Candidate Information Pack:
Head of Electrical Maintenance
Executive Summary
Working at the UK Parliament offers a unique and rewarding career at the heart of the UK’s democratic system. With a wide range of roles available, our impartial colleagues enable the day to day running of the House of Commons, House of Lords and joint departments. Together, we make Parliament happen. The Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team (PMST) are accountable for the maintenance of the UK Parliamentary Estate, consisting of buildings that range from the historic Palace of Westminster to the modern Portcullis House, located within a UNESCO World Heritage site, spanning four conservation areas. The Parliamentary Maintenance Service Team (PMST) are responsible for maintaining Commons and Lords buildings across the Estate, including engineering systems, maintenance capital projects delivery, furnishings and ceremonial works. The team consists of multiple functional areas: project delivery, maintenance operations, compliance and commercial. PMST work in collaboration with other departments such as Security, Digital, Parliamentary Commercial Directorate, Strategic Estates, Parliamentary Safety Team and Customer Experience & Service Delivery. PMST consists of over 120 in house staff working alongside a team of Third-Party contractors, who support PMST in the delivery of maintenance hard services and project delivery. We deliver over 70,000 planned and 25,000 reactive tasks a year, managing a budget over £30m per annum.
Parliamentary Estate
The Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster, or the Houses of Parliament as it is also known, has changed dramatically over the course of nearly a thousand years of history. Transformed from royal residence to the home of a modern democracy, the architecture and cultural collections of the Palace and the wider Parliamentary Estate have continually evolved, sometimes by design, sometimes through accident or attack. The 1,100-room Palace dates from the mid-1800s and is now one of the most iconic and significant buildings in the world. The Palace is now a Grade I listed building and, with Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s Church, forms part of the UNESCO Westminster World Heritage Site. One of the most recognised buildings in the world, the Palace of Westminster owes its stunning Gothic architecture to the 19th century architect Sir Charles Barry. The Palace contains a fascinating mixture of both ancient and modern buildings, and houses an iconic collection of furnishings, archives and works of art. Westminster Hall is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate. What makes it such an astonishing building is not simply its great size and the magnificence of its roof, but its central role in British history. In and around the Hall, grew up the major institutions of the British state: Parliament, the law courts and various government offices. Big Ben The name Big Ben is often used to describe the tower, the clock and the bell but the name was first given to the Great Bell. The Elizabeth Tower, which stands at the north end of the Houses of Parliament, was completed in 1859 and the Great Clock started on 31 May, with the Great Bell’s strikes heard for the first time on 11 July and the quarter bells first chimed on 7 September.
The Northern Estate Increasing demand for space has meant the Parliamentary Estate now extends well beyond the Palace of Westminster. It includes a collection of Grade 1, 2 and 2* listed buildings, located between the Embankment and Parliament St, including the Norman Shaw buildings that were originally used by the Metropolitan Police. The more northerly building was actually the first building to be called New Scotland Yard in 1890. The Southern Estate The Southern Estate consists of a number of buildings occupied by the House of Lords, including Millbank House, a Grade 2* listed building designed by architect W D Caröe for the Church Commissioners as their headquarters on the island site bounded by Millbank, Great Peter Street, Great College Street and Little College Street. Over the years the separate parts of the buildings have been integrated together with the final section at 5 Great College Street now incorporated into the overall island site, forming a single building with full circulation throughout. Fielden House is located on Great College Street, behind Millbank House, which opened in 2023. St James Campus This includes a number of buildings in the St James area of Westminster occupied by House of Commons staff.
Our Values The House Service is proud of our organisational values, which will deliver our strategy. We are looking for people who can bring these values to life.
Inclusive: We value everyone equally; We respect each other; We all have a voice.
Collaborative: We share our knowledge and experience; We work towards a shared vision; We know we work better in a partnership. Trusted: We trust each other to do a good job; We are impartial; We build confidence in Parliament with our integrity. Courageous: We try new things; We own our actions and decisions; We learn from our mistakes.
Job Description
Key Responsibilities Impact
Job Title: Head of Electrical Maintenance Salary: £70,967 - £83,926 - plus Responsibility Allowance and on call allowance Contract Type/Duration: Permanent Parliament Working at the UK Parliament offers a unique and rewarding career at the heart of the UK’s democratic system. With a wide range of roles available, our impartial colleagues enable the day to day running of the House of Commons, House of Lords and joint departments. Together, we make Parliament happen. The Team The Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team (PMST) are accountable for the maintenance of the UK Parliamentary Estate, consisting of buildings that range from the historic Palace of Westminster to the modern Portcullis House, located within a UNESCO World Heritage site, spanning four conservation areas.
