Head of Planning & Performance

To provide the Keolis MHI organisation with leadership on all aspects of Planning & Performance, including management of multiple stakeholders, leading the development of strategies to meet the business objectives, contractual requirements. To lead the service planning team in a way that optimises business outputs, protecting Keolis MHI's commercial interest, and ensuring the delivery of contractual KPIs. To lead on all aspects of business performance, including monitoring of KPIs, centralising data sources to enable business reporting, KPI visualisation and monitoring of financial deductions. To lead on business plans that enable the improvement of performance, whilst maximising efficiencies and delivering the overall business strategy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Leads and influences multiple stakeholders, both internal and external, according to the wider business strategy.
• Leads the business on all aspects of planning, including service planning, rostering, resilience testing and operational standards.
• Leads the business on all aspects of performance, including monitoring, analysis, identifying trends and ensuring adverse trends are addressed via robust improvement plans.
• Develops teams who are aligned with Keolis' values and support Keolis's standing as the world leader in automated metro operations.
• Develops and delivers Operational Excellence frameworks which are best suited for the Dubai Metro and Tram Operations.
• Proactively negotiates penalty dispensations on behalf of Keolis MHI with RTA.
• Continually builds and improves relationships with internal departments and RTA.
• Creates an environment where people can thrive and develop, in alignment with the Keolis values.
• Coaches and develops the team to optimise employee engagement, talent retention and the development of the local Emirati community.
• Inspires their own and other teams to deliver the best possible service to the customer.
• Actively and continually shapes the environment to create a high performing team.
• Instils a Continuous Improvement culture in the business to remove waste, increase productivity and remove inefficiencies.
• Develops business initiatives focused on the customer.
• Implementation of Continuous Improvement tools and techniques, including Lean methodologies.
• Centralises the monitoring, analysis and reporting of all business KPIs.
• Development of business improvement plans to deliver business KPIs.
• Leads on the development and delivery of performance improvement plans.
• Actively manages business risks, especially those impacting on current and future KPI delivery.
• Maintains a robust risk register, ensuring mitigations are robust and are delivered by the relevant parties.
• Builds strong connections with Keolis SA, Keolis's Centre of Excellence, as well as other Keolis networks.
• Encourages and establishes networking groups to facilitate exchanges of best practice and knowledge across the Keolis Group.
• Carries out benchmarking exercises with relevant Keolis operations.
• Seeks to adopt best practices from other industries, adapting and deploying practices that can optimise Keolis MHI's reputation, service delivery, safety and financial strength.
• Adheres to and embeds Keolis practices and values within the business, such as Keolife.
• Establishment of robust governance structures that enable delivery of KPIs.
• Leads on centralisation of data sources as well as the implementation of standardised reports for senior stakeholders, such as the Board and RTA.
• Responsible for all service planning, including the production of timetables and provision replacement emergency services.
• Continual review of service levels to optimise customer satisfaction, punctuality, reliability and cost efficiency.
• Actively promotes and role models behaviours to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all employees, customers and stakeholders.

KEY SKILLS

• Strong leadership skills.
• Influencing senior stakeholders.
• Strong interpersonal skills both.
• Excellent negotiation skills.
• Able to interface with multiple levels of seniority, including frontline staff to Board level.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• English speaking, either native or fluent.
• People development and coaching skills.
• Full financial literacy.

EXPERIENCE

• Experience in senior position in rail operations.
• Experience in leading large teams in complex environments.
• Experience with managing stakeholders at executive level.
• Experience with developing business improvement strategies.
• Proven track record in delivering changes in KPIs.

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Educated to degree level.
• Continuous Improvement qualifications desirable.