Few environments offer the scale and operational complexity of Heathrow. When disruption occurs, strong resilience planning, clear leadership and a coordinated response are essential to maintaining safe and effective airport operations.
We are looking for an experienced resilience professional to lead Engineering's approach to operational resilience, contingency planning and incident response.
You will lead the Engineering Resilience team, manage and develop the Engineering Incident Response Team and work across Heathrow to strengthen preparedness, response and recovery arrangements. You will ensure that critical Engineering services, assets and operational dependencies are supported by effective plans that are regularly tested and improved through exercises and learning from incidents.
The role combines strategic leadership with practical delivery. You may be leading a major exercise, advising a project on resilience requirements, briefing senior leaders on preparedness or providing leadership during a significant incident.
You will also participate personally in Heathrow's on call incident response arrangements, undertaking an appropriate command and control role during significant disruption. This responsibility attracts additional payment in accordance with the relevant Heathrow on call policy.
Responsibilities:
•Lead and develop the Engineering Resilience team, setting clear priorities and building capability, competence and readiness.
•Identify critical services, assets and operational dependencies and ensure that proportionate resilience arrangements are in place.
•Lead the development, maintenance and assurance of Engineering resilience and contingency plans.
•Establish a risk prioritised programme of desktop, simulation and live exercises to test plans and command and control arrangements and manage and develop the Engineering Incident Response Team, including recruitment, training, exercising and readiness assurance.
•Participate in Heathrow's on call incident response arrangements and provide calm, credible leadership during significant disruption and lead incident and exercise debriefs, ensuring that lessons result in clear actions and sustained improvements.
•Provide senior leaders with clear reporting and assurance on resilience risks, preparedness and improvement priorities and provide resilience expertise to projects, programmes, organisational change and the introduction of new assets, systems and services.
Requirements:
•Proven experience of developing, exercising and assuring resilience, contingency and recovery plans.
•Experience of performing a senior role within formal incident response or command and control arrangements.
•Experience of designing and delivering exercises, including debriefing and ensuring that identified improvements are delivered.
•Proven experience of leading and developing teams and building organisational capability. Strong understanding of operational risk, critical services, infrastructure dependencies and the consequences of significant disruption.
•Strong stakeholder leadership and influencing skills, with the ability to provide credible advice and constructive challenge at all levels.
•A relevant professional qualification, degree or equivalent professional experience in resilience, emergency planning, business continuity, crisis management or a related discipline.
