Group Director of Operational Projects

At Salutem, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy, active and fulfilling life, regardless of their background or disability. We have ambitious growth plans over the next three years that will enable us to provide more care, support and education for adults, young people and children with complex needs including a learning disability, mental health issue, autism, physical disability and educational need.

The Group Director of Operational Projects (Estates and Buildings) is responsible for overseeing and managing the execution of key projects related to the organization’s estates and buildings. This role involves strategic planning, resource allocation, and ensuring that all projects align with the company’s goals and objectives. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in estates management, excellent leadership skills, and the ability to drive efficiency and innovation within the operational framework. You will be responsible for ensuring we deliver our corporate growth projects on time and to budget. This could include opening new homes for adults or children, setting up new schools for young people who have complex needs, and converting some of our existing estates to meet market demand.

We are seeking an individual with a proven track record of leading development programmes, preferably in a health and social care or educational setting. Experience of estate planning and business case development for major and complex capital investment in a comparable context is essential, as is experience of successfully leading the realization of major projects at a senior and strategic level. You will have exceptional interpersonal and leadership skills, with an ability to lead, influence and motivate a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders.

Job Responsibilities:

• Strategic Planning: Develop and implement strategic plans for estates and building projects, ensuring alignment with the company’s overall objectives.
• Project Management: Oversee the planning, execution, and completion of estates and building projects, ensuring they are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.
• Resource Allocation: Manage and allocate resources effectively to ensure project success, including personnel, budget, and materials.
• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a team on projects including operational leaders, Human resource leaders, Quality functions such as regulations to meet the project, fostering a collaborative and high-performance work environment.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Communicate with key stakeholders including people who use services and, including senior management, to provide updates on project progress and address any issues or concerns.
• Risk Management: Identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies to ensure project continuity and success.
• Performance Monitoring: Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to track project performance and implement improvements as needed.
• Compliance: Ensure all projects comply with relevant regulations, standards, and best practices, including health and safety regulations and building codes.
• Council Liaison: Work closely with local councils and regulatory bodies to obtain necessary permits and approvals, ensuring all projects meet local planning and building regulations.
• Sustainability: Promote sustainable practices in all estates and building projects, aiming to reduce environmental impact and enhance energy efficiency.

The post holder will be accountable for the delivery of all new growth projects within the Salutem organization regarding estates and new builds. The following tasks are not exhaustive but give a framework:

• Support the development of the initial project brief for new or existing estate.
• Contribute to the cost and budget planning discussions and budget submissions from initial conception to sign off.
• Maintain budgetary control throughout the project and communicate where this may start to go outside of the budget.
• Engagement with all external consultants and contractors, design, specifications, and final completion.
• Translating the approved business case into project plans that ensures all major works are completed on time and to budget.
• Leading on the procurement of all external contractors for major works, ensuring best value for money.
• Chairing all internal growth project meetings, collaborating with colleagues from operations, business development and support functions to ensure a collaborative approach is embedded in all growth projects.
• Advise on likely costs of all stage one business case proposals for major works, refits and redevelopments.
• Support in the sourcing of suitable properties and sites as directed by the Adult, Supported Living, Children and Education Directors, in line with the Group Commercial Strategy.
• To ensure that the business complies with relevant regulations and legislation and maintains high standards and best practice.
• To lead and coach interim project managers instilling a strong commercial outlook, creating a culture of business partnership, constructive challenge, and continuous improvement.
• Lead the complete project management lifecycle, from day one of board approval through to handing over the keys to our Managing Directors.
• Ensuring all relevant planning applications and approvals are in place, taking the lead to make this happen.
• Tactical on-site working to coordinate various aspects of our building-related projects.
• Health and safety – ensure all buildings comply with the relevant health and safety legislation.

This job description should not be seen as all encompassing, and the post holder will be expected to undertake any other responsibilities appropriate to the post as identified by the company.

Key Relationships:

• Group Executive Team
• Senior Leadership Team
• Managers of services
• Estates teams
• Finance teams
• Legal teams

Person Specification:

• Professional Qualifications: Prince 2 Project Management or equivalent; Degree or equivalent experience in building related subject (e.g. building services); Hold a qualification and membership of the Architects Registration Board (or equivalent).
• Knowledge: Significant knowledge and experience of delivering new growth developments from the ground up; Strong business acumen and ability to build an understanding of the business, to develop a deep understanding of business needs, to build and shape delivery plans; Expert knowledge of programme and project management; Detailed knowledge of building and planning regulations in both England and Wales, preferably within a health and social care or education setting.
• Skills: Comfortable working with, presenting to, and facilitating decisions among senior stakeholders; Proven strength in positions of leadership with the ability to mobilise, inspire, and lead others; Commercially astute and able to produce realistic and achievable estates cost models to support the business case for new developments.
• Experience: Proven experience in a similar/comparative role; Demonstrable evidence of delivering growth projects on time and to budget.
• Personal Qualities: Resilient; Able to manage multiple projects; Excellent communication skills; Strong team player; Flexibility; Strong influencer who is great at connecting the dots at the organisation, strategy, program, and project levels.
• Other: Own transport and full licence; Ability to work “out of hours”; Proactive approach.

Our Core Values:

• We are Supportive by promoting opportunities for everyone so they can reach their full potential.
• We are very Ambitious to provide the best possible outcomes for the people who use our services.
• We are Loyal because we put the people that we support and our staff at the centre of everything we do and we deliver on our promises.
• We also are committed to ensuring that our services are meeting the needs of all stakeholders.
• We are Unique because we are ambitious and innovative about the diversity of the services that we provide without compromising quality.
• We are Transparent by being open, honest and fostering a culture of mutual respect.
• We promote a culture where we learn by our experiences and we are committed to doing things better and setting the highest standards in what we do.
• We are Engaging because we work in partnership with the people that we support, our staff and all our stakeholders.
• We encourage everyone to experience a Meaningful life by being aspirational and by offering opportunities.