Maintenance Technician
Location : Horsham, West Sussex
Contract Type : Permanent, full-time, full year contract
Hours : 40 hours per week, Monday - Friday
Salary : £26,665.60 - £28,849.60 depending on experience
Start Date: As soon as possible
Aurora Vincent House School
As part of our growth strategy, Aurora is really pleased to be opening a brand new SEND Secondary School in 2025 in the heart of Horsham, West Sussex for young neurodivergent people aged 11-16. Most of our students are coming to us from mainstream education to have access to an adapted National Curriculum delivered in small classes with a focus on meeting their sensory needs and support for their emotional wellbeing.
The Role:
Reporting to the School Business Manager, you will responsible for ensuring that all matters relating to the continuous operation, maintenance and cleanliness of the buildings, grounds and equipment. You will need to ensure a high-quality site service is provided at all times that encompasses the safeguarding, health, safety and general well-being of every person accessing the site. Working with the central estates department, you will also support the development of the services through site expansion projects and integrating new, converted, and established buildings.
You will be an essential pillar in enabling our children and young people to achieve their full potential.
Key Accountabilities
* Working with both central Aurora teams and local Senior Management, ensure reactive maintenance, repairs and refurbishments are undertaken across the site and any associated properties and that grounds are maintained and developed to a high standard, working within agreed operational budgets. Any works to the estate must be in keeping with the character of the building with planning permission/building regulation approvals obtained where required.
* Contribute to the planning for and supervise projects on site for planned CAPEX projects, supporting on time and in budget completion by working with contractors as well as undertaking work personally and through effective delegation to the outsourced FM provider.
* Carry out routine Health and Safety tasks including: weekly fire alarm checks; legionella management; safeguarding requirements; all other compliance requirements; and produce and/or oversee risk assessments relating to the site and/or maintenance activities. All required checks must be recorded appropriately in a legible format available for inspection.
* Understand and ensure the implementation of the group Health and Safety policy, Emergency and Fire Procedures.
* Through leading by example following the Aurora Way in relation to values and behaviours, provide effective leadership to the outsourced maintenance and cleaning team members, in order to maintain an effective and flexible team with high morale.
* Work with the School Business Manager to implement, monitor and update SLA’s in relation to Cleaning, Waste and Pest Control, Buildings and Asset Maintenance, Health and Safety, Security, and Utilities.
* Manage and update all relevant information systems following company policies and procedures for the secure and appropriate management of data.
* Undertake all responsibilities for maintenance and grounds in line with company policies, procedures and the company ethos and values. Ensure all training needs are identified and resolved.
Please note that duties will vary and you will be expected to contribute to the overall aims of Vincent House School when required. Please see the link below for our full :
Candidates must:
* Proven experience working in a similar role.
* Full UK Driving License.
* Previous management of premises and needs of those accessing buildings, grounds and equipment (previous experience of working within education and special needs settings preferred).
* Competent and knowledgeable of basic building repairs and maintenance and grounds maintenance, with ability to effectively delegate and monitor work of others.
* Proven success in working to tight deadlines
* Qualified First Aider (desirable)
* Health and Safety qualifications e.g. Working at Height, Manual Handling, COSHH etc (desirable)
* Hold an additional trade/skill such as electrical, plumbing, carpentry or painting/decorating (desirable)
* Effective communication and customer service skills. Additionally, the ability to liaise with staff at all levels of technical knowledge.
* Have good problem-solving abilities.
* Be exemplary in attention to detail and high standards of work.
* IT skills are essential to operate our internal audit systems and asset management.
* Have a flexible and adaptable working approach, including organising and managing priorities.
* Being empathic and sensitive to a wide range of individuals with complex needs is essential.
* Be enthusiastic, pro-active and keen to be involved in the life of our school.
* Be willing to work unsociable hours when required.
* Ability to react calmly and quickly in an emergency.
* Willingness and ability to engage positively with our young people.
* Be committed to being neuro-informed and neuro-affirmative as expected by all our staff and be able to communicate effectively with our young people
What’s on offer?
* Life assurance
* Enhanced pension scheme
* Perkbox - offering high street discounts
* Employee assistance programme
* Car lease scheme
* Fully funded training and qualifications
* Bike to work scheme
* Free membership to our Health cash back plan - Claim back money on services such as dental, optical, physio and many more.
How to Apply:
Please complete an online application form in full, remembering to include all employment and education details. If you need any assistance or would like any more information, please contact Liz in the Aurora Group Recruitment Team at liz.hudson@the-aurora-group.com
Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.
This advert could be paused or taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled or we receive a sufficient number of applications.
Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.