About the role
West Yorkshire is delivering better transport at pace. We have high ambition, under our new ‘Weaver brand’ for improving buses, enhancing the rail network and introducing mass transit. This is now matched with deeper devolution, an Integrated Settlement from April 2026, but also heightened public and governmental scrutiny. The Combined Authority is expected to turn our transport ambition into visible improvements in neighbourhoods, town centres and local economies that local people can feel.
Transport is central to the Mayor’s ambition for growth, inclusion and improved quality of life across West Yorkshire, and is among the most visible and scrutinised areas of devolved responsibility. The next few years will define whether the public sees devolution as real change: better reliability, simpler ticketing, safer streets, and faster, fairer access to jobs and opportunities.
The Executive Director Transport is a pivotal leadership role, setting the direction for a portfolio that spans day-to-day service performance and once-in-a-generation system reform. Through exemplary people leadership, you will guide, inspire and empower people through integrity, empathy and a clear vision. You will lead with clarity and authority, ensuring investment programmes are credible, financially sustainable, safe and well governed, while creating the conditions for teams, partners and operators to deliver outcomes that passengers and communities experience directly, not just see reported in dashboards.
A defining feature of the landscape is reform at scale. This includes the transition to bus franchising - bringing routes, timetables and fares under Combined Authority control from Spring 2027, with full rollout by late 2028 - as well as the continued development of mass transit proposals and a more integrated network that connects bus, rail, active travel and future rapid transit into a coherent passenger offer.
Opportunity in West Yorkshire
This role sits at the heart of a high-profile regional programme: creating a transport system that enables the region’s growth corridors, improves access to work and learning, and supports net zero through cleaner fleets and better modal integration. It offers the chance to shape customer standards, data and operations for a reformed bus system, and to progress major business cases and assurance pathways for long-term infrastructure investment.
You will operate across multiple partners, operators, delivery bodies and government departments, often without direct control but with clear accountability. Strong programme leadership, commercial judgement and confidence under scrutiny are essential.
As a member of the Executive leadership team, you will provide visible corporate leadership across the organisation as well as within transport. You will advise the Mayor, Board and Chief Executive, shape strategic choices, provide assurance on complex programmes, and ensure that risks, trade-offs and opportunities are clearly understood and actively managed.
The role works closely with the Executive Director Place, aligning spatial strategy, investment and delivery across a shared regional agenda.
About the candidate
This is a role for an accomplished executive leader who combines strategic vision with the ability to deliver in complex, high-profile environments. You will have built your career leading major transport, infrastructure or operational portfolios where expectations are high, scrutiny is constant, and success depends on turning ambition into outcomes that people can see and feel.
You may have developed this experience in local or regional government, an arm’s-length body, a regulated transport or infrastructure organisation, or in consultancy. More important than the setting is your ability to lead through complexity: to set clear direction, build confidence across institutions, make sound judgements in politically visible contexts, and sustain momentum across long-term programmes of change.
You will bring the leadership presence, resilience and strategic capability to lead major programmes and portfolios through complexity, ambiguity and sustained public scrutiny. You will provide visible, confident leadership across governance, assurance, risk and organisational accountability, while shaping and aligning diverse partners, stakeholders and delivery bodies behind a clear shared ambition. You will be trusted to advise boards, elected leaders and senior stakeholders with authority, clarity and sound judgement, and to build high-performing, collaborative cultures that enable teams and partners to deliver at pace.
How to apply
Recruitment is being supported by Berwick Partners.
To apply, please submit:
- A CV
- A short supporting statement outlining your interest in the role and the relevant leadership experience you would bring
If you would like an informal and confidential conversation about the role, please email our supporting EA, Victoria Mayes, at Berwick Partners to arrange a call with our lead Consultants.