The Parliamentary Maintenance Service Team (PMST) are responsible for maintaining Commons and Lords buildings across the Estate, including engineering systems, maintenance capital projects delivery, furnishings and ceremonial works. The team consists of multiple functional areas: project delivery, maintenance operations, compliance and commercial. PMST work in collaboration with other departments such as Security, Digital, Parliamentary Commercial Directorate, Strategic Estates, Parliamentary Safety Team and Customer Experience & Service Delivery. PMST consists of over 120 in house staff working alongside a team of Third-Party contractors, who support PMST in the delivery of maintenance hard services and project delivery. We deliver over 70,000 planned and 25,000 reactive tasks a year, managing a budget over £30m per annum. The Role The Head of Electrical Maintenance is a senior leadership role within the Parliamentary Maintenance Services Team (PMST), responsible for managing the ongoing testing, maintenance, repair and lifecycle replacement of the Estates electrical systems.
Utilising a team of electrical technical officers, craft persons and contractors you will be responsible for meeting agreed KPIs,maximise operational availability and ensure safe operation. Operating at A1 level, the role demands strategic oversight, technical expertise, and high-profile stakeholder engagement to ensure the safe and effective delivery of services. You will join the team at a time of change, and you will be expected to lead in the design and transition from the existing organisational structure and implementation of the final team structure. This role includes participation in the senior management emergency on-call rota (approx. one week in five), and occasional Saturday working to provide leadership and management of key works tasks and support training and familiarisation, for which overtime will be paid. Key Stakeholder Relationships (to include, but not limited to): • Black Rod, Speaker of both Houses. • Serjeant at Arms Office. • House of Commons Executive Board and House of Lords Management board. • Director of PMST and senior management team. • Property and Asset Management Team. • Trade Unions. • Strategic Estates project delivery teams. • Fire risk management team. • Other operational teams incl. Logistics, Security, Digital, Broadcasting, Customer experience catering etc. • Building Managers. • Parliamentary safety team. • External contractors and consultants.
• Lead the transformation and optimisation of the Electrical Maintenance Team, aligning structure and capability with long-term estate and parliamentary objectives. Champion innovation and continuous improvement across systems and processes. • Lead, plan and deliver all electrical systems, including HV/LV networks, BMS, standby power, and critical infrastructure related maintenance and minor new works activities utilising in-house and outsourced service providers to contribute to the strategic vision for the Parliamentary built environment and Administrative Strategies of both Houses. • Lead, plan and deliver the installation of temporary power installations in support of the Head of Building Fabric Maintenance and Ceremonial Works. Knowledge and Skills • Act as the senior technical authority, setting professional standards and ensuring compliance with statutory and safety regulations and Parliamentary Electrical Standards. • Health and Safety - Ensure compliance with H&S legislation, embed a safety culture, and ensure all necessary risk assessments, workplace inspections and any associated remedial works are raised. • Authorised Persons - Ensure sufficient coverage for electrical activities covered under the High Risk Safety Management System, including documentation and permits. Contacts and Communications • Represent PMST at boards and meetings, Committees, working groups or review panels, providing expert advice and input on strategic planning and give input and advice on the future maintenance requirements. • Respond to questions raised from Committees and Freedom of Information requests. Problem Solving • Lead disaster recovery and business continuity planning for electrical infrastructure systems.
• Members and member’s staff. • House of Lords facilities team.
Decision Making • Strategic Planning - Develop business cases and a proactive maintenance sub-strategy for future resilience. • Asset management - Monitor asset condition and performance to inform repair/replacement decisions. Autonomy • On call - Serve as senior on-call manager on a rota, leading emergency and unplanned event responses. Management of Resources • Budget management - Manage a £3M+ maintenance budget, ensuring efficient resource allocation and compliance with financial guidelines.
Please note the above duties are not intended to be an exhaustive list. You may be required to undertake other duties that are appropriate to your role and pay band, as agreed with your line manager. We recognise that our successful candidates will need support to grow and flourish in the role. The House of Commons is committed to providing training, support and development to all staff. Any training specific to this role will be provided as early as possible, and ongoing training and development will be provided whenever possible and appropriate.
