Operational Estates Manager

Job overview

Operational Estates Manager Division: Estates and Facilities Care Group: Hard FM Band: NHS AfC Band 8b Salary: £66,582 - £77,368 per annum/ pro rata

The Operational Estates Manager is a key role for the Trust, supporting the Associate Director of Estates by providing an effective planned preventative and reactive maintenance service to ensure the hospital remains operational and safe at all times.

Main duties of the job

In charge of a team of electrical, mechanical and building engineers, crafts persons, and specialist contractors, the role will ensure that planned preventative maintenance programmes are delivered on time and reactive maintenance tasks are completed within agreed timescales.

To ensure all statutory and mandatory obligations are appropriately prioritised and met within the resources available, and to provide detailed assurance to the Trust, identifying any risks for escalation.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Budgetary:

• Managing operational estates maintenance budgets circa £1.7m and maintenance related capital projects up to £250k.
• Manage budgets and accounts in order to maximise cost effectiveness whilst remaining within agreed budget limits and complying with Trust Standing Financial Instructions and Procurement Policies.
• Responsible for checking, agreeing, and authorising significant payments to contractors within contractual timescales.
• Support client services in developing robust business cases ensuring the inclusion of Estates capital and revenue impacts.

Manpower:

• To manage 34 WTE comprising engineers, supervisors, craftsmen, maintenance assistants, and grounds and gardens operatives.
• A range of specialist contractors.

Communications and Relationships:

• Communicate with key stakeholders across the Trust to provide information on all maintenance matters, in writing, in person and via reports including presentations and performance / assurance reports to relevant groups and committees i.e. Health and Safety, Water Safety etc.
• Work with estates, facilities, projects and clinical colleagues to ensure projects and reactive works are delivered and handed over safely.
• Communicate with contractors, suppliers and consultants, including preparing specifications, briefing documents and associated information in other formats, including CAD drawings, multimedia and the Microsoft Office suite of programs.
• Communicate with statutory bodies such as Local Authority Building Control, Environment Agency, Health and Safety Executive, Care Quality Commission
• Manage contracts with contractors, suppliers and consultants, ensuring requirements are clearly communicated and key performance indicators are met.
• Manage complex staff issues including: staff consultations, disciplinary investigations, grievances and mediations within the department and across the directorate.
• Deputise for the AD of Estates in his absence.

Information Resources:

• To take responsibility for the operational aspects of the CAFM system to enable planned preventative and reactive tasks to be allocated and completed by in-house and external resources.
• To take responsibility for populating the estates asset register and keeping it up to date.
• To use the Trusts incident reporting system, Datix, for managing incidents and near misses and to analyse the data for trends.
• To use the Trusts purchasing and financial management tools to monitor budgets and expenditure.
• To utilise Power BI and other analytical tools to produce reports.
• To access external data such as Model Hospital, PAM and ERIC to benchmark estates services and identify areas for improvement.
• To access information and guidance from on line sources, such as the HSE, NHS England, CQC, SFG20 and professional bodies such as CIBSE.

Research and Development:

• To research topics by reviewing technical guidance, performance data, agreement certificates and a variety of primary and secondary sources to identify products that meet statutory, mandatory and Trust requirements for inclusion in standard specifications, or for solving specific problems.
• To review performance data derived from CAFM, BMS and other sources to determine maintenance performance to inform maintenance and replacement strategies.

Policy / Service Development:

• To provide a safe means of maintaining the building fabric and engineering services throughout the Trust; ensuring that safe systems of work are in place e.g. policies and procedures and permit to work systems.
• To review performance of in house and contracted services and identify where improvements can be made.

Planning and Organisation:

• Provide and operate an effective and efficient planned preventative maintenance system for buildings, engineering plant, services, grounds and gardens
• Ensure that the Trust meets its statutory and mandatory obligations in respect of steam boilers, air receivers and distribution pipe work, sterilisers, vacuum plants, lifts etc.
• Prepare and implement contingency plans for the major loss of a service and with service users, as far as reasonably practicable, ensure that the Trust is able to maintain its contracted activity
• Determine response times for reactive maintenance against which performance can be measured and value for money demonstrated
• Implement guidance given in Health Technical Memorandum (HTM’s), approved Codes of Practice etc. for the operation and maintenance of high voltage installations, “stand by” generators, electrical portable equipment and fixed wiring installations, safe hot water and surface temperatures, water systems, refrigeration plant, lifts, air conditioning systems etc.
• In conjunction with the Associate Director of Estates and AD of Capital Projects, undertake condition appraisals to identify maintenance programme and backlog maintenance items.
• Develop and maintain the “building management” system to ensure efficient use of energy and a controlled environment for patients, visitors and staff.

Freedom to Act:

• Responsible for health and safety for the Operational Estates Maintenance Department, ensuring detailed risk assessments are carried out and comply with Trust and departmental health & safety procedures.
• Responsible for ensuring energy and utilities are used efficiently.
• Responsible for the Trust’s grounds and gardens; ensuring all aspects are maintained.
• Responsible for the piped medical gas installation, ensuring that the “permit to works” procedures are followed and sufficient “Authorised” persons are properly trained.
• Provide a 24-hr emergency “call out” system for estates related services.
• Provide a programme of staff training to ensure that maintenance staff can be appropriately registered, e.g. Gas safe, and that staff are able to understand and safely maintain the complex systems and services within a modern hospital.
• Participate in the Estates on-call rota.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.