Technical Materials Lead
Location: Crewe / Carlisle / Motherwell
Reporting to: Reliability and Continuous Improvement Engineer
About the role
We are looking for a Technical Materials Lead to play a critical role in ensuring the availability, reliability and optimisation of materials across our rail fleet. You will be responsible for maintaining accurate and standardised Bills of Materials (BOMs), managing critical spares, and supporting reliability improvements through data-driven insights.
Acting as a key interface between Engineering, Procurement and suppliers, you will ensure materials are sourced efficiently, comply with regulatory standards, and support safe and reliable rail operations. This role is central to improving maintenance performance, reducing downtime and enabling continuous improvement across the business.
What you’ll be doing
- Ensuring availability of critical spares to support planned maintenance and reduce Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)
- Owning the accuracy and completeness of Bills of Materials (BOMs) for rail vehicles, aligned to maintenance schedules and overhauls
- Acting as the link between Engineering, Procurement and Material Handling teams to enable effective material sourcing
- Building strong supplier relationships to mitigate supply chain risks and secure critical components
- Monitoring reliability trends and analysing component performance to identify recurring issues
- Supporting Root Cause Analysis (RCA) by sharing data on usage, lead times, and costs
- Managing warranty processes, including claim validation and recovery from suppliers
- Optimising inventory levels using reliability data and implementing Just-In-Time (JIT) or critical spares strategies
- Developing and maintaining obsolescence strategies, including alternative sourcing and redesign options
- Driving continuous improvement by identifying better materials, suppliers or processes
- Providing cost insights to support business cases for reliability and performance improvements
- Ensuring compliance with UK/EU legislation, rail standards and company processes
Training & development
At NTS, we are committed to supporting your growth and development. This role includes:
- Core safety training (e.g. Fire, Manual Handling)
- Systems training (ERP systems, SharePoint, HR systems)
- On-the-job training in maintenance systems, asset management and inventory processes
- Opportunity to work towards Lead Auditor certification (ISO 9001 / 14001)
- Exposure to continuous improvement methodologies such as Lean and Six Sigma
Who we’re looking for
Experience
- Experience in rail vehicle maintenance or a similar engineering environment
- Proven track record of improving processes in technical or operational settings
- Experience working with supply chains, procurement processes and supplier management
- Strong stakeholder engagement experience across multiple functions
Knowledge
- Engineering maintenance practices and reliability principles
- Analytical techniques for performance and reliability monitoring
- UK/EU regulatory frameworks and rail industry standards (e.g. RISAS, ISO)
- Inventory management, obsolescence planning and lifecycle management
- Continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma)
Skills & behaviours
- Strong data analysis and reporting skills (e.g. Excel, Power BI)
- Excellent communication and influencing skills
- Ability to build effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders
- Proactive approach to problem solving and continuous improvement
- Strong organisational skills with attention to detail
- Commercial awareness and ability to support cost-based decisions
- High standards of integrity, safety awareness and compliance
Why NTS?
At NTS, our people are trusted to perform, supported to grow and encouraged to be curious and innovative. We create an environment where you’re given the freedom to do your job well, the support of a strong team, and the opportunity to help shape the future of safe and reliable rail operations.
The Kind of People We’re Looking For
We’re interested in who you are, not just what’s on your CV.
You’re likely to thrive at NTS if you:
- Take ownership of your work and enjoy being trusted to deliver
- Are collaborative, approachable and naturally supportive of others
- Care about doing the right thing, in the right way
- Are curious and motivated to learn, improve and grow
- Communicate openly and act with integrity and respect
- Are comfortable working in a purpose‑driven, safety‑critical environment
You don’t need to tick every box on day one — we value potential, attitude and alignment with our culture just as much as experience.
Benefits
- 30 Days holidays plus 8 bank holidays
- Buy / Sell annual leave
- Health shield
- Nuclear Pension scheme
- Hybrid working
- Family friendly
- Bonus
