Deputy Project Design Authority (Deputy PDA) – Signalling Systems

About the role

The Deputy Project Design Authority (Deputy PDA) supports the Project Design Authority (PDA) in ensuring the technical integrity, compliance and performance of the signalling solution throughout the project lifecycle. The role provides technical leadership for signalling and interlocking engineering, works closely with the Project PDA, engineering teams, customer representatives and project stakeholders, and acts as the local technical focal point for signalling and interlocking design matters.

Key responsibilities

• Support the Project PDA in maintaining the technical integrity and compliance of the signalling solution.
• Coordinate signalling and interlocking design between local and remote engineering teams and act as technical interface with the customer.
• Review customer comments and technical queries and ensure compliance with contractual, railway, regulatory and safety requirements.
• Participate in defining and validating signalling architecture and design solutions, and manage technical risks, opportunities, assumptions and constraints.
• Review deliverables such as Interlocking Principles, Control Tables, Design Specifications and Interface Documents, and verify compliance with operational, safety and signalling principles.
• Take part in design reviews, hazard reviews, verification, validation and acceptance, and in technical meetings with engineering, safety, RAMS, operations, installation, testing and commissioning stakeholders.
• Act on behalf of the Project PDA when delegated and provide technical leadership during its absence.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Electronics, Computer Engineering or a related discipline.
• 8 to 10 years of experience in railway signalling design and implementation.
• 3 to 5 years in a senior signalling engineering, lead signalling engineering, design management or equivalent technical leadership role.
• Proven experience delivering railway signalling projects from design through testing, commissioning and acceptance.
• Customer-facing experience on railway infrastructure projects and experience coordinating multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Preferred: metro signalling projects, CBTC and interlocking platform experience, and ATO, ATP, ATS experience.

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of railway signalling principles, operating rules and system architecture, and of CBI systems and interlocking application engineering.
• Experience reviewing layout plans, control tables, route locking/release logic, flank protection, overlap, train detection, interface specifications, point machines, track circuits, axle counters, object controllers, ATS and traffic management.
• Familiarity with EN 50126, EN 50128, EN 50129 and CENELEC railway safety standards, and experience in safety-critical railway systems.
• Excellent English verbal and written communication, technical reporting and stakeholder management.