Development Manager in London

Salary: Competitive Salary plus benefits

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Monday to Friday – 9am to 5pm (35 hours per week)

Why FirstPort?

FirstPort is on an ambitious journey to redefine excellence in UK residential property management. We are committed to elevating and resetting industry standards to be the most trusted and professional residential property management company.

By joining us, you will play a pivotal role in achieving our vision:

• Impactful Work: You will directly support FirstPort’s mission to elevate industry standards and provide an exceptional service to our customers.
• Professional Growth: With access to accredited training and development programmes, you will be empowered to reach your potential.
• Supportive Environment: We foster a culture where collaboration and innovation thrive, ensuring you feel valued and supported every step of the way.
• A Future of Opportunity: Be part of a forward-thinking organisation that is shaping the future of residential property management in the UK.

At the core of everything we do are our leadership principles:

• Collaborative: We work together, combining expertise to deliver outstanding outcomes for our customers.
• Consistent: We deliver dependable results, building trust with customers and colleagues.
• Simple: We simplify the complex, ensuring our financial processes are straightforward and understood.
• Clear: We communicate with clarity, making information accessible and transparent to all stakeholders.

Your Role, Your Impact

As the Development Manager, you will contribute to our vision of being the leading residential property manager by:

• Adopting a proactive and strategic focus, having overall operational accountability for a development, compliance, health safety and wellbeing, service excellence and value for money.
• Ensuring all employees on site provide an efficient, value for money management service to our customers and achieve high standards of performance within a team of individuals to create a welcoming, friendly and courteous environment for our residents.
• Being passionate about delivering consistently high standards of customer service, working within our Four Pillar strategy, ensuring our development is well maintained and demonstrates full compliance with our own policies, procedures and internal performance measures.

This role reports to the regional manager and has a team of up to 10 direct reports and 20 indirect reports.

Key Responsibilities

• Delivering effective service levels, and acting as the FirstPort representative towards customers, clients and Developers as appropriate, ensuring all areas aspects of the development are fully presentable, serviced and properly maintained.
• Building and maintaining working relationships with the committee of any Residents Association / RMC, RTM Co and attending their meetings as appropriate.
• Identifying and delivering on-going training needs to support the team, utilising appropriate internal and external methods and support as well as conducting frequent reviews with direct reports providing constructive feedback and coaching, ensuring KPI’s and SLA’s are met.
• Monitoring and managing performance, setting guidelines, managing holiday/sickness absences and organising shift cover, undertaking or organising emergency cover as required.
• Effective cost control and review of expenditure and accounts, including assisting with setting service charges and presenting of accounts together with preparation and presentation of bimonthly financial summary reports.
• Holding proactive customer/contractors and client meetings, ensuring issues are promptly administered and dealt with within the agreed timeframes.
• Investigating and responding to complaints, up to Stage 1, and collaborating with Regional Manager in Stage 2 complaints responses.
• Undertaking required risk assessments, health and safety checks and routine testing requirements ensuring concerns are acted upon and completed within the given timeframe.
• Supporting with the monitoring and supervision of contractors, carrying out works on and around the development.
• Raising of works orders and ensuring all orders are monitored and delivered within the designated time frame.
• Ensuring reactive/planned works are conducted to a high quality.
• To ensure all irregular incidents are investigated and reported to the development manager.
• Providing a response to emergency queries (out of normal office hours) directing colleagues as appropriate including attendance where necessary.
• Carrying out regular inspection audits of the site and taking/organising remedial action if and when required, ensuring the fabric of the building both externally and internally is maintained and serviced to a high standard, including the achievement of all KPIs set.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience of managing people/teams and delivering an exceptional customer service.
• Confident, articulate communicator – both orally and in writing; able to build relationships with all types of customer and client with a resolution focused mentality, creative in your approach.
• Able to work with autonomy and as part of a wider team.
• Efficient in maintaining administration and record keeping electronically.
• Demonstrable ability dealing with problems and challenges effectively.
• Comprehensive understanding of the principles relating to Health and Safety regulations and Residential Landlord & Tenant legislation.
• Ability to work under pressure deadlines, able to prioritise and manage time effectively.
• Excellent IT skills, social-media awareness and up to date with new technology.
• Demonstrable experience with multi schedule budget preparation and management.
• Able to mobilise new and/or triage, post mortem and demobilisation developments using risk management frameworks and strategies.
• Exceptional customer service experience, with the ability to work multi-task, prioritise and manage various tasks simultaneously.
• Charismatic, with the flair to learn new skills and enhance self-development and better those around you.

What’s in it for you?

Our customers deserve the best and the same applies to our people. We will provide you with the technology, training and support that you need to do your job well. We offer competitive salaries and a range of benefit packages depending on the grade of your role, such as private medical insurance, pension contributions and life assurance. In addition, we also offer a range of exclusive discounts on extra benefits to help you, and your family make the most of your money, safeguard your future and look after your health, including discounted gym membership for all colleagues.

Diversity

We’re committed to promoting diversity at FirstPort and recruit on merit. We will ensure we make any adjustments that we can to support both through the recruitment and on-boarding process.

Ready to make a difference?

If you’re ready to take the next step in your career and make a difference we’d love to hear from you! All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK without restrictions, and documented evidence of eligibility will be required.

Join us at FirstPort, where we not only manage properties but strive to lead and transform the industry. Together, we can make a difference – for our customers, our colleagues, and the future of residential property management in the UK. Elevate your career. Reset the standard. Join FirstPort.