The Estates Team is an integral part of the management of West District, providing professional support to the Recreation & Engagement and Forestry & Land Management functions. The team is led by the Head of Estates and is split into two halves. The first, is a Buildings & Projects team tasked with delivering the district’s building management and commercial developments as we strive towards carbon neutrality and providing modern efficient building infrastructure to support our front-line delivery. The second is the Estate Management team and provides general support to the delivery teams, as well as leading on case management for liability claims and legal disputes. This role will be based at Coleford and form part of the Buildings and Projects team working 37 hours per week, across Monday to Friday.
As the Buildings and Projects team is relatively new and evolving, this is an exciting time to join and help shape the future. The principal responsibility will be to support this team, including an Area Land Agent, two Building Surveyors, Development Manager, Project Manager and Administration Officer. However, there will also be times where support is required for the wider Estates team. This role will work in tandem with a second Business Support Officer currently located in Exeter, with distribution of work areas being set by the lead Area Land Agent. The role will be supported by the Administration Officer.
We are looking for an individual who is highly organised, methodical, logical, with a good level of financial awareness. This is a supporting role, but the successful candidate will be required to have a good deal of self-motivation and be able to manage their own workload. To thrive in this enticing role, you will have great communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders such as colleagues in other teams and contractors. This is a high-quality business support role, requiring diligence, a problem-solving aptitude and an ability to prioritise.
Key Work Areas
Oversee, monitor and update the annual programme of works for inspection, maintenance and projects for the built estate portfolio, liaising closely with the Building Surveyors to ensure they can efficiently implement the programme.
Support our statutory and policy compliance programme in relation our buildings, including the introduction of a robust resumptions system.
Act as the first point of contact for building works queries, including from contractors and colleagues within district or the national office Estates team.
Work with the Administration Officer and Building Surveyors to source new contractors and to ensure that they all have valid insurances, certificates of competence and H&S paperwork.
Support the team with procurement and administration, that range from smaller maintenance works to larger instructions that require formal tender processes.
Assist the Building Surveyors with the monthly budget monitoring, forecasting and accruals process, using the finance packages (Efin and Collaborative Planning) and liaising with the Finance Manager.
Assist the Building Surveyors and Land Agents with the preparation of the annual Business Plan and 5-year Long Term Financial Model.
Support the Development Manager with the preparation, co-ordination and tracking of business cases, for projects on the District’s Investment Programme, through the national Project Management Office.
Support Project Managers with the delivery and management of projects, including liaison with the Project Management Office.
Support, manage and maintain project documentation, including documents and presentation material for meetings, workshops and producing formal notes and minutes.
Lead the collection, recording, monitoring and reporting of energy and water usage across the district and assist in identifying and prioritising recommendations for investment to reduce consumption.
Be responsible for overseeing the team’s records, data and knowledge management systems in relation to property management, ensuring that they are accurate, accessible and usable. Key systems include our GIS platform Forester Web, software within Microsoft Office 365 and Collaborative Planning (for finance).
Support the timely processing of invoices, including authorisation within delegated approval thresholds.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
A minimum of 5 GCSEs/Standard Grades (A – C grades or 4 and above), or equivalent, including Maths and English, and/or significant experience working in an administrative post.
Competent user of MS Office - in particular Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint, Excel and Word.
Ability to plan, organise and manage self, working on own initiative and as part of team.
Demonstrable attention to detail and a pro-active approach to problem solving.
Experience of managing competing demands, prioritising and managing a varied, changeable and evolving workload.
The ability to be flexible to complete other tasks identified by the team.
Excellent communicator, in both written and oral formats.
Demonstrable ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and external stakeholders.
Experience of processing financial transactions and use of financial systems and packages.
Desirable Criteria:
High level qualification in Business/Programme Management or educated to degree level
Experience of using GIS mapping systems
Knowledge or experience of estate, buildings, H&S and contract management
Knowledge of programme/project management
Experience in data management and analysis
Knowledge of decarbonisation related to a property portfolio
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident .