Castle Howard - North Yorkshire - Estate Managing Director

CAAV - Central Association of Agricultural Valuers; York and North Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000

Job description

Castle Howard is iconic in physical, cultural and heritage terms, and the consequent challenge for the estate’s leadership is to be both bold and imaginative to ensure not only that its built heritage is preserved, but also that it continues to be an exemplar estate and a catalyst for the economic well-being of its wider community.

The brief for the Estate Managing Director is to grow the business by expanding its vision and revenue streams and developing new partners and business models. Given the breadth of the position’s portfolio, this is a critical role in terms of both iterating and delivering Castle Howard’s commercial and financial evolution and, as such, works very closely with the Executive Chairman.

THE POSITION

• Leading the profitable realisation of the estate’s significant residential and commercial property development opportunities through commercially sound partnerships and delivery vehicles.
• Overseeing the estate’s in-house agricultural, tree nursery, and woodland operations, as well as increasing the estate’s biodiversity and environmental standards, and developing new ways to monetise its natural capital from both public and private sources.
• Developing the estate’s business strategy and plans as part of the senior leadership team, and setting and delivering five-year plans and annual budgets across all areas of direct responsibility.
• Acting as an ambassador and advocate for the estate with outside stakeholders and the wider community, and creating a comprehensive network of constructive external relationships that result in a positive environment within which the estate can bring its plans forward and uncover new opportunities.

THE CANDIDATE

• A proven business leader, preferably with a strong track record of successfully delivering large and complex land and property development projects in a rural setting.
• An entrepreneurial mindset that brings demonstrable success in deal-making and creating and managing commercial partnerships alongside an ability to structure and articulate compelling propositions and strategic initiatives.
• A first-class communicator who is a credible and influential leader both internally within a business as well as externally across a range of forums.
• An approach that is as much about ‘doing’ as ‘thinking’ – as comfortable with the detail as with the big picture, alongside being an unequivocal team player.