Church Planting and Revitalisation Senior Surveyor in Birmingham

Are you a building professional that wants to use their skills to enable the church to grow and thrive? Or maybe you are looking for the next step in your career and want to see the work you do make a direct impact in the communities of Birmingham and the wider region? This could be the opportunity you are looking for.

Background to the Role

Church of England Birmingham (CofEB) is on a journey of growing churches at the heart of every community. Through this we are seeing growth in many exciting ways and have recently been awarded over £17.8m for the latest phase of our strategy from the national church. A key theme within our strategy is Church Planting and Revitalisation. This is where we either start new churches in communities that need them or breathe new life into existing churches that are struggling. Buildings are normally key. We either need to buy buildings and retrofit them or update our existing buildings for this purpose.

We need a property professional. They will be part of our Property Team and be dedicated to working on the property elements of our church plants and revitalisations. Each Church Plant, or Revitalisation is its own separate project within CofEB and this role will lead on the property elements of these projects under the project governance already in place (normally a steering group chaired by a representative of the Mission Support Team under the remit ultimately of our Executive Board).

Key elements of this role include:

• Managing a range of building improvement projects from very small to quite large from conception to completion.
• Stakeholder management and communications so that plans are formed and delivered collaboratively.
• Submitting applications to Birmingham Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches (DAC), on behalf of parishes, to gain permission for property improvements.
• Working with internal teams, predominantly Mission Support and the Project Management Office, to ensure projects are delivered holistically and in line with funder expectations.
• Supporting Directors, Archdeacons and others to develop the property elements of future strategic plans.

Role Description

Key objectives

• Support Project Leads from the Mission Support Team and Project Managers from the PMO in creating initial plans and schemes for building improvements in line with mission plans to support the securing of funds for the wider project.
• Lead on improving the buildings for new mission initiatives, in particular church plants and revitalisations.
• Understand, create, and manage key relationships with DAC to support the granting of faculty permission.
• Create processes and ways of working that increase our efficiency when improving buildings for future church use.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead on assessing current and new buildings that will be part of new mission initiatives and work with key stakeholders to:

• Identify needed improvements to enable the building to provide all the basic functions for future use.
• Create plans, and concepts, for improving the building so it can deliver what is needed from the proposed missional design (e.g. new space for new activities, new set up due to need for AV equipment).
• Cost these plans so they can be part of future funding applications.

• developing appropriate risk registers and control measures required.
• ensuring safe working practices are adopted in accordance with the Property Departments procedures, asbestos regulations and CDM regulations.
• selecting procurement methods.
• monitoring the performance of projects against specific performance indicators and operating mechanisms for ensuring adherence to technical procedures and working practices; and
• analysing performance issues with a view to recommending improvements to ensure cost effectiveness, quality, speed, and safety in future project delivery.

The Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) places responsibilities for Health and Safety on all employees. Therefore it will be the postholder’s responsibility to take reasonable care for the Health, Safety and Welfare of themselves and others in accordance with legislation and the Company policy on Health & Safety.

Person Specification

A successful Senior Surveyor candidate will have:

• RICS or CIOB (or equivalent chartership with the RIBA and APM) qualification with 5 years post qualification experience; a requirement for Continuing Professional Development would be advantageous.
• Experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams in achieving planning permission, and delivering development/construction projects.
• Knowledge of statutory compliance regulation (essential), planning and building regulation procedures (essential), and experience of working in listed buildings (desirable).
• Experience of planning and decision-making processes within large and complex organisations.
• Experience of cost estimating, negotiating tenders, financial monitoring and control.
• Experience of preparing schedules of work and tender packages.
• Experience of supervising, undertaking property inspections and assessing audits, and managing professional consultants.
• Experience of preventive maintenance planning.
• Knowledge of health and safety legislation affecting the built environment.
• Knowledge of procurement and contractual practices and procedures.
• Experience of successful problem solving and project management.
• Excellent skills in leadership, interpersonal relationships, negotiation and persuasion, and written and visual communication and presentation.
• The capacity to work and make decisions with a high level of personal discretion.
• An understanding of the Church of England, why we are looking to ‘grow churches at the heart of every community’, and how they could contribute.
• Due to the major emphasis on visiting the buildings we are working on, the Senior Surveyor candidate must have an ability to travel across the breadth of the diocese.

Terms and Conditions

• Hours: Full-time (35 hours per week) within the Property Team for a fixed term of five years (with potential for extension if further funds are secured).
• Salary: £44,000
• Pension: Membership of the Church Workers Pension scheme with 12% employer contributions and three-times death in service benefit.
• Holidays: 25 days per year plus bank holidays plus 3 additional diocesan discretionary days.
• The postholder will report to the Director of Property.
• The employer is the Birmingham Diocesan Board of Finance (BDBF).

Employment Rights and Equality

The Church of England Birmingham is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where all can be themselves and bring their unique identity to their ministry and/or work. We welcome applications from any individuals who feel they meet the person specification for any post, in particular from those who are currently under‑represented in our staff teams such as those from Global Majority Heritage or UK Minority Ethnic backgrounds, those with visible or invisible disabilities and those who identify as LGBTQI+.

The Church of England Birmingham is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All post holders are expected to share this commitment.