop improvement roadmaps aligned to contractual objectives, service strategy, and business priorities.
• Present recommendations, improvement proposals, and progress reports at senior management meetings and governance forums.
• Work closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure alignment on improvement and innovation objectives, maintaining transparency and effective communication.
• Oversee the execution of improvement and innovation projects, ensuring timely delivery, cost efficiency, and alignment with business objectives and contractual requirements.
• Ensure initiatives are appropriately documented, including objectives, dependencies, costs, risks, benefits, success measures, and delivery status.
• Measure realised benefits against original objectives and identify corrective actions where targets are not achieved.
• Lead post-implementation reviews and provide reports, dashboards, and executive summaries on improvement performance and realised benefits.
• Promote a culture of innovation by sharing best practices, lessons learned, and success stories, while preparing regular reports on improvement and innovation activities for stakeholders.
• Ensure continual improvement objectives, processes, and initiatives are understood across all teams.
• Maintain effective relationships with customer representatives, service managers, technical authorities, and operational stakeholders.