Estate Services Manager in Reading) in England

• Estate Services Manager
• Vacancy: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)

Make a visible difference to the places our customers call home.

Great estate services are about much more than keeping communal spaces clean and grounds maintained.

They help create places where people are proud to live.

That's where you come in.

As part of our customer strategy, we're creating a new team that will strengthen our locality-based approach, helping us to be more visible, accessible and connected to our customers and the communities we serve.

We're looking an experienced and customer-focused Estate Services Manager to cover the South to lead the delivery of high-quality estate services across our homes and communities.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who combines strong leadership with commercial awareness and a genuine commitment to customer service.

You'll take the strategic lead for estate services within your geographical area, ensuring our neighbourhoods are well maintained, our contracts deliver what they promise, and our customers receive the high-quality service they deserve.

What you'll be doing

Leading a team of Estate Officers and Estate Coordinators, you'll create a positive, high-performing culture focused on delivering great outcomes for our customers.

You'll also

• Take the lead on the delivery and performance of estate service contracts, ensuring suppliers and contractors consistently meet agreed standards and KPIs.
• Oversee essential services including grounds maintenance, communal and estate cleaning and pest management.
• Build strong, long-term relationships with contractors, suppliers and partners, challenging performance and driving improvements where needed.
• Manage our programme of estate inspections and surveys, making sure issues are identified, followed through and effectively resolved.
• Use data, management information, GIS and digital systems to identify opportunities and support informed decision-making.
• Take ownership of estate services budgets, monitoring spend and ensuring services provide value for money.
• Lead on estate services procurement requirements and support effective invoice and service charge reconciliation.
• Ensure services are delivered safely and in line with relevant Health and Safety requirements.
• Work closely with customers, residents, colleagues and partners to resolve issues and continuously improve our services.
• Handle complaints positively and professionally, using insight and feedback to help improve the customer experience.
• Lead and support service improvement projects that make a meaningful difference to our customers and communities.

What we're looking for

You’ll be an engaging and confident leader who knows how to get the best from both your own team and external partners.

Ideally, you’ll bring previous experience of leading an estate services function, preferably within social housing, alongside strong contract and supplier management experience.

You’ll also have

• Proven experience of leading and developing a customer-focused team.
• Strong contract management skills, with experience of managing performance against clear measures and KPIs.
• Experience of procuring and managing services.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the confidence to tackle challenging situations constructively.
• The ability to interpret data and management information, identify solutions and present recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• A good understanding of relevant legislation and Health and Safety requirements relating to estate-based services.
• Experience of working with customers and resident groups.
• Strong budget management and IT skills.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Appointment to this role will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (if applicable), satisfactory references and possession of a valid Right to Work document.

This role may require specific qualifications, skills, knowledge, and behaviours to meet the Competence and Conduct Standard for Social Housing.

If not already qualified, there may be an expectation to study towards a professional qualification.

Discover Stonewater

Stonewater is one of the UK's largest social housing providers, driven by our purpose that everyone has a place to call home.

With around 40,000 homes, we proudly serve more than 93,000 customers, providing safe, affordable homes and the services and support that help people and communities thrive.

Our mission is to make a difference to our customers and communities through quality homes and great services that reflect our social ethos.

Guided by our vision to be the most trusted, inspiring and sustainable provider of affordable homes, we offer homes for rent, shared ownership and purchase, alongside specialist housing and support services, including retirement living, supported housing, domestic abuse refuges, LGBTQ+ safe spaces and young people's foyers.

Everything we do is centred on our customers. We build trusted relationships, create lasting social value and invest in homes.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and working towards accreditation for becoming a Disability Confident Leader, which allows us to record and report on disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace to better support our colleagues.

We have also achieved accreditation for being an Advanced Employer for Investing in Ethnicity Maturity Matrix.