Associate Director of Estates Operations Candidate Information Pack
Welcome Letter Thank you for taking an interest in this important and exciting role with the University of Birmingham Estates senior core team. The University of Birmingham seeks to attract and recruit an Associate Director of Estates Operations to play a crucial leadership role to consistently deliver excellent estates operational services at the University. The Associate Director of Estates will lead the delivery of a broad portfolio of estates services across the University’s diverse array of buildings and assets which includes teaching and research space, a medical school, energy centre, workspace, enterprise space, social and hospitality space, residential accommodation, recreational and sports facilities and the public realm. This is an integral, permanent role within the Estates senior core team reporting directly to Trevor Payne, the Director of Estates. The Associate Director of Estates Operations will work closely with the Director and Deputy Director of Estates and will have responsibility for the compliant delivery of Estates maintenance and operations at the University of Birmingham (UoB). The post holder will lead on people, culture, and service effectiveness for their team, working with the Estate’s heads of department and team members. They will focus on the skills, composition and sourcing of people and services within the Estates operational team in order to deliver a comprehensive 24/7/365 Estates service. The post holder will represent Estates - playing an active role on key university and project committees, operational task and finish groups and emergency response command in order to support a wide range of student and staff facing activities. We are seeking an exceptional candidate with a track record of managing large diverse Estates operational teams, and contracts, prioritizing and providing an exceptional customer service all within budget. To be a success in the role we are seeking an individual with outstanding stakeholder engagement, team leadership skills, who is results focused and customer-centric in approach. If this sounds like you, then I look forward to receiving your application and meeting you.
Trevor Payne Director of Estates
Our University Community At Birmingham, we teach and research across the full breadth of academic disciplines, creating a vibrant community with multidisciplinary opportunities for research and education. We are a truly international community, comprising more than 8,000 staff, 38,000 students, and over 350,000 alumni. Our student community is not only one of the largest of any UK university, but also highly diverse, with 86% of our home undergraduate students from state schools, 43% from black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds, and 36% in the first generation of their family to attend university. We have a diverse staff community: over one-third of our academic staff are from overseas, around 22% of our staff are from black, Asian or other minority ethnic backgrounds, and 5% have a declared disability. Our most recent staff survey indicates levels of engagement and pride which most employers would be pleased to achieve, and we are committed to building on this through the inclusion of ‘people and culture’ as a core pillar of the Birmingham 2030 Strategic Framework. We support academics at all stages of their career through our recently
About the University
The University of Birmingham was founded on the vision of Joseph Chamberlain in 1900 to provide a university for the people of Birmingham, ‘a great school of universal instruction… taking all knowl- edge in its province’. This philosophy has defined and shaped us as an institution for our city ever since, founded on equality of opportunity for all. We are proud to continue to find new expressions for these civic roots. The University is now a global institution, with our doors open, welcoming the best to Birmingham and taking the best of Birmingham to the world. Our heritage as the original ‘redbrick’ is com- bined with an ambitious agenda to continue the transformation of the University. In recent years, we have significantly increased our recruitment of leading academics, and have undertaken a £1 billion renewal of the campus estate. Ranked within the top 100 universities globally, Birmingham is a member of the Russell Group and a founding member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities. Numerous staff have received the most prestigious recognition within their fields, including Nobel Prizes. The quality of our research has grown significantly, as
demonstrated in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework results, where we ranked 10th, having enjoyed the biggest rise of any institution in the Russell Group. This success is continuing, with academics at Birmingham attracting in excess of £250m in research awards in the last academic year. It is consistently amongst the most target- ed universities by graduate employers. We have our own non-selective secondary school and sixth form serving the diverse communities of Birmingham, and have a major campus in Du- bai. We take our role seriously as an anchor insti- tution for the UK’s diverse, youthful, and dynamic second city, and are one of the largest employ- ers in the region. We played a central role in the success of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, and value our partnerships with local or- ganisations including through our Civic University Agreement signed with Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Through The Exchange we have a city centre base from which to work with partners. We are currently working with Bruntwood SciTech and NHS partners to develop the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus which will open in 2024.
reformed Birmingham Academic Career Framework, with the aim of supporting colleagues to develop and maintain an academic culture of intellectual stimulation and high achievement, whilst fostering a deep affinity with the institution. We value our diversity and aim to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of the University community. We believe our diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas,
innovation and debate at the heart of our academic mission. We hold a Bronze Race Equality Charter Award and a Bronze Athena SWAN Charter Award at institutional level, with many school- level awards at both silver and bronze.
Research & Innovation The University is one of the UK’s most successful institutions in terms of research. In the latest Research Excellence Framework, we were placed 10th in terms of GPA, with the highest rise in position of any Russell Group university, and with significant improvements across the breadth of our disciplines – a genuine University-wide achievement. Our areas of research excellence are unusually comprehensive for a UK university, with a submission to 28 of a possible 34 Units of Assessment in the REF2021. The total value of research funding won by the University has grown rapidly in recent years, and we now have a portfolio of over 2,800 live projects with an award value to the University of over £900m. Our academic community achieves remarkable things. We have been integral to some of the greatest scientific discoveries of recent times, such as the discovery of the Higgs boson particle and the detection of gravitational waves. We enjoy world-class expertise in areas as diverse as mental health, Shakespeare studies, global maternal health, formulation engineering, quantum technology, psychology, water science, air pollution, corpus linguistics, inter-faith understanding, and character education. Our robust industrial partnerships support enterprise and innovation across several sectors, working with companies as diverse as Siemens, AstraZeneca and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and drawing on our innovation assets such as the Birmingham Health Innovation Campus and the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Ansty, near Coventry. Our Railway Engineering group, which was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2017, has extensive collaborations with industry, including securing £92m investment through the Research Partnership Investment Fund. Our world-leading High Temperature Research Centre is built on a £60m investment from Rolls-Royce and this collaboration won the 2023 Queen’s Anniversary prize. We run one of the four national quantum technology hubs, an £80m initiative that focuses on technology transfer from fundamental science to application. We support academics to engage with policy makers, and through the work of University of Birmingham Enterprise, manage the University’s extensive technology transfer and academic consultancy business, IP protection and spinout portfolio.
Birmingham 2030 Through our Birmingham 2030 Strategic Framework we have set an aspiration to become a top 50 global institution. We recognise this is a genuinely challenging aim, which will require a vibrant, intellectually exciting, and diverse University community for research and education, as well as working closely with our partners in Birmingham and around the world. With world-class research and outstanding global education as our core mission, we will strive to increase the volume and quality of our research to make an even greater difference to the world around us. We will be the UK’s exemplary civic University, remaining firmly committed to our foundations in the highly diverse communities, people, and economy of the city of Birmingham and the West Midlands. A link to the Birmingham 2030 Strategic Framework can be found here. Birmingham 2030 strengthens our commitment to sustainability as one of the core pillars of our activity. This includes using our research and education to make a major global contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, a headline aim to be net zero carbon for scope 1 and 2 by 2035 and overall by 2045. We are active partners in Birmingham’s Tyseley Energy Park developing new technologies to contribute to Birmingham’s net zero ambitions.
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion The promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion is central to the mission and vision of the University of Birmingham. On our founding in 1900, a core commitment was to accept women and people of all religious backgrounds as equal members of the University community. We are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive learning and working environment where discrimination is not tolerated, where all members of the University can flourish and reach their full potential; where we engage with and learn from our community and where we affect positive change within the University, our city and wider society. Our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Scheme 2021 – 2024 sets out our objectives and actions based on the inter- locking themes of: • Creating an inclusive environment: developing a university community where everyone feels welcome, included, and empowered to succeed. • Dismantling barriers: addressing the structural barriers faced by groups within the University in order to create more equitable outcomes. • Integrating equality, diversity, and inclusion: issues and impacts are considered and addressed across our activities. We are actively working to increase our proportion of senior female academics, the number of people from minority ethnic groups we employ and the degree awarding gap. In November 2020, the University formally adopted the IHRA definition of Anti-Semitism
Leadership and Governance
The University enjoys strong working between the Council and the executive, and our recent Council effectiveness review commended the ‘strong sense of there being “one team” across non-executives, executives and staff and student members.’ The governing body of the University is the Council, which is chaired by the Pro-Chancellor, Mervyn Walker. Council comprises 24 lay, academic and student members, most of whom are lay members external to the University. There are five Committees, which report to Council: • University Executive Board • Strategy, Planning and Resources Committee • Audit Committee The University Executive Board (UEB) is the senior leadership team of the University and a Committee of Council. It is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and its membership consists of the Provost and Vice-Principal; three thematic Pro-Vice- Chancellors for Education, Research, and • Membership Committee • Remuneration Committee
International; the Heads of College; the Registrar and Secretary; and the Finance Director. The University is organised into five academic Colleges, each of which consists of a number of Schools and departments. Each College is led by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of College who is a member of the University Executive Board. • Engineering and Physical Sciences • Life and Environmental Sciences • Medical and Dental Sciences • Social Sciences Professional Services The University’s Professional Services work in partnership with academics to support the academic mission of the University. Professional Services are led by the Registrar and Secretary, who is supported by the Registrar’s Leadership Group, made up of Senior Officers and the Directors of Operations in the Colleges. The five colleges are: • Arts and Law
Our Global Outlook The University has expanded its global presence in recent years. Most significantly, our Dubai campus is taking, for the first time, the qualities, and values of a global top 100 universi - ty to the heart of Dubai’s academic city. We opened the first, start-up, phase of our Dubai campus in 2018 and opened our full campus at the start of 2022, with capacity for up to 4,500 students. The campus will be a centre for education and research, offering a growing range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuous professional development programmes.
Student Experience and Learning
Birmingham has encouraged independent thinking and provided academic programmes that stretch and chal- lenge for more than a century. Our stunning Edgbaston campus is a distinctive element of the experience we offer to our students. In recent years, this has been enhanced even further by major investments in a new main library, the Collaborative Teaching Laboratory, a Teaching and Learning Building, and a major sports centre. Centred around the Green Heart, one of the largest open green spaces of any UK university, our 672-acre campus also includes The Vale student accommodation village, set around a lake in its own beautiful parkland. Our research enhances and reinforces our teaching, and we value and reward teaching quality. Experiences learnt during the Covid pandemic have allowed us to enhance our in-person teaching with enhanced digital learning. Our student experience is enriched by a huge range of extracurricular opportunities from sport and music to volunteering. We are pleased with our high rates of graduate employment, and our students are the most frequently targeted of any university by the country’s top employers looking for graduate recruits. Our student population has increased by over 4,000 since 2009-10, and we now have a total student popu - lation of over 25,000 undergraduate and 13,000 post- graduate students. We are a global community, with nearly 11,000 interna- tional students studying either at Edgbaston or over- seas (at our Dubai campus, through our partnership with Jinan University, and on distance learning cours- es). We have 2,500 students undertaking distance learning courses.
Our international strategy has an emphasis on key country partnerships. In China, we have developed a broad range of activities, including a signa- ture collaboration with the Guangzhou Municipal Government, and well-de- veloped research collaborations in many parts of the country; we also have a dedicated China Institute to further these partnerships. In Brazil, we have a strong network of strategic partnerships with Brazilian universities and indus- trial partners. In North America, the University has a major collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign underpinned by a flourishing network of faculty-to-faculty relationships. In Australia, we partner with the University of Melbourne, and in India, our academic and business partnerships continue to develop across a range of disciplines. We value our long-standing links with Europe and have deepened our European allianc- es in recent years. We are a founder member of EUniWell alliance of European universities and have signed partnerships with Trinity College Dublin and the University of Amsterdam, covering joint work in areas such as clinical trials, biomaterials, medical training, and equality and diversity. We are a founder member of the Universitas 21 international network of research-in- tensive universities and play an active role in much of its work, including hosting its offices on campus. We deliver University of Birmingham degree programmes in Sin - gapore and China, have partnership agreements with many of the world’s leading universities, and offer a range of different educational collaborations, including joint master’s programmes with IIT Madras, joint PhDs with the University of Melbourne, ‘2+2’ degree programmes, and a developing suite of Masters courses delivered in conjunction with partners around the world. We have offices in New Delhi, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Estates Office Structure Chart February 2024 - Nameless Version Sheet 2 of 2
Director of Estates
Associate Director of Estates Operations
Deputy Director of Estates (Development)
Estates Business Manager
Head of Estates Infrastructure
Health & Safety Manager
Head of Estates
Head of Utilities
Operations
Technical Infrastructure Manager (Mechanical)
Technical Infrastructure Manager (Electrical)
E states Operations Manager
Head of Technical Services
Head of Grounds & Gardens
Decarbonisation Sustainability Manager
Transition Manager
Head of Maintenance
Condition Manager
BEMS Manager
Energy Centre Manager
Health and Safety Coordinator
6 x Maintenance Officer
Apprentice Environmental Sustainability Officer
5 x Technical Officers
Deputy Head of Maintenance
Team 1 Team Leader
Team 2 Team Leader
Team 3 Team Leader
Technical Support Officer
BEMS Network System Manager
4 x Shift Technician
2 x Energy Analyst
Student Residence Maintenance Team leader
1 x Deputy Technical Officer
Stores Supply Manager
Building Team Leader
Electrical Team Leader
Mechanical Team Leader
Deputy Team Leader
Deputy Team Leader
Green Waste Coordinator
2 x BEMS Engineers
4 x Technical Assistants
Apprentice BEMS Engineer
2 x Deputy Team Leaders
4 x Technical Assistants
2 x Supply Assistants
Deputy Team Leader
2 x Deputy Team Leaders
2 x Deputy Team Leaders
9 x Craftperson Gardeners
6 x Craftperson Gardeners
3 x Craftperson Gardeners
9 x Student Residences Team Maintenance Technicians
4 x Site Cleaning Operatives
3 x Multi Skilled Technician
2 x Assistant Gardener
1 x Apprentice Gardener
2 x Painters
11 x Builders
7 x Electricians
5 x Fitters
3 x Assistant Gardeners
1 x Maintenance Assistant
3 x Maintenance Assistant
2 x Maintenance Assistant
4 x Multi Skilled Craftsperson
Sign Writer
8 x Apprentice Multiskilled
Estates Engineering & Operations
231108.Estates Nameless Structure Nov 2023 V2
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For Modification or Update Please Contact The Business Support Team
Job Description
The Associate Director of Estates Operations will need to work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the existing retained estate is maintained and operational to allow its full utilisation. They will also liaise and work closely with all other Senior Members of the estates team in the delivery of the Estates Masterplan Framework. Job Purpose The central purpose of this University wide role is to deliver highly effective and efficient services to the internal and external customers of the Estates Directorate through proactive and effective planning, development, and management of: • Engineering services, controls, and infrastructure, • Maintenance & operation of engineering services and projects • The supply chain serving estates operations and the wider University. • Assurance in relation to statutory compliance of the estate • Procurement of utilities and running of the University energy centre. • Statutory compliance and assurance. • Outsourced/contracted maintenance and specialist service contract works. • BMS (building management) and CAFM (computer aided facilities management) controls. • Estates helpdesk and effective management of customer relations. • Development of an estate’s operational performance dashboard and KPIs. • Manage estates operational budgets, including both internal and contractor/supplier costs, hardware, and software etc. • Other duties as may be required in support of Estates or the wider University. • More information on Estates can be found here The Estates Directorate has a team more than 200 staff with an active apprenticeship programme and provides key enabling services to campus and to support delivery of ‘Birmingham 2030’ strategy. Due to the evolving nature and demands of Estates Services within the university, the requirements of the role will vary over time, but within the primary areas of focus. A breadth of experience across HE and other sectors and experience of different building portfolios, infrastructure and service
Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience • A significant track record of leading, managing and facilitating the delivery of a broad range of Estates operational services. • Substantial experience of leadership, with evidence of contributing to organisational performance in a large and complex organisation having managed large budgets and teams. • Demonstrable strategic thinking, and planning skills and capable of working with and earning the respect of senior stakeholders and with experience of actively participating in governance committees or boards. • Ability to lead, manage, motivate, and develop a diverse Estates 24/7/365 operational team through a flexible and authentic leadership style combined with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. • Significant experience of developing and/or delivering Estates operational solutions that include in house, hybrid, and outsourced components. • The ability to lead successful organisation change and development with a track record of encouraging and supporting professional and personal development. • An approachable style with the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with people at all levels – both inside Estates and across the wider university. • Significant experience of planning with sound financial acumen and the ability to translate University objectives into operational plans. • Evidence of excellent judgment with an ability to evaluate a range of perspectives and demands and translate these into effective solutions. • A deep commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and a genuine desire to make these a priority. • Resilience and the ability to take tough decisions and maintain a clear, well evidenced position in situations of challenge, and the ability to engage others when support for change is necessary.
delivery models would be advantageous, alongside strong leadership and management capabilities. Whilst previous experience of the higher education sector is not essential, some exposure to, or connection with the sector, may give a candidate an advantage in understanding the broader strategic challenges. Duties and Responsibilities • Drive transformation and change within the Estates Operations Team and create an environment where outstanding service delivery exceeds our customers’ expectations. • To develop and manage estate operations across the University. • Be responsible for leading and managing a range of hard FM services across the estate. • Leading delivery of planned, reactive maintenance (including minor capital), and condition surveys etc, working with the Deputy Director of Estates to develop long term maintenance plans and backlog programmes of work across a large and diverse estate • Management of the Estates corporate risk register operational items where risks relate to hard FM services and assets, ensuring that they are prioritised and actioned in a coordinated and structured manner. • Working with the wider Estates team to ensure on going collaboration with all stakeholders including academic colleges, professional services directorates (including IT, Finance and Procurement), contract partners and student representatives • Managing and developing Service Level agreements, service standards, service expectations and feedback to stakeholders. • Responsible for developing and delivering the maintenance strategy for the operational estates team services. • Responsible for ensuring statutory compliance for Estates operations across the university’s varied portfolio. • Work with the University Head of sustainability to plan maintenance activities and replacements in line with the Net Zero targets and the Net Zero plan for scopes 1/2/3 emissions. • Work with the Estates Projects Team to ensure that new/refurbished buildings seamlessly transition into operational buildings within the university.
Provision of technical advice The postholder will be a subject matter expert providing advice in delivering excellence and expertise in all aspects of engineering and estates, including but not limited to the estates management team, University senior managers and external agencies on the following: • Boilers and Heating Systems • LTHW / CHW Systems • Pressure Systems • Medical gases • Environmental Management • Fire Alarm Systems and Fire protection • Confined Spaces • High Voltage Systems • Building Management Systems • HV / LV Generator Systems • Lifts and Lifting Equipment • Ventilation • Drainage • Infrastructure and buildings maintenance • Electrical Engineering • Asbestos • Energy and utilities management • Health & Safety
Key Relationships Director and Deputy Director of estates • Almost daily contact. Close partnership in developing and delivering the service, and in executing the Estates strategy and Masterplan framework. Senior Committees • Representing Estates Operations on Committees. • Authoring high quality papers and contributing to business cases. • Championing effective delivery of Estates Operations capabilities. • Regular contact as part of governance processes, and on specific issues and projects. Project Boards • As required to represent and provide solutions etc regarding estates operational delivery– orchestrating Estates supply / brokering of services to meet ongoing and evolving business demand. Senior Officers, College Directors of Operations, Academic and other senior University colleagues • Regular partnership working, ongoing service engagement and problem resolution. Finance and HR Office colleagues • Regular engagement with Finance and HR to manage the revenue and capital budgets, and to progress staffing initiatives and issues. External contacts in Higher Education • Periodic engagement and networking/ benchmarking - drawing on experiences across the sector, and collaborating on specific projects External suppliers • Negotiation and collaboration on Estates Operational services and development of a productive supplier relationships for the University’s advantage.
Person Specification Essential • A good first degree, or equivalent qualification. • A relevant Professional qualification (e.g. IWFM, CEng). • The ability to contribute to, and support, the strategic leadership within the Estates team and development of effective strategic links across the wider University to ensure Universities strategic aims are met. • Evidence of team leadership including team building and individual professional development. The ability to build and motivate internal and external teams ensuring alignment with delivery goals. • Proven experience in changing and transforming existing processes/structures and improving the customer experience. • Evidence of financial planning and budget management ensuring accurate cash flow forecasting. • Evidence of successful stakeholder and relationship management across the wider public and private sectors. • Experience of prioritising complex and often conflicting project demands ensuring appropriate risk management approaches are used. • Evidence of delivering process improvement, managing customer feedback, and exceeding customer expectations. Desirable • A track record of successful developing and delivery of hard FM strategies. • Proven experience of the managing maintenance across a diverse estate including planned, reactive and backlog maintenance. • Member of an appropriate professional situation (such as IWFM, IHEEM, CIBSE, CIOB, Engineering Council).
• Water systems and Quality • Air Conditioning Systems • Fan Coil Units
Further Information
The university offers a competitive salary for the post at c.£90,000, in addition, UoB also offers a wide range of benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement and pension scheme, opportunities to join staff networks, formal and informal learning and development opportunities, and flexibility. For a confidential discussion to learn more about the role and opportunity please contact the university’s appointed recruitment partner Michael Hewlett of The Management Recruitment Group.
Closing date for applications is Sunday 28th April 2024.
Informal interviews and campus tours with UoB are scheduled for w/c Monday 13th May with the final panel scheduled for Thursday 30th May 2024. Applications should consist of a comprehensive CV outlining key matching experience and rationale for the post.
Applications should be sent to michael.hewlett@mrgglobal.com
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