RQ1505194 – Interim Head of Estates

Carrington Blake Recruitment; Uxbridge; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job description

• £835.86 per day
• 36 hours per week

ROLE PURPOSE:

• Management of the Estates team, within Property Services ensuring agreed team plans and performance targets are delivered and that a culture of ‘putting our residents first’ is maintained.
• The Head of Estates Team plays a pivotal role in leading the management of the Council’s commercial/investment asset portfolio. Ensuring that investment decisions are based on a strategic view of opportunities, priorities and risks. Responsible for driving income generation and maximum returns from the portfolio.
• The role holds responsibility for managing income from assets and debt, negotiating rents, leases and terms and for the Council’s annual Asset Valuation Programme.
• Providing leadership of these services ensuring agreed service plans and performance targets are delivered and that a culture of putting our residents first and continuous service improvement is maintained.

Job Description:

1. Resident & Community Contribution

• To demonstrate understanding of the Council’s Customer Care Standards and ensure that these standards are met in order to deliver the Council vision of ‘putting our residents first’.

1. People Management

• To be responsible for the selection, development and performance of the estates team in line with the Council’s HR policies.
• Estates Surveyors
• Garage Manager
• To ensure all team members receive the appropriate level of communication to maintain engagement with the Council’s vision, priorities and activities.
• To be responsible for maintaining a safe and healthy working environment in line with Health & Safety at Work Act (1974).

1. Operational Service Delivery

• Provide leadership and management for a range of defined services:
• Managing the Council’s commercial/investment asset portfolio
• Driving income generation from the portfolio
• Managing income from assets and debt
• Managing and negotiating rent reviews and lease/ licences/ terms of occupation
• Delivering the annual Asset Valuation Programme
• Overseeing all surveying works undertaken on behalf of the Estates team
• Overseeing the management of the Council’s garage assets management
• Addressing any backlogs relating to estates management

Support the transformation of services in a robust manner supporting the delivery of improvements in line with the new council operating model.

Deliver ongoing service improvements with a focus on delivering improved outcomes for residents, whilst making more effective use of resources.

To provide advice to the Director of Property Services and Corporate Director of Place on strategic and operational issues.

To advise Cabinet and other elected members including Members of Parliament as required and attend Cabinet as appropriate.

Ensure appropriate response to complaints and member enquiries within agreed timescales. Lead on required action and ensure analysis of complaints and enquiries contributes to service planning.

Assist the Director of Property Services to inform and advise local and national Government, multi-agency bodies, the media and the public on issues relating to Service areas.

Contribute to a range of interagency, regional and national strategic forums and review service delivery approaches and practice to effectively meet needs as defined above.

1. Service Planning & Development

• Take a cross-Directorate approach to asset management planning and contribute to the maintenance of an up-to-date asset management plan.
• Ensure that an annual Team Plan, aligned to the Group / Service Plan(s), is developed, agreed and communicated to team members in a timely manner.
• Ensure clear Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) are in place where appropriate, covering all aspects of service delivery with performance and response levels, together with the escalation process if SLAs are not met.
• Maintain a current service workforce plan including a succession plan for all key roles within own team.
• Development of local strategic outcomes to support the commissioning strategy to ensure flexible, integrated cross – council and interagency workings.

1. Financial & Resource Management

• To take responsibility for the effective management of the allocated department / team budget.
• To ensure all purchasing and procurement is conducted in line with the corporate guidelines with appropriate use of the Council’s financial systems.
• To ensure that all workforce expenditure is compliant with corporate guidance and that any temporary resource is purchased through the Council’s agency contracts.
• To manage and report on large complex service and staffing budgets linked to the delivery of Estates Management.

1. Service Improvement

• Implement continuous monitoring of team and individual performance and productivity to ensure the delivery of Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) are maximised.
• Manage the implementation of improvement initiatives and change programmes using the Council’s Project Management and Service Improvement methodologies.
• Fully implement change programmes and continue to challenge and improve service delivery with a focus on putting residents first.
• Manage the delivery of a cost-effective service to residents ensuring that it is delivered efficiently and to the required corporate and legislative standard.

1. Contacts

• Primary contact will be with other officers within the Council, and service users/residents and their representative bodies. To include who the contacts are and nature of interaction.
• High level contact with partners and other external bodies, including central government departments and other local authorities.
• Regular contact with external companies, developers and contractors.

1. Additional Responsibilities

• Complete other reasonable tasks in order to fulfil role purpose or as instructed by management.
• You may be required to undertake periods of on call which are related to your role.

1. Key Performance Indicators

• Delivery against allocated budgets and MTFF saving targets.
• Delivery against Service plan.
• Staff performance & productivity metrics.

Contact: [e-mail]