Estates and Facilities

Grade 8: - £41,526-£49,553

Open-Ended/Permanent - Full Time

Contracted Hours per Week: 35

Closing Date: 25-Nov-2020, 7:59:00 AM 

Job Reference: 20000679

Job Title: Senior Maintenance Services Manager

Department: Estates and Facilities Estates Operations

Responsible to: Assistant Director (Estates Operations)

Responsible for: Maintenance Service Managers Direct Labour Team Grounds and Gardens Team

Grade: Grade 8

Salary range: £41,526-£49,553

Contract type: Permanent

Working arrangements: Nominal 35 hours Five days out of seven, primarily Monday to Friday

Closing date: 

Interview date: 8^th December 2020      

The Department and Role Purpose

The Estates and Facilities Directorate provides a number of essential services to Durham University and is responsible for managing, maintaining and developing the infrastructure and building fabric of the various campuses, including:

• maintaining and regularly reviewing a maintenance programme which takes account of short, medium and long term needs of all buildings and University grounds;
• implementing the works identified and funded within the various maintenance programmes and operating a system for dealing with day-to day requirements, including the provision of an out-of-hours emergency service;
• providing a professional, technical service to the University for the design, construction and procurement of new buildings and adaptation works to existing buildings;
• identifying and recording the use of space and advising on ways of increasing space utilisation;
• property and asset management;
• acquisition and disposal of built environment related assets;
• procuring and managing utilities and services;
• providing postal, delivery and security arrangements and advice to the University; and
• the delivery of a wide-range of customer-facing services, including: contract management; estates and facilities relationships management; housekeeping and cleaning, business resilience, event management; reception helpdesk; university retail; business support; health and safety; and management information.

The Senior Maintenance Services Manager will lead, manage and develop the Direct Labour and Grounds and Gardens teams and/or contracted staff to deliver an efficient and effective, highly customer-focussed, planned preventative and reactive maintenance and grounds and gardens service to the University Estate, while optimising the use of resources in the delivery of services.

Core responsibilities:

• Provide expert professional buildings and grounds maintenance services and managerial and leadership expertise.
• Manage and develop service, infrastructure and people performance across one or more teams.
• Provide feedback on team and individual performance and identify development needs, conducting regular staff ADR and performance reviews.
• Recruit, induct, train and develop new team members.
• Help to shape the skills and expertise of future team members and design work structures to meet operational and strategic goals.
• Handle the vast majority of HR issues within a team, referring more complex issues to appropriate support services/senior management.
• Liaise and engage with key stakeholders and internal and external contractors to influence opinion, delivery and reputation of services, including the ongoing development, implementation and monitoring of SLAs and KPIs.
• Contribute to the scoping and resource planning across a range of activities at operational and possibly strategic level, such as cyclical and planned building and grounds maintenance plans and programmes, including budget management and stakeholder engagement.
• Lead on the design, implementation and monitoring of policy and quality standards, procedures and systems to ensure effective working and continuous improvement.
• Promote and develop a deep understanding of organisational policy and external developments.
• Devolve responsibilities to team members to ensure continuity of service provision and encourage skills development.
• Ensure all activities, processes and transactions are accounted for and recorded accurately and promptly to meet regulatory and statutory responsibilities and professional service and policy standards.
• Ensure all stakeholder-facing staff provide an accessible, friendly and professional service by shaping processes for inducting and developing staff.
• Implement processes to manage the integrity and security of all commercially and professionally sensitive and personal data.
• Lead internal business meetings, working groups and sub-committees at operational service level to influence governance, organisational policy and standards for the service.
• Responsible for allocating and monitoring financial budgets and resources, ensuring that optimum value for money is obtained for all services, regardless of the service being provided in-house or by contractors.
• Analyse stakeholder feedback, implementing and reviewing service provision.  

Role responsibilities:

• Lead the interface of the functional area with other Estates and Facilities’ Senior Managers, in the delivery of the Estates and Facilities’ strategic and operational plans.
• Deliver specialist services as an expert practitioner in areas of responsibility.
• Delegate authority and responsiblility to make decisions about the quality, level and nature of services and staffing necessary, to meet operational and annual strategic business objectives. 
• Lead the design, development and implementation of service deliverables and influence organisational transformation to deliver value for money.
• Work with team members and stakeholders to build and maintain excellent working relationships.
• Build and establish contacts and networks with key stakeholders, internal and external staff, suppliers, contractors and industry specialists.
• Carry out research to determine technological/system/facility trends and translate these into implications, risks and opportuntities for operational service quality managment and delivery.
• Lead, manage and implement major projects, as appropriate, across the organisation, monitoring and mapping performance, and providing progress reports and mitigating actions to ensure key deliverables and targets are met.
• Deliver professional expertise with the design, construction and development of infrastructure estates and services.
• Identify, source, design, construct, manufacture, test and validate resources, materials, tools, instruments, equipment, and software critical to service delivery.
• Manage and monitor health and safety assessments and procedures, ensuring compliance, within area of responsibility.
• Proactively work with managers and staff to establish and maintain a positive health and safety culture.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific Role requirements

• May be required to work evenings and weekends, as business demands.
• Participate in local on-call arrangements, as relevant to this role.
• May be required to drive University vehicles.

Interviews will take place on 8th December 2020.

How to apply

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

What you are required to submit

1. A CV.
2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in all of the requirements set out in the Person Specification.
3. The completed questions requested as part of the application, evidencing how you meet the essential criteria

For external applicants, when evidencing the Realising Your Potential Behaviour Approach elements, please use examples from your current/previous organisations in instances where the ‘University’ is referenced.

Please ensure that you submit all documentation listed above or your application will not be considered.

Contact details

For further information please contact: Jane Robson, jane.l.robson@durham.ac.uk.

At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria

1. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally.
2. Proven IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office.
3. Educated to degree level, or equivalent, in a relevant discipline or relevant equivalent experience.
4. Professional practitioner with specialist knowledge and expertise used to influence service delivery and activities within the organisation.
5. Relevant industry and professional recognition and certification of achievement of skills and knowledge.
6. Regulatory, local and national professional knowledge and experience of compliance.
7. Experience of providing specialist advice and guidance to a range of customers and colleagues, including more senior colleagues.
8. Continuing professional development required to maintain professional recognition.
9. Experience of being able to network effectively and develop strong and productive working relationships, both internally and externally.
10. Ability to solve problems and resolve issues, plan solutions and make pragmatic decisions.
11. Experience of delivering and developing specialist services for buildings or estates services.
12. Experience of working collaboratively to successfully delivering major infrastructure projects involving multi-agency working within an educational, commercial or industrial environment.
13. Health and safety and statutory compliance knowledge.
14. Extensive knowledge and experience of ensuring compliance with regulatory and organisational policy and guidelines.
15. Experience of implementing policy and procedures and involvement with future service area and/or organisational change.
16. Ability to contribute to planning at operational and strategic levels.
17. Track record of managing a maintenance/direct labour team and development experience and/or an enhanced management qualification applied across a large service team or teams, in a customer focussed and/or complex organisation.
18. Understanding of techniques such as quality management, performance indicators, benchmarking and service level agreements.

Desirable Criteria

• Project management qualification
• Good working knowledge of University structures and estates procedures (including, maintenance, improvements and capital).
• Experience of managing budgets.
• Experience of the operation of facilities management information systems.
• Experience of working in the higher education sector.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.