• Contract Management - Lead procurement, specification, and performance monitoring of maintenance and works contracts alongside commercial team. • Leadership - The House of Commons believes that all colleagues should have a skilled and supportive line manager. Line management means taking responsibility for leading individuals and/or teams. All managers need to demonstrate the ability to enable their people to perform well, take responsibility, and develop in their roles. Line managers support the wellbeing of their teams, working inclusively to ensure that everyone can play their part to meet their goals.
• Conduct monthly audits via Planon and physically to monitor and improve service standards. • Performance & Assurance - Use data to drive performance, report risks, and advise on improvement strategies. Ensure professional and technical standards across the team. Conduct capability assessments and implement development and succession plans. Support and hold line managers accountable for effective people management. • Quality assurance - Lead on the design and implementation of a quality assurance process to ensure work meets standards and delivers value for money.
Person Specification
Qualifications Educated to or actively working towards a degree level in a relevant subject (Electrical Building Services related) or significant relevant experience and at least two years experience in a senior management role. Member of or actively working towards a relevant professional institute at IEng level min such as IET or CIBSE.
At the interview, we will ask you a combination of competency questions and role specific questions solely based on Person Specification. For more information on the application and selection process and the benefits available if you join the House Of Commons please refer our website. Hybrid Working Our mission is to support making parliament happen – this means being ready to carry out our essential functions to support colleagues deliver excellent services on the Parliamentary Estate and remotely. Currently, staff can have a hybrid working arrangement under the Hybrid Working Policy. The opportunity to have a hybrid working arrangement and the nature of any such arrangement, varies according to the requirements of each job role. There are some roles which can only be carried out from the Parliamentary Estate. Flexible Working We offer a range of flexible working options and actively encourage applications from candidates expressing a wish to perform the role in a flexible working arrangement such as part-time working, job-share and compressed hours. We would be happy to discuss further if this is something you would like to explore. Security Successful external candidates will be required to complete pre-employment checks. This includes security vetting to Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) level or Security Check (SC) or higher, as described in the job description. All successful candidates are required to pass these checks before an offer can be confirmed. To enable meaningful checks to be carried out you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. To undergo a CTC, you must have normally resided in the UK for a minimum of 3 years out of the last 5 years. To undergo a SC, you must have normally resided in the UK for a minimum of 5 years. Click here for further information. Reasonable Adjustments Parliament is committed to providing suitable workplace adjustments for colleagues so that they
can be their best selves at work and ensuring that all colleagues are given the same opportunities. If you require any additional support during the recruitment process, please contact the recruitment team on recruitment@parliament.uk to discuss how we can meet your needs. Examples of such support include additional time for tests or providing literature in large print (where appropriate). For more information on how we can support you in the workplace please refer to our
Experience, Skills and Knowledge Substantial experience of: Experience • Significant Experience of managing the maintenance of complex building electrical installations such as 11KV distribution systems, Fire, BMS systems, standby power systems, and desirably small data centres and critical building infrastructure. • Operating Trend BMS to identify faults etc and optimise the building environment. Health & Safety Ideally IOSH managing Safely or NEBOSH General Certificate or similar with: • Significant knowledge & understanding of health and safety legislation relative to building services plant and equipment. • Implementing and managing a complex permit to work process including preparing and approving permit works, building services risk assessments and method statements, carrying out site based safety inspections. Ideally have experience of JSP 375 Vol 3 or similar systems. • Acting as Authorised Persons (Electrical Low Voltage and High Voltage) and desirably also Authorised Persons (Mechanical Systems)
Leadership and Inclusivity • Significant experience of managing a team, including setting objectives, monitoring standards and ability to motivate and team build. • Ability to lead individuals and teams, building and maintaining strong collaborative partnerships to achieve organisational goals, whilst upholding the values of equality, diversity and inclusion. Budget Management • Significant experience of managing a budget in excess of £1m including forecasting, monitoring expenditure and implementing controls to ensure expenditure remains within budget etc. Communication and Engagement • Ability to work under pressure to resolve complex engineering services related faults and emergencies. • Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of Senior Stakeholders. Additional Information Application and Selection Process As part of the recruitment process we may ask you to complete a test, presentation or other assessment. Details will be provided in advance if you are shortlisted for the role and invited to attend an interview.
