Head of Building Maintenance Reactive in Ilford

• Leadership, Management & Accountability (LMA)
• Provide strong leadership and direction to the South region's Contract Managers (2–3 direct reports) and their operational teams.
• Drive a culture of accountability, ownership, performance and continuous improvement.
• Set operational standards and ensure compliance with company policies.
• Conduct performance reviews, coaching and succession planning.
• Operations Delivery
• Accountable for operational delivery across all South region contracts, covering a high volume of reactive works (typically £90–£500 per job) through to small works up to £150,000 in value.
• Ensure work is delivered safely, on time, within budget and quality standards.
• Oversee mobilisation of new contracts and service expansions.
• Monitor KPIs and resolve escalated operational issues.
• Take a hands-on role personally delivering reactive and small works alongside the team, not solely a desk-based management position.
• Contract & Commercial Management
• Maintain accountability for contract performance and compliance.
• Manage commercial risk, variations and service standards.
• Support contract renewals and commercial improvements.
• Oversee the University of Portsmouth contract specifically, including reactive maintenance and project work
• Identify and develop new business opportunities within the South region, working with existing and prospective clients to grow the contract portfolio.
• Estimating & Pricing
• Oversee estimating, pricing and tender submissions.
• Ensure pricing protects margin and competitiveness.
• Personally prepare and issue quotations for reactive and small works up to £150,000 in value.
• Health & Safety (H&S / RAMS)
• Lead health and safety compliance and safety culture.
• Ensure RAMS are reviewed, approved and implemented.
• Monitor audits, inspections and incident investigations.
• Out of Hours & Emergency Response
• Be contactable by phone out of hours to support the 24/7 reactive maintenance service, providing guidance to engineers and helping resolve issues on emergency callouts as they arise.
• Ensure the South region team is appropriately resourced and organised to respond to out-of-hours emergencies.
• Financial Management (P&L)
• Full ownership of departmental P&L performance.
• Monitor revenue, costs, margins and forecasts.
• Identify cost efficiencies and growth opportunities.
• Client & Stakeholder Management
• Maintain strong relationships with key clients and stakeholders.
• Attend client meetings, reviews and escalation management.
• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.

Person Specification

• Proven, hands-on background in building fabric trades — e. g. carpentry & joinery, plastering & rendering, brickwork / masonry, roofing & guttering, decorating, doors, windows, locks & ironmongery, groundworks, or general multi-trade building fabric maintenance — with the ability to personally deliver reactive works, not just oversee them.
• Experience managing multiple Contract Managers or teams across a dispersed geographical area.
• Computer literate — confident using Microsoft Office (Excel, Outlook, Word) and job management / CAFM systems for reporting, scheduling and KPI tracking.
• Strong commercial acumen with demonstrable P&L accountability.
• Sound working knowledge of health & safety within a reactive and planned maintenance environment.
• Excellent leadership, communication and client relationship-management skills.
• Full UK driving licence, with willingness to travel regularly across the South region.
• Willing and able to be part of an out-of-hours on-call arrangement, available by phone to support engineers and help resolve issues if problems arise on emergency reactive jobs.