British Library - Building Fabric Manager

British Library - Building Fabric Manager

Building Fabric Manager Candidate Information Pack

The British Library

The British Library has an interesting and rewarding vacancy for a Building Fabric Manager within our Estates and Facilities Management department, based in our Grade 1 listed building at St Pancras. If you have construction management experience and are looking for a new challenge on the client side in a positive environment, you may be the person we are looking for to work on the building fabric maintenance of the Library’s two campuses, in London and Boston Spa. Building on existing strong construction management and communication skills, you will spend time identifying building defects and finding and implementing solutions. You will need to have a good understanding of both traditional and modern construction methods, and be confident in fault detection and diagnosis such as deterioration of brickwork and stonework, degradation of finishes to specialist joinery and plasterwork, cladding/roofing failure, structural movement and water ingress. Working collaboratively with other departments and our M&E/Fabric term contractor, your proactive approach to liaising with and managing both contractors and building/department access will help to deliver excellent customer service, which is flexible and adapts to the needs and sensitivities of staff and other building users. Above all, you will need to demonstrate a confident can-do attitude, and the ability to work adaptably and flexibly to make sure that the team as a whole are able to provide the best achievable service to our customers.

To make this exciting and unique opportunity yours, you’ll need an appropriate professional qualification in a construction related discipline, or be progressing towards one. Substantial construction or maintenance management skills gained from working on high specification buildings involving specialist joinery, metalwork, and stonework/ brickwork are essential. You’ll need to be able to read detailed construction drawings, and produce sketch drawings for alterations and repairs to building elements such as specialist metalwork and joinery. Knowledge of current health, safety and environment legislation and the challenges relating to construction and maintenance work is important too, as is experience in budgeting and cost reporting, and management of building projects. As one of the world’s great libraries, our duty is to preserve the nation’s intellectual memory for the future and make it available to all for research, inspiration and enjoyment. At present we have well over 170 million items, in most known languages, with three million new items added every year. We have manuscripts, maps, newspapers, magazines, prints and drawings, music scores, and patents. We make our collections and programmes available to all. We operate the world’s largest document delivery service providing millions of items a year to customers all over the world. What matters to us is that we preserve the national memory and enable knowledge to be created both now and in the future by anyone, anywhere. In return we offer a competitive salary and a number of excellent benefits. Our pension scheme is one of the most valuable benefits we offer, as our staff can become members of the Alpha Pension Scheme where the Library contributes a minimum of 20.6% (this may be higher dependant on grade. Another significant benefit the Library provides is the provision of a flexible working hours scheme which could allow you to work your hours flexibly over the week and to take up to 5 days flexi leave in a 3 month period. This is on top of 25 days holiday from entry and public and privilege holidays.

The Job Role

Building Fabric Manager

Job title:

3919

Post number:

A

Grade:

Expert/Team Leader

Role group: Directorate: Department: Reports to:

Operations

Estates

Senior Building and Projects Manager

St Pancras

Location:

Job purpose:

To act as a Library expert for building fabric, construction projects and the maintenance of structures and finishes. To work effectively with contractors and service partners to deliver agreed outcomes. Key areas of responsibility

• To act as an expert on Library buildings for their structural integrity, fabric aesthetics and their general maintenance.

• To be responsible for all aspects of building maintenance, and specific responsibilities which will include the upkeep of structural components, building envelopes, internal and external finishes, fixed furniture, public health installations and external works/landscaping.

• To assess priorities and allocate work in accordance with approved procedures to ensure high levels of availability and an efficient response to Library service needs.

• To be primarily responsible for the building fabric, but to liaise closely with the staff responsible for electrical and mechanical services, and be capable of managing work over a broad technical field. To be on occasion the sole person in charge and to be responsible for senior management decisions.

• To be a ‘Delegated Service Manager’ for designated parts of the Estates Maintenance Contract.

• To have a total commitment to versatile and flexible working.

Resources managed

Aspects of:

• Grade 1 listed St Pancras building with an asset value of £1 billion

• 43 acre Boston Spa site with a value of £300 million

• Building/Engineering repairs, c.£0.5m per annum

• Asset management, c.£0.4m capital per annum

Main tasks

Management

• To monitor service partners and contractors’ performance of building and fabric maintenance and project delivery.

• To inspect building fabric maintenance and project work performed by service providers and contractors, report on findings and recommend rectifications where appropriate.

• To advise on design additions, updates or modifications to existing structures, fabrics and finishes.

• To provide technical expertise to the Estates Team as required on matters relating to building fabric .

• To ensure public health, health and safety, fire safety and environmental protection compliance.

• To assist the Senior Building and Projects Manager in defining building maintenance and project work.

• To monitor building fabric related KPIs for service partners and contractors.

Building Projects

• To liaise with service providers, contractors and consultants on building projects.

• To ensure that design updates, modifications or new introductions do not compromise the integrity of existing structures, fabrics and finishes.

• To ensure that design requirements are defined, critical parameters and measurements regarding reliability and maintainability of finishes are identified, recorded and where appropriate communicated to relevant parties.

• To ensure that consultations are carried out with relevant stakeholders and interested parties who might impact final design outcome.

General

• To carry out tasks delegated by the Senior Building Projects Manager, and other Estates managers as required.

• To assist the Estates Helpdesk with enquiries relevant to building maintenance and operations.

• To liaise with internal customers on matters relating to building fabric and finishes.

• To assist the Senior Building Projects Manager with the preparation of design sketches, specifications and budgets.

• To attend and contribute to regular Team meetings in order to participate in problem solving and priority setting for the department as a whole.

• To take forward actions of relevance to the department as a whole in a timely way, to agreed schedules.

• To demonstrate a willingness to take on a range of tasks and develop new skills, as appropriate, in own or other departments to support the delivery of the Library’s services as required by line management.

Minimum requirements (essential)

The post holder must be able to demonstrate, from previous employment and experience, clear evidence of the following:

• Technical qualifications in a building related discipline.

• Practical experience of the building process and of building maintenance ideally gained in a site management capacity, together with knowledge of high quality materials, components and finishes.

• Experience of maintaining commercial grade prestige buildings including fabric, finishes and structures.

• Understanding of public health regulations and systems.

• A thorough understanding of health and safety regulations and their requirements especially applicable to building maintenance and building works.

• Experience in supervising and monitoring the implementation of relevant health and safety and fire safety directives and plans.

• Understanding of the importance of effective communication in the management of contracts.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including writing business cases, and the ability to interact with a wide range of audiences in various situations.

• Interpersonal skills to include problem solving and conflict resolution.

• Team Player, with the ability to work with colleagues of different abilities and experience.

Additional requirements (desirable)

• Membership of, and active involvement in, a relevant professional body.

• A mixture of public and private sector experience.

• A proven track record in the delivery of services within a public and customer focused organisation.

Additional information

The post is based in London but by nature of the responsibilities requires travel to Boston Spa for oversight of building fabric projects, maintenance and asbestos management.

Very occasional out-of-hours attendance may be required e.g. in the event of a major planned shutdown, construction activity or emergency situation.

BRITISH LIBRARY COMPETENCIES

Role Competencies – EXPERT / TEAM LEADER

Identify the role competencies which the Job Holder will be required to demonstrate in order to deliver an effective performance in this role.

Tick all the boxes if all competencies are required for effective performance.

At recruitment, consider which competencies need to be tested as part of the essential and desirable requirements.

Personal and professional impact Is aware of individual and team strengths / blind spots. Uses these insights to build effective and productive working relationships. Applies insights knowingly, willingly and intelligently for maximum impact. Leading change Effectively leads change and manages organisational transitions. Manages uncertainty and ambiguity. Shows adaptability, flexibility and ownership for delivering results. Creativity and innovation Creative and innovative in developing services and products based on the needs of customers, users and different stakeholder groups. Business and commercial acumen Expands the organisation’s repertoire of business skills, especially commercial ability and expertise, and is aware of the financial impact and implications of decisions and actions on the part of both self and team. Managing and developing people Leads, manages, motivates and develops individuals and teams. Focuses on managing performance to create a high-performance working culture. Communicating and influencing Works collaboratively across the organisation to generate, capture and share information and learning. Influences, persuades and promotes the organisation’s work internally and externally with a range of stakeholders. Responds credibly to difficult questions, situations and scenarios.

Professional Competencies

• The ability to effectively manage building and grounds maintenance.

Maintenance Management

• Pro-active completer/finisher. • Escalates issues as appropriate.

• A thorough understanding, knowledge and experience of operating and maintaining building fabric including specification writing. • The ability to understand desired service outcomes and translate these into contractual requirements. • The ability to manage and monitor contractor performance. • An understanding of the importance of effective communication in the management of contracts.

Contract Management

• The ability to set and manage budgets.

Financial Management

• A good understanding of contract legislation and tendering procedures.

Procurement

• A thorough understanding of health and safety regulations and their requirements applicable to building maintenance and building projects. • Experience in supervising and monitoring the implementation of relevant fire safety directives, roles and responsibilities.

Health & Safety

Application Process

To arrange a confidential briefing conversation please contact our advisors Matthew Giles [email protected] Applications should consist of a comprehensive CV (of not more than 4 pages) and a covering letter (of not more than 2 pages).

Applications should be sent to [email protected]