Estates Manager

Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent College of the University of Oxford and is located in spacious gardens beside the University Parks. The College was founded in 1878 with a dual passion for learning and for equality, making it possible for the first time for women to study at Oxford. Today, the College is a co‑educational academic community of over 430 undergraduate and 220 postgraduate students, committed to research and scholarship and to effective, highly personalised teaching and learning for students from all backgrounds. LMH combines consistently high academic standards with a long tradition of being a welcoming, stimulating and inclusive environment. We are also the only Oxbridge College to hold the Platinum Award from Investors in People for our support staff.

LMH seeks to appoint a full‑time, permanent Estates Manager to proactively and systematically manage the maintenance, repair and improvement of the built estate, building services and other related infrastructure at Lady Margaret Hall. The Estates Manager is responsible for managing all aspects of the College estate, including contributing to the College’s long‑term estates strategy and masterplan, ensuring the estate meets statutory, environmental and health and safety obligations. The successful candidate will plan projects to meet the College’s aspirations for the built environment within time and budget. The role will oversee all maintenance services and capital projects, ensuring a high‑quality, responsive and compliant service across the College estate. The role will manage the directly employed Estates Team (currently six staff) and coordinate the activities of external contractors and service providers.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Estate Management
  • Production of a forward‑looking estates development plan to meet the following College objectives:
  • Contribute to and implement the College’s Estates Strategy, balancing short‑, medium‑ and long‑term maintenance and investment needs.
  • To protect the buildings.
  • To meet regulatory requirements including health and safety requirements and the College’s procedures.
  • To maintain suitable building services.
  • To provide a living and working environment fit for purpose.
  • To create inspiring spaces.
  • To work towards secure, affordable and lower‑carbon energy performance.
  • Support and contribute to the College’s environmental strategy, including carbon reduction and sustainability initiatives.
• Project Management & Capital Works
  • Budget and plan for works projects of between £5,000 and £1,000,000.
  • Develop project briefs, specifications and budgets in collaboration with college stakeholders and committees.
  • Improve planned preventative maintenance programmes to maintain the College’s buildings and services effectively and within budget.
  • Source through bids, quotes, tenders etc. contractors, designers and other third parties as required to fulfil all of these projects and programs.
  • Monitor project progress and provide regular reports to support College decision‑making, budgeting and investment planning.
• Maintenance & Operations
  • Co‑ordinate, by agreeing with other departments and using the College’s software and relationships with colleagues, the time windows for various projects and maintenance work.
  • Maintain suitable arrangements to deliver out of hours reactive services to an agreed service level.
  • Deliver and monitor planned preventative and reactive maintenance programmes, ensuring compliance with building and safety standards.
  • Provide a responsive, high‑quality maintenance service to college members and visitors.
  • Use facilities management systems to monitor departmental performance and report on progress, identifying areas for improvement.
  • Develop the College’s records, drawings, schematics etc of the buildings and grounds, services.
  • Maintain accurate and up‑to‑date records of building condition, compliance and maintenance activities to meet statutory requirements.
• Team Management
  • Recruit, train and develop, direct and manage the College’s Estates Team in accordance with the College’s status as an Investors in People Platinum employer.
  • Supervise and support the Estates Team as they plan and execute repairs and maintenance and help / guide them in planning and delivering their work.
  • Set clear standards, procedures and expectations for service delivery.
  • Work with supervisors (where applicable) to coordinate day‑to‑day operations.
  • Lead, motivate and support the team to deliver a high‑quality, customer‑focused service.
• Financial Management
  • Draft an annual budget proposal and regularly manage financial performance from Management Accounts throughout the year at a three weekly Estates Committee.
  • Control departmental expenditure, ensuring value for money and efficient procurement.
  • Provide regular financial and performance reports to the Estates Committee and other relevant College bodies.
• Health & Safety and Compliance
  • Manage the Health and Safety implications for the activities and of the department and team as Department head and in accordance with our existing health and safety policy and procedures.
  • Act as the College’s nominated responsible person/duty holder for key compliance areas including fire safety, asbestos management and water hygiene (legionella), ensuring statutory obligations are met and College policies are implemented effectively.
  • Promote a strong health and safety culture across all Estates activities.
  • Maintain risk assessments, COSHH records and safety documentation.
  • Ensure contractors are appropriately inducted, supervised and compliant with college standards and statutory requirements.
• Governance & External Relations
  • Support and report to college committees (including Estates Committee), providing updates on maintenance, projects, compliance and risk.
  • Maintain accurate estate data to support planning and decision‑making.
  • Represent the College in dealings with local authorities, regulators and external organisations.
• Sustainability & Utilities
  • Advise on how the College can continue to operate its estate and services efficiently, including the management of energy, gas, water.
  • Always consider protecting the LMH environment and continually find more sustainable ways of working.
  • Monitor and manage utilities usage across the estate and support delivery of environmental performance targets.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

Essential

• Demonstrable experience managing maintenance operations, statutory compliance and capital works within a complex multi‑building, multi‑use estate.
• Strong working knowledge of statutory compliance obligations relating to estates management, including fire safety, asbestos, water hygiene (legionella) and contractor management.
• Proven ability to manage contractors, budgets and multiple stakeholders effectively, delivering projects and services within agreed timescales and budgets.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across a collegiate environment.
• Experience of leading, motivating and developing operational teams.
• Ability to analyse data and produce clear, concise reports to support decision‑making.
• Experience of using facilities or maintenance management systems.

Desirable

• Health & Safety qualification (e.g. NEBOSH).
• Trade, construction, building services or estates‑related qualification.
• Experience of working within a higher education, collegiate, heritage or similarly complex estate environment.

Salary, Benefits and How to Apply

The salary will be c.£60,000 per annum for a 37.5‑hour week. This is a permanent position. Benefits of working for the College include 37 days holiday (including bank holidays), the option to join a University pension scheme, one free meal whilst on duty and open kitchen, free annual flu jab, employee assistance programme, parking permit scheme, childcare salary sacrifice scheme, bicycle purchase scheme, bus and train season tickets and great social events. There will be an initial probationary period of four months. Applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

Equal Opportunities

The College’s Equal Opportunities Policy aims to ensure that in the recruitment, selection, training, appraisal, development and promotion of employees, the only consideration must be that the individual best meets, or is likely to meet, the requirements of the programme or post. Lady Margaret Hall is committed to provide a learning, working and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all its members are respected, and which is free from prejudice, intimidation and all forms of harassment, including bullying. We seek to ensure that no‑one suffers, either directly or indirectly, as a result of discrimination. Lady Margaret Hall has a range of family‑friendly policies.