Crossrail advertises Tunnelling Academy post

Crossrail has started to advertise for a project manager to lead a new 'tunnelling academy', designed to address a national skills shortage of tunnelling expertise.

The £90,000-a-year post, which includes a final salary pension scheme, will see the project manager lead a team to design, plan, procure, construct and commission the academy.

Crossrail is looking for someone who already has experience of building educational facilities.

Douglas Oakervee, former executive chairman of Crossrail, originally mooted plans for the academy in 2007.

"Crossrail goes through some of the most deprived boroughs in London and I think it would be very wrong if we didn’t endeavour to give the people who live in those boroughs the opportunity to be trained to work on projects like this.” Oakervee said.

Around 14,000 people will be needed to build Crossrail when construction starts in 2010.