Head of Capital & Regulatory Governance

About the role:

To serve as the Airline Community’s independent authority on capital governance, ensuring that Heathrow’s capital programme is developed through effective airline engagement, evidence based scrutiny, transparent decision making, and demonstrable value for money in line with regulatory intent and consumer outcomes.

The role is intended to improve the quality and effectiveness of capital governance by working collaboratively with Heathrow to shape better proposals earlier in the process, reducing the likelihood that proposals need to be challenged, deferred or rejected at formal approval points.

The role provides a credible, authoritative independent counterpart to Heathrow’s internal capital planning and delivery functions, ensuring that governance integrity is maintained at all stages of the investment lifecycle while supporting a more effective, efficient and timely route to airline satisfactory proposals.

Success in this role will be evidenced by:

• Improved capital governance processes, with earlier airline engagement and clearer routes for shaping proposals before formal approval
• Better quality Heathrow submissions, including clearer evidence of need, options, scope, cost, risk, benefits and affordability
• Clearer Airline Community alignment on priorities, trade offs and support thresholds
• Projects scoped to real needs, driving efficiency and value, rather than “gold-plated” solutions
• Evidence that lower cost, phased or proportionate options have been considered where appropriate
• Reduced reliance on late-stage challenge, deferral or rejection because material issues are identified and addressed earlier
• Clear, demonstrable instances where constructive challenge has improved outcomes
• Prevention of inappropriate approvals and governance circumvention
• Strengthened capital governance integrity across the Heathrow programme
• Increased transparency, confidence and credibility in capital decision-making
• Effective resolution of material governance and regulatory issues, including proportionate escalation where necessary

Core Accountabilities

1. Capital Governance Leadership & Collaborative Improvement

• Act as the Airline Community’s lead authority across all capital forums (including LACC, JSB, CPB and successor bodies) working constructively with Heathrow and airline stakeholders to improve proposal quality, decision readiness and governance effectiveness.
• Determine whether capital proposals are decision-ready, with sufficient maturity, evidence, and risk transparency to progress through governance gateways
• Exercise authority to work with Heathrow to resolve issues early and, were unresolved, challenge, defer or reject proposals
• Enforce the principle that: Capital approval must precede financial commitment

2. Regulatory Interface & Escalation

• Use escalation as a proportionate safeguard, not the default route, ensuring that issues are first raised clearly with Heathrow and airline stakeholders with a view to early resolution wherever possible.
• Act as the Airline Community’s primary interface with the regulator on capital governance matters
• Identify, document and escalate:

1. Governance breaches or circumvention
2. Misalignment with licence obligations and regulatory intent
3. Risks to capital efficiency, affordability, and consumer outcomes

• Provide structured, evidence-based input to support the regulator in assessing Heathrow’s compliance
• Understanding systemic governance risks
• Maintain a robust audit trail of material concerns, decisions, and escalations. Ensure escalation materials demonstrate the steps taken to resolve issues constructively, the evidence base for any remaining concern, and the impact on regulatory outcomes, affordability or consumer value.

3. Independent Challenge & Assurance

• Lead rigorous, evidence-based challenge of Heathrow submissions, including:

1. Business cases including options appraisal, including “do nothing”, “do minimum”, phased, lower cost and alternative delivery options
2. Cost estimates (BAC/EAC)
3. Delivery programmes and phasing
4. Procurement and commercial strategies
5. Evidence that proposed scope is proportionate to need, benefits and affordability constraints
6. Evidence that airline feedback has been considered and reflected before proposals reach formal approval

• Oversee effectiveness of independent assurance mechanisms (e.g. IFS or successor models), ensuring appropriate scope and depth, clear accountability for outputs, timely resolution of gaps or deficiencies.
• Actively prevent the normalisation of retrospective or procedural governance, approval under commercial or schedule pressure and scope expansion through inappropriate change control

4. Strategic Capital Oversight

• Maintain a portfolio-wide view of Heathrow’s capital programme, including:

1. Interdependencies and sequencing
2. Aggregate cost exposure
3. Concentration of delivery risk

• Lead the development of clear Airline Community positions on portfolio prioritisation, including agreed criteria for safety, compliance, operational risk, consumer benefit, affordability, deliverability, airline support and value for money.
• Facilitate agreement across the Airline Community on capital priorities and trade-offs, recognising that effective prioritisation requires a coherent community position before engagement with Heathrow, JSB, LACC or the CAA.
• Identify and articulate  systemic issues and practical improvement opportunities and propose solutions. Issues include Governance weaknesses, Process misalignment, Structural inefficiencies in capital planning or delivery, Excessive bureaucracy, Late airline engagement or insufficient opportunity to shape proposals before approval and Insufficient option development, prioritisation or evidence of value for money

5. Leadership of Capital & Regulatory Function

• Lead and develop the AOC Capital & Regulatory team as a high-performing, expert oversight function
• You'll need to ensure consistent, high-quality technical, financial, and governance challenge, alignment and clarity of Airline Community positions. Structured engagement with airlines to identify priorities, reconcile differing views and establish representative community positions before key governance decisions and transparent, defensible decision-making processes.
• Establish the function as a respected and authoritative collaborative but independent counterparty to Heathrow

Decision-Making Authority

The role holder has authority to:

• Confirm or recommend Airline Community endorsement of capital decisions, ensuring that such endorsement represents substantive, evidence based support and not procedural compliance
• Withhold airline support for capital decisions where governance standards are not met
• Require further analysis, assurance, or evidence prior to approval
• Request that Heathrow demonstrates how airline feedback, priorities and affordability concerns have been reflected in the proposal

Required Skills & Competencies

Authority & Influence

• Operates with executive-level credibility, independence, and judgement
• Able to challenge senior stakeholders constructively, confidently, and with impact
• Demonstrates resilience and composure in high-pressure, contested environments
• Able to act collaboratively with stakeholders to build mutually beneficial solutions
• Able to influence without direct control, using evidence, stakeholder alignment and constructive challenge to improve outcomes
• Skilled at building consensus across a complex airline community with differing operational and commercial priorities
• Able to maintain independence and regulatory discipline while preserving productive working relationships with Heathrow

Technical & Commercial Acumen

• Deep understanding of capital project lifecycles and gating processes, cost estimation, forecasting, and control and infrastructure delivery and programme risk
• Able to interrogate complex technical, financial, and commercial material with rigour
• Strong understanding of option appraisal, business case development and whole life value assessment
• Able to test whether scope and specification are proportionate to the need, benefits, risks and affordability constraints
• Able to identify lower cost, phased or alternative solutions that may deliver acceptable outcomes without unnecessary scope or cost escalation

Governance & Regulatory Insight

• Strong understanding of governance frameworks and regulatory principles within complex, regulated environments
• Able to distinguish between formal process compliance and Genuine governance integrity and assurance
• Able to translate regulatory intent into practical governance behaviours, including earlier engagement, clearer evidence requirements, proportionate scrutiny and effective decision records
• Understands how capital governance should support better proposals and better decisions, rather than simply acting as a late-stage approval process

Experience Requirements:

Essential

• Senior leadership experience within: Major infrastructure programmes, and/or
• Regulated sectors (aviation, rail, utilities, energy)
• Demonstrable experience in: Capital investment decision-making
• Governance, assurance, and oversight frameworks
• Executive-level stakeholder engagement and negotiation

Desirable

• Direct experience of: Economic regulation or regulatory bodies
• Airport operations (UK or international)
• Heathrow governance structures
• Background in Programme delivery, Commercial management and Capital assurance or audit.

Benefits:

• Pension
• Life assurance
• Private medical benefits
• Car parking included
• Further benefit details to be confirmed.

Application details:

Closing date: 18th September 2026

Interviews: Interviews will take place from 28th September 2026. Dates and times will be agreed with candidates within these timeframes.

All applicants should send a covering letter expressing why they are suitable for the role and a copy of their CV on email to: Gensec@aoc-lhr.co.uk

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK and be able to demonstrate a five-year employment/reference history, including any gaps, to meet airport ID pass requirements.