Estates Partner

Estates Partner – Estates & Facilities Directorate

Join us at an exciting time for the University of Manchester as we continue to shape a campus that supports world-class teaching, research and student experience. As an Estates Partner, you will play a key role in ensuring our estate, buildings and infrastructure support the needs of our Faculties, Schools, Research Institutes and Professional Services colleagues, while contributing to the University’s 2035 ambitions.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced estates, construction or facilities management professional to join the Estates Partnering Team. This is a varied and influential role, acting as a principal interface between Faculty and Professional Services colleagues and the Estates & Facilities Directorate to ensure property, building, maintenance, refurbishment and infrastructure requirements are understood, prioritised and translated into effective, customer-focused solutions.

Working closely with academic, professional services, estates and external partners, you will help shape and support operational estates activity across occupied buildings, providing advice on project requirements, feasibility, cost, maintenance planning, service standards, space and building use, and the delivery of improvement and adaptation projects.

This post is campus-based and will require regular presence on the Oxford Road Campus, with occasional travel to other University or off-site locations as business needs require.

What you will be doing

In this important role, you will:

• Act as a trusted estates partner and key point of contact for Faculty, School, Research Institute and Professional Services colleagues, helping to channel and resolve estate-related requirements.
• Provide professional advice on property, refurbishment, adaptation, maintenance, infrastructure and facilities management matters, ensuring client needs are understood and translated into robust briefs and deliverable solutions.
• Coordinate refurbishment and adaptation projects in occupied buildings, working with E&F service providers, contractors, consultants and customers to support successful delivery and customer satisfaction.
• Oversee and support relationships between contractors, consultants, commissioners and internal service providers, ensuring expectations, service standards and outcomes are clearly understood and managed.
• Carry out, commission or manage surveys, schedules of maintenance work and other assessments to inform planning, prioritisation and continual improvement.
• Monitor and provide budgetary information to support the effective management of allocated Faculty, Professional Services and Estates & Facilities budgets, helping to achieve best value within University financial regulations.
• Contribute to customer-focused initiatives, service level statements, KPIs and reporting arrangements that support high-quality estate management and continuous improvement.
• Support compliance with health, safety, statutory, environmental and sustainability requirements, promoting best practice and ensuring activity aligns with University and Directorate policies.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships across the University, promoting transparency, accountability and shared ownership of estates outcomes.
• Deputise for and represent Senior Estates Partners at Faculty and external meetings as required.

What We’re Looking For

• A relevant professional qualification, degree or significant equivalent experience in estates, construction, building engineering, maintenance, facilities management or a related discipline.
• Demonstrable experience of working in a property, construction, maintenance or facilities management environment, ideally within a large, complex and customer-focused organisation.
• Strong project coordination and delivery skills, including the ability to support works to agreed quality, budget and timescale requirements.
• Sound technical knowledge across areas such as building construction, mechanical and electrical services, planned and responsive maintenance, surveying, brief development and health and safety in construction.
• Experience of managing relationships with contractors, consultants, customers and internal stakeholders, with the ability to influence, negotiate and build trust across organisational boundaries.
• Good financial and administrative awareness, including experience of budget monitoring, reporting and working within organisational policies and procedures.
• Excellent written, verbal and visual communication skills, including the ability to produce clear reports, correspondence, presentations and briefings.
• Strong IT skills, including confident use of Microsoft 365 applications.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, work to deadlines and use sound judgement and initiative in a busy operational environment.
• A commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, sustainability and the University’s values.

Why Work at the University of Manchester?

Join a world-class institution that values diversity and equality in the workplace.

Benefit from a range of staff benefits, including family-friendly policies, flexible working arrangements, and career development opportunities. Access to training and mentorship to support your career growth, with structured development plans and performance reviews.

Be part of a global institution in a vibrant, culturally diverse city.

The University of Manchester is committed to providing a supportive and inclusive environment where all employees can thrive.

We invite applications from all backgrounds and look forward to welcoming the next member of our team to the Directorate of Estates and Facilities.

(Grades 6-9)

Our benefits include:
• Generous employer contribution pension
• 29 days annual leave plus bank holidays, along with Christmas closure
• Ride to work and EV car scheme available

For more information, please see University of Manchester Benefits. You can also find information on our Flexible and Hybrid working here.

We are an open place of enquiry and challenge. We embrace and celebrate difference, diversity and debate, and we pride ourselves on being a place of education, learning and community where we are able, within the law, to question and test received wisdom, express new ideas and explore controversial or unpopular topics and opinions. Find out more from our Freedom of Speech Policy.