Estates Operations Manager

Job description

Job responsibilities

1. Communication and working relationships

Working within the Estates Team, the post holder will need to develop effective working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including (but not limited to):

• NHS Property Services and other landlords
• Facilities Teams
• Estates Teams
• Sustainability Team
• Trust senior manager and leaders
• Risk Management and Health & Safety teams and other clinical teams (SCFT and other NHS providers to which the team provides services)
• Senior managers in Estates & Facilities and senior clinical service managers
• External contractors and suppliers to the Trust
• Key staff committees e.g. Health and Safety.
• Patient representation groups & other community groups
• Staff at all levels (e.g. when delivering training and engagement activities)

The post holder will need to demonstrate excellent interpersonal and communication skills and confidence in presenting complex information to a range of different

audiences from Directors and senior managers to frontline staff. They will work with multiple stakeholders within SCFT and other organisations.

2. Key responsibilities

Finance

1. The post holder is responsible for authorising payments to contractors and suppliers.
2. The post holder is directly responsible for the physical assets associated with buildings, building services, plant and equipment (fixed and portable), grounds and gardens.
3. The post holder is an authorised signatory for purchases within the Estates function, and also authorises staff timesheets and expense claims including for bank and agency staff employed within the Estates services listed above.
4. The postholder is responsible for procurement of goods and services relating to the Estates function, including contracts for outsourced services.
5. Responsible for tendering of contracts as appropriate and budget holder for delegated capital projects, agreeing variations and final account figures.
6. Comply with and ensure that all estates staff comply with, Trust Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions, Tendering Procedures and EU Directives.

Estate Management

1. The postholder is responsible as line manager for all engineering, building and grounds staff employed within the function. This includes responsibility for appraisals, managing sickness absence, disciplinary and grievance matters, recruitment and selection decisions, personal and career development of staff and departmental workload and allocation.
2. The postholder is responsible for leading and coordinating staff, maintaining sound employee relations and high morale. To communicate frequently with a wide range of colleagues and service users including delivering complex messages using verbal and written techniques, participating in internal departmental meetings including occasional presentations to departmental staff.
3. To manage the balance between directly employed staff, temporary staff, agency staff and contractors to achieve optimum performance in service provision whilst maintaining cost effectiveness. To recruit and develop staff either employed by, or seconded to the Trust or utilised from the voluntary sector.
4. As expert in the field of estate management, provide professional advice and guidance on a wide range of estates issues including capital projects.
5. Manage, co-ordinate and prioritise the engineering planned and breakdown maintenance work of both in-house and contracting staff to ensure the service is delivered in a safe and timely manner and to high standards. Manage conflicting demands of legislation, health and safety, clinical service needs and financial constraints effectively.
6. Manage planned and unplanned service interruptions, including the development of contingency plans, ensuring that service departments are notified of the plans, progress and completion, in both written and verbal forms.
7. Develop long term maintenance strategies for the building and engineering elements of estate, incorporating works by in-house and contract labour together with statutory inspections.
8. Manage, implement and monitor maintenance contracts ensuring value for money is achieved, reviewing performance and authorising invoices for payment upon successful completion of planned works.
9. Manage the procurement of spares, materials and contracted services to enable service delivery in a responsive, timely and cost effective manner.
10. Professionally audit/review and maintain Estates compliance information and maintenance based management systems to assure compliance with Key Performance Indicators, relevant standards and statutory instruments i.e. LOLER, BSEN, CQC, HTM, HBN, etc.
11. Interrogate, critically analyse statistical data identifying and reporting trends pertaining to Estates asset performance.
12. Foster a culture of Statutory Compliance, Health and Safety and risk management.
13. Manage the BMS on a day to day basis with customers and service provider to ensure heating, hot water and air conditioning services function within Trust policies and procedures.
14. Manage, develop and update the trade staff 24-hour on-call rota ensuring adequate levels of cover are maintained at all times.
15. Liaise with Facilities colleagues on estates matters which impact on Facilities services or health and safety.

Development and Performance of the Estate

1. Participate in the development of strategies for the estate, to meet Trust service requirements both now and in the future.
2. Participate in the development of estates contingency and business continuity plans to meet changing needs of the estate, ensuring these are operationally delivered.
3. Manage the computerised maintenance management system to complete repair and back up routines on a periodic basis, liaising with the software manufacturer and SCFT IT as required to ensure the efficient operation of the system.
4. Measure KPIs and SLA performance via the system and implement action plans accordingly to ensure service delivery is at the required standard throughout the estate.
5. Responsible for compliance with Care Quality Commission outcomes relating to the estate.
6. Monitor estate performance and actively work on improving performance.
7. Any other duties in line with the grade and scope of the post.

Main Tasks

Finance

1. The post holder is accountable for estates maintenance and repairs, including backlog maintenance for the whole of the Trust.
2. The postholder is accountable for all of the financial resources and physical assets relating to the Trust estate.
3. The postholder is an authorised signatory for purchases within the Estates function, and also authorises staff timesheets and expense claims including for bank and agency staff employed within the Estates services.
4. Responsible for tendering of contracts as appropriate.
5. Ensuring contractor compliance with service contracts and service level agreements.

Staff management

1. The post holder is responsible as line manager for all staff employed within the estates This includes responsibility for appraisals, managing sickness absence, disciplinary and grievance matters, recruitment and selection decisions, personal and career development of staff and departmental workload and allocation.
2. To manage the balance between directly employed staff, temporary staff, agency staff and contractors to achieve optimum performance in service provision whilst maintaining cost effectiveness. To recruit and develop staff either employed by, or seconded to the Trust or utilised from the voluntary sector

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree + MSc in an engineering discipline (electrical, mechanical, building services etc)(A)
• Full clean driving licence

Desirable

• Professional knowledge plus additional specialist, management knowledge acquired through training and experience to Masters level equivalent Professional Qualification/ Membership of an appropriate professional organisation.

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Knowledge of legislation applicable to the estate.
• Quality assurance and value for money.
• Sound knowledge of Financial Management.
• Ability to negotiate effectively with consultants, contractors, suppliers and Trust staff.
• Ability to use persuasive/motivational skills in order to deliver appropriate performance levels from staff and contractors.
• Ability to form judgements about a wide range of highly complex estates, and compliance issues taking account of legislation, Health and Safety, conflicting service demands and financial and resourcing constraints.
• Ability to analyse performance of Hard FM (estates) services in relation to performance targets (KPI's) and strategic objectives.
• Able to provide professional advice in areas where expert opinion differs.
• Ability to use engineering test and measurement tools as appropriate.
• Ability to use standard office software and keyboard skills to produce reports and presentations and to use spreadsheets and other specialist software to analyse performance
• Ability to use and edit computerised technical drawings (Computer Aided Design - CAD)
• Ability to create regular reports and develop performance management tools using spreadsheets and databases in order to inform senior management/Trust Board.
• Ability to conduct complex audits using research methodology e.g. Estates condition surveys, legionella and asbestos surveys
• Ability to concentrate in order to carry out analysis (e.g. performance data), conduct investigations (e.g. disciplinary issues) and compile reports, but also required to respond to emergency situations.
• Ability to deal with distressing or emotional circumstances e.g. imparting unwelcome news e.g. performance targets not met, service changes/redundancy, disciplinary and grievance issues.
• Ability to cope with unpleasant working conditions, e.g. dust, dirt, fumes, noise etc, when conducting audits and investigations e.g. in plantrooms and engineering/building workshops etc.
• Confident, enquiring, self motivated.
• Able to lead and motivate and develop staff.
• Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines

Desirable

• Understanding and/or application of NHS Plans.

Other Requirements

Essential

• Equal Opportunities: Demonstrates an understanding of the basic principles in relation to staff, patients and the public

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 years management experience. Experience of managing estates services.

Desirable

• Estates Services experience in the NHS.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details

Employer name

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Brighton General Hospital

Elm Grove

Brighton and Hove, East Sussex

BN2 3EW

Employer's website

https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/ (Opens in a new tab)