United Learning - Head of Estates

United Learning - Head of Estates

HEAD OF ESTATES United Learning

unitedlearning.org.uk

WELCOME

LETTER FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Thank you very much for your interest in becoming United Learning’s Head of Estates. This is a very important appointment for us, and one which has significant impact across our property portfolio. United Learning is deeply committed to the progress and success of all children and young people. We believe in serving local communities through creating excellent schools, which provide outstanding education and serve all children in the area. The decision to become one of the earliest academy sponsors demonstrated the organisation’s continued commitment to inclusion, serving communities and meeting the educational and social needs of the day. As an academy sponsor, we have been prepared to take on some of the most challenging schools in the country and work to create rapid and sustainable improvement. As a result, we have had a major impact on the educational attainment and life chances of many hundreds of young people, including in some of England’s poorest communities. Today, we aim to work as a single organisation, combining the best of independent and state education. We have excellent schools, and a commitment to continued improvement as well as great potential for further growth and development. We aim to enable all schools to achieve more through being part of the Group than they could on their own. As Head of Estates, you will work closely with our network of School Business Managers to manage our freehold and leasehold properties across the Group. You will also liaise closely with the Department of Education (DfE) and local authorities regarding our new and expanding academies and schools. This is a role which I expect to be challenging but also deeply rewarding for an excellent senior estates professional who is looking for a new challenge with the potential to make a significant impact. I hope you will be interested.

Jon Coles Chief Executive

ABOUT UNITED LEARNING

OUR ETHOS Our approach is underpinned by a sense of moral purpose and a commitment to doing what is right for children and young people, supporting colleagues to achieve excellence and acting with integrity in all our dealings within and beyond the Group, in the interests of young people everywhere. We believe the safety and welfare of all children and young people is paramount. We summarise this ethos as ‘The Best in Everyone’. This ethos underpins our core values: AMBITION – to achieve the best for ourselves and others; CONFIDENCE – to have the courage of our convictions and to take risks in the right cause; CREATIVITY – to imagine possibilities and make them real; RESPECT – of ourselves and others in all that we do; ENTHUSIASM – to seek opportunity, find what is good and pursue talents and interests; DETERMINATION – to overcome obstacles and achieve success. As a single organisation, we seek to bring together the best of independent and state sectors, respecting both traditions and learning from each. We believe that each of our schools is, and should be, distinctive – each is committed to developing its own distinctive strengths and identity while sharing our core values as institutions which promote service, compassion and generosity.

ABOUT

UNITED LEARNING

United Learning is a group of schools, which aims to provide excellent education to children and young people across the country. With a turnover of £364 million, we are one of the largest charities in the UK. We seek to improve the life chances of all the children and young people we serve and make it our mission to bring out the best in everyone – students, staff, parents and the wider community. We have grown considerably in recent years and now have close to 60 schools across the state and independent sectors along with three central function offices. Together, we are one of the country’s largest education providers, currently educating approximately 40,000 students and employing over 7,600 members of staff. We provide a broad education, which prepares young people to progress in learning and to make a success of their lives. We focus sharply on the evidence of what makes it more likely that young people will progress and succeed, apply that to our practice and continue to learn and develop our schools. We make it a priority to provide teachers with excellent professional support and development, so that every child receives an excellent experience. Through being a group, we can offer more to both staff and young people than any single school could offer alone. The growing range of outstanding group-wide activities than we can provide means that more young people will have truly

exceptional and inspiring experiences. Already, we believe that our group contains the most developed relationships and practical interaction between independent and state schools in the country, creating benefits for all the schools involved.

ABOUT OUR ESTATE

ABOUT OUR ESTATE

ABOUT OUR ESTATE Our estate is spread across the UK with education institutions from Carlisle to the South Coast. Our growth strategy will see our current portfolio grow year on year. We have a diverse range of properties from listed historic buildings to state-of-the-art purpose built education buildings. Throughout our estate we have considerable open space that ranges from sports pitches, playing fields and protected woodlands. Our Estate facts and figures:

1 Free School awaiting construction 25 Secondary Academies

14 primary academies

4 All through Academies

We have spent £300million on Capital Investment over 15 buildings Group wide premises operational budget was £38million in 2016

Central offices in London and Peterborough, with a small site at Salford Academy.

