Lead Maintenance Operative in Oxford

Purpose of the Role

The Lead Maintenance Operative supports the day-to-day maintenance of the property, ensuring buildings remain safe, well maintained and operational for residents.

Working as part of the property operations team, the role carries out hands-on maintenance tasks, supports health and safety activities and helps maintain high standards across the property.

In addition, the Lead Maintenance Operative provides support to the Maintenance Manager and will take on responsibility for overseeing maintenance operations in their absence, ensuring continuity of service, team coordination, and delivery of operational standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver planned maintenance and inspection tasks to ensure buildings remain safe and operational.
• Carry out hands-on reactive maintenance tasks, resolving issues efficiently and to a high standard.
• Monitor and support health and safety compliance tasks across the property.
• Raise and manage maintenance and pest control cases where required.
• Raise welfare, housekeeping or resident experience cases where appropriate.
• Support property emergency response and provide first-line incident response when required.
• Maintain communal areas and property presentation, carrying out low-level repairs and general upkeep.
• Record all maintenance requests, cases and operational issues within the CRM system.
• Ensure all activities are carried out in line with company policies, procedures and safety standards.
• Support resident enquiries and maintenance requests, ensuring issues are resolved promptly.
• Guide residents to the relevant teams for any sales or retention enquiries.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, providing operational cover where required.
• Support efficiency and cost control by using materials and resources responsibly.
• Proactively participate in training, development, and continuous improvement activities to enhance skills and contribute to team performance.

Additional Lead Responsibilities (cover for Maintenance Manager)

• Support the Maintenance Manager in coordinating day-to-day maintenance activities and workload planning.
• Act as the point of contact for maintenance operations in the absence of the Maintenance Manager, ensuring smooth running of the property.
• Provide guidance and support to team members, helping maintain standards and consistency of delivery.
• Monitor workload, priorities, and completion of tasks to ensure service levels are maintained.
• Liaise with contractors and suppliers as required to support the delivery of maintenance works.

Experience, Skills & Qualifications

• Solid experience working as a Maintenance Operative, with a strong understanding of day-to-day property maintenance in a customer-facing environment.
• Demonstrates the capability to carry out the majority of day-to-day maintenance tasks across the property, with a broad, practical understanding of multi-trade works.
• Technically minded, with a proactive approach to problem-solving and diagnosing issues.
• Shows a strong willingness to learn and develop, with an eagerness to build skills across a range of maintenance disciplines.
• Brings a positive, can-do attitude and takes pride in delivering high-quality work.
• Basic understanding of health and safety procedures and safe working practices.
• Ability to work independently and take ownership, including stepping into a leadership role when required.
• Good communication skills and a customer-focused approach.
• Experience supporting or guiding others, or taking informal leadership responsibility, is desirable.
• Basic knowledge of building systems (e.g., plumbing, electrical, carpentry or general repairs) desirable.

We`re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be yourself, where your voice is heard and where you can truly belong. It is important to us that our people reflect the diversity of our students and the communities we work in. We celebrate being different and work together to be the best we can be.