Area Manager - Home Counties

VIVO provides facilities management and accommodation maintenance for the UK military and its partners. VIVO embodies both experience and innovation. We put our Customers and Families First. They are the driving force behind everything we do. We drive forward improvements for them to ensure the service they receive, whether reactive repairs or a major project, is completed safely and on time. In order to achieve this, we have 4 core values: open, caring, agile and collaborative. These are at the heart of everything we do.

Location: High Wycombe or Brize Norton, to cover sites in Oxford, Bicester, Wallingford, Aylesbury & Maidenhead.

We are seeking an experienced and values-driven Area Manager to lead the delivery of a high-quality repairs and maintenance service, ensuring excellent outcomes for customers, stakeholders and the business. This is a senior operational role with full accountability for performance, budget control and health and safety compliance across the service area.

As Area Manager, you will:

• Lead and motivate a multi-disciplinary team and specialist supply chain partners.
• Ensure the effective delivery of planned, reactive and out-of-hours services.
• Take ownership of operational performance, managing complex repairs, monitoring KPIs and using data and trend analysis to drive continuous improvement and value for money.
• Manage delegated budgets through robust financial control, forecasting, exception reporting and remedial actions where required.
• Work collaboratively with internal teams and external partners to identify opportunities to improve service delivery and increase efficiency.
• Create a supportive, fair and positive culture where individuals are engaged, motivated and able to develop their skills.
• Manage performance through effective one-to-ones, appraisals and performance reviews.
• Address employee matters such as sickness, absence, health and safety, grievance and disciplinary issues in line with policy and best practice.
• Build trusted relationships with stakeholders and deliver a first-class service in line with contractual and bid commitments.

You will undertake the necessary training to act as the Responsible Person for Legionella and Asbestos. You will work from our High Wycombe or Brize Norton sites (whichever is closer to you) with hybrid working available once probation has been passed.

About You: You will bring strong leadership, communication and decision-making skills, with a flexible and agile approach. You will have sound knowledge of repairs and maintenance services, relevant legislation, regulatory requirements and British Standards. Experience managing multi-disciplinary teams and subcontractors in a performance-driven environment is essential. It is important that you have a strong background within the Social Housing sector, or significant Hard Services FM experience, and are a confident communicator with proven continuous improvement success.

You will ideally hold, or be working towards, a relevant professional qualification such as CIOB or RICS (or equivalent experience), with a good working knowledge of health and safety management. NEBOSH or IOSH qualifications, and experience as a Responsible Person, are desirable. You will be confident using Microsoft Office applications and comfortable working with performance data to inform decisions.

If you are a trusted, caring and commercially aware leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is committed to delivering high-quality services, we would welcome your application.

What We Offer:

• 6% employee matched pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave
• Bonus
• Company car/car allowance
• Life assurance 2x annual salary
• Private medical cover for self and partner

The role you have applied for is with VIVO Defence Services, a joint venture between Serco and EQUANS. By applying for this role, please be aware that information contained within your CV may be shared between VIVO Defence Services, Serco and EQUANS during the recruitment process. At VIVO, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. Therefore, we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working and operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly a Disability Confident Leader. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.