reasonable adjustments guidance. Inclusion and Diversity Commitment
We want to build an environment where everyone feels welcome and able to be themselves. We want to reflect the diversity of our nation. And we want to attract more people from underrepresented groups. That’s why our focus is on better support and flexibility, accessibility and more inclusive ways of working. We’re a disability confident employer, and we believe in equality for all. So, we provide everyone with the encouragement and opportunity to thrive – including you. Our Values We live our values – courageous, trusted, inclusive and collaborative – in everything we do, making sure that people across all teams, locations and roles are included. By delivering on our strategy and living our values, everybody in the House Administration plays their part. Our values are: Inclusive: We value everyone equally; We respect each other; We all have a voice. Courageous: We try new things; We own our actions and decisions; We learn from our mistakes. Trusted: We trust each other to do a good job; We are impartial; We build confidence in Parliament with our integrity. Collaborative: We share our knowledge and experience; We work towards a shared vision; We know we work better in a partnership.
Benefits and Support
House of Commons pension You’ll be eligible for the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) from the day you join. Loans In order to support our staff, we offer the following House of Commons loans: • Season ticket and/or bicycle loan for transport into work • Rental deposit loan Cycle to Work scheme The Cycle to Work scheme is a Government- supported initiative aimed at promoting healthier journeys to work and reducing environmental pollution. Not only does it help you reduce your carbon footprint and increase your fitness, it also allows you to spread out the cost of buying a new bike, as well as saving on Income Tax and National Insurance. Learning and development opportunities and sponsorship for professional qualifications All staff, managers and leaders can access development to help them thrive, perform and develop at work. From workshops, online resources, career coaching, study leave, apprenticeships and grants, everyone at the House of Commons has an opportunity for personal and career growth through learning. We support professional qualifications and apprenticeships, including time off for study leave for certain qualifications.
Health and wellbeing service Our in-house Parliamentary Health and Wellbeing Service provides advice and guidance to support good health at work. Services available to staff and managers include: • Occupational health • Mental health and wellbeing support • Clinical Nurse – drop-in clinic for ill health and minor treatment • Access to an on-site GP. This service is available to all staff whether on the Estate or working remotely • Annual flu vaccination clinic available to all staff • Health and wellbeing annual programme of events • On-Site support from our Parliamentary Mental Health First Aider network Disability and workplace adjustments We support staff with a range of workplace adjustments, physical or otherwise, help with obstacles relating to mental health and physical or non-physical requirements. Common adjustments include: • Assistive technology – such as software or hardware • Speech recognition software or large computer screens • Ergonomics – such as chairs and standing desk
House of Commons gym membership Access to a subsidised gym located on the estate on a full membership or pay as you go basis, with a network of over 100 leisure centres across the UK. Catering services You’ll have access to a range of cafés, bars and restaurants catering for all preferences and budgets in both traditional and contemporary surroundings. House of Commons nursery The House of Commons Nursery is a modern, welcoming facility with capacity for 40 children aged from three months to five years.
We’re proud to be able to offer our people a range of attractive benefits and support. Hybrid Working Our mission is to support a thriving parliamentary democracy – and today more than ever, this means being ready to carry out our essential functions in Westminster and elsewhere. Since 2020 our workforce is involved in developing new, business resilient capabilities for hybrid working. We support colleagues to deliver excellent services on the Parliamentary Estate and remotely, while the balance of location varies according to the requirements of each job role. Annual leave 30 days annual leave per annum, increasing to 35 days after the first full leave year, plus Bank Holidays (pro rata for anyone working part time). Eligible staff may apply to buy or sell up to a maximum of five days leave during the annual leave year. Special leave Staff who are members of the auxiliary or reserve forces may be allowed leave to attend training courses or camps. If you receive a call-up notice, special leave will be granted for the period of your absence. This will usually be unpaid.
Caring responsibilities A variety of leave options including: • Maternity, Paternity, Shared Parental and Adoption
• Caring leave • Special Leave
Application Process
The UK Parliament is being supported on this recruitment campaign by The Management Recruitment Group.
To arrange a briefing discussion, please contact our advisors at MRG:
Michael Hewlett michael.hewlett@mrgglobal.com Connor Humpage connor.humpage@mrgglobal.com
Applications should consist of a CV and cover note and should be sent to michael.hewlett@mrgglobal.com
Interviews will take place on site on Wednesday 14th January 2026.
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