13 Independent Schools

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB DESCRIPTION

JOB DESCRIPTION

OVERVIEW You will provide a strategic lead to our approach to estates management and will act as our liaison on new and expanding academies and schools. You will also lead our investment in estates through the development, monitoring and management of capital and maintenance expenditure programmes. A key part of this will be the engagement of key stakeholders; including our staff, student and parent communities. Alongside this, you will steer our property management activities and will guide and monitor our approach to insurance, health and safety, maintenance, security, fire and life systems to ensure compliance with industry standards and good practice. The United Learning estate currently comprises land and buildings at 43 academies and 13 independent schools. We also have three central office hubs. In 2016, the Group wide premises operational budget was £38m, with each school managing their own site budget and the central Estates team managing the central budget and overseeing the Group position. As the most senior estates professional in the organisation, the post-holder reports to an Executive Director and works closely with the Chief Executive Office, Senior Leadership Team and Trustees. The jobholder leads a team of seven staff and is responsible for all external partners engaged in the delivery of the role.

THE ROLE • Lead, develop and motivate the Estate teams to ensure that they are engaged and equipped with the skills, knowledge and guidance to deliver on their objectives; • Provide strategic leadership on all matters relating to the United Learning estate to ensure the efficient and sustainable operation and management of our existing and developing property portfolio; • Act as a subject matter expert in relation to estate and property affairs through the establishment and review of appropriate policies, and the provision of guidance, advice and training to colleagues with day to day responsibility for estate management; • Ensure key stakeholders are effectively engaged in programmes to develop and implement sustainable approaches in our estates; • Liaise with the Group Health and Safety Manager to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements, including fire and life systems across the estate; • Lead estates projects and, where these are managed locally, provide financial and technical support to ensure they are delivered on time and to budget; • Undertake any other tasks associated with the role.

ORGANISATION CHART

KEY RESULT AREAS

KEY RESULT AREAS

STRATEGIC • Group Development – Liaison with DfE and local authorities re: new and expanding academies and schools, including development of DfE bids; • Investment – Develop, monitor and manage capital and maintenance expenditure plans; • Educational – Develop programmes for the engagement of all staff and students in the development of and implementation of sustainable approaches; • Sustainability – Review energy usage and generation, and develop policy and implementation proposals. Review existing procedures and make policy and implementation proposals for recycling. Consider the effective development of green travel planning for each site and operation. Consider appropriate methods for carbon offsetting; • Training – Develop guidance, advisory notes and training forums for colleagues dealing with Estates such as school/academy Business Managers, facilities managers, etc; • National Policies and Standards – Review and advise on the impact of evolving educational premises legislation. Represent and contribute to relevant interest or policy groups on behalf of United Learning where appropriate; • Market Standards – Review the emerging standards and services of similar organisations and make appropriate recommendations to ensure development of market position; • Contracts – Review existing contracts for services, works and material supply. Develop a quality and value based framework for services, contractors and suppliers; • Standards – Develop standards for accommodation, design and construction to deliver national and United Learning requirements to ensure compliance to educational needs, flexibly, extendibility, low maintenance and low running costs; • Procurement – Manage and procure value for money Group contracts for energy, construction and maintenance supplier frameworks.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT • Insurances – Liaise with Company Secretary and each site to ensure compliance with insurance policies regarding the property, equipment and operation of the facilities; • Health and Safety – Review existing Health and Safety files and ensure they are in and kept in accordance with legislation. Liaise with each site to ensure compliance and the availability for works on site; • Maintenance – Review existing maintenance procedures and records. In accordance with a shared Property Management system record condