Cluster Facilities Manager

Role Purpose: To provide a comprehensive facilities support service to Paddington Academy and Holland Park School to ensure that the estate provides excellent learning environments, that are sustainable, safe, and stimulating.

To work with the senior leadership teams to ensure that all estates related matters are dealt with in an effective and consistent manner, providing services and advice and guidance regarding policy and industry best practice.

To support the Cluster Executive Team in ensuring that the estate is well maintained, and where relevant, competent contractors engaged to provide services.

Key Responsibilities

• Being responsible for the operational management and day-to-day deployment of the premises teams that support teaching and learning, business and administrative functions across the academies
• Expertise applied in the management of the complex Holland Park building ensuring that both the main building’s Energy Centre and BMS, and other high spec facilities, are functioning optimally
• Line manage the Cluster Health & Safety Co-Ordinator and the premises support service staff within the academies
• Be responsible for the necessary liaison, monitoring, coaching and advice on estates related hard and soft service issues facilitating an efficient and effective estates support programme
• Alongside the DEBM, write and ensure implementation of all United Learning health and safety policies that relate to premises compliance
• Ensure that the complexities of the individual schools are catered for within a strategic and relevant building development plan to ensure that they retain viability, maintain and act upon the intricate needs of each school’s facilities requirements

Specific Duties

This list is not meant to provide a narrow definition of specific responsibilities but to serve as guidance and should be seen as enabling rather than restrictive.

Strategy and Planning

• Have an overall view of the capabilities of the academies’ hard and soft services and contribute to continuous improvement to meet future needs
• Plan for major developments of the estate and project manage their implementation
• Prepare and monitor planned and preventative maintenance schedules for each site

Budget and People Management

• Manage the allocated estates operational and capital budgets
• Understand and interpret the appropriateness of national, United Learning and local framework contracts
• To be closely involved in writing academy estates procurement policy
• Constantly review activities to identify possible cost saving opportunities on each site
• Management responsibilities for all premises support staff, including duty rosters where relevant

Communication

• Advise senior staff and governors on current and future legislative issues/developments that will impact on the cluster estate
• Negotiate with suppliers
• Document systems and procedures

Educational Awareness

• Regularly access key estates and education web sites to keep abreast of changes and development that will affect the estate and inform others as appropriate
• Manage the effective deployment of Premises resources to support the curriculum and business needs of the academies

Health and Safety

• Ensure application of, and monitor compliance with, the United Learning Group Health and Safety Policies that relate to Estates compliance matters in all schools that make up the cluster
• Have oversight of all Estates inspection and planned preventative maintenance activities as required by Group H&S Policies to ensure these are carried out at the required frequencies and that any corrective actions required are implemented appropriately
• Hold membership of the British Institute of Facilities Management and be actively enrolled on their training and development programme as appropriate
• Act as cluster health and safety lead in the absence of the DEBM

Asset Management Procedure

• Manage the creation of an accurate inventory of all physical assets in liaison with cluster schools
• Ensuring all assets are disposed of, in agreement and signed off by a member of senior management.
• Create and manage a system which identifies loaned equipment and when returned.

Internal Support Arrangements and External Contracts

• Report on and monitor progress against agreed service levels (both internal and external)
• Assess needs and recommend external and internal support arrangements and contracts required to deliver an effective estates support service in the academies, for hard and soft services.
• Ensure the running of the academy minibuses meet all legislative requirements including registration of drivers.
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Support Request Management

• Produce and analyse separate incident and problem reports for management purposes.
• Analyse the support logs to produce detailed management reports and help plan future support service developments as required.
• Set support priorities given staff availability.

On-site and Help Desk Support

• Ensure that the online helpdesk is managed and jobs reviewed, actioned and cleared in a timely manner.
• Give appropriate advice on hard and soft services in place in each academy.
• Provide training for staff on the online vehicle booking system

Lettings – Holland Park School

• Lead on promoting and maximising sales of the schools’ hireable spaces, ensuring a high-quality customer service is provided at all times
• Oversee the local management of the lettings processes through liaison with local school staff as well as external contractors
• Consistently show profit increases year on year from sales and long-term partnerships with sporting agencies
• Ensure safeguarding procedures are consistently applied and that liaison with the cluster finance team is regular and maintained to safeguard consistency of practice and alignment with United Learning financial regulations

Lettings – Paddington Academy

• Liaise with the Community, Administration and Lettings Manager on potential referrals for new lettings
• Co-ordinate with the Community, Administration and Lettings Manager when cross school lettings events may arise

This post may involve both evening and weekend work and the post holder will need to demonstrate a large degree of flexibility and willingness to work unsocial hours. The need to adapt working hours around the business need of the academy is an expectancy of the job role.

The job covers multi sites, it is therefore key that the Cluster Facilities Manager can work in a ‘stand-alone’ capacity, with excellent organisational and time management skills.  Travel between the schools is required to meet the needs of the role.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and the successful candidate is expected to be flexible and proactive in meeting the needs of each Academy and willingly undertake any further duties required that are commensurate with the role.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure and the post holder must be committed to safeguarding the welfare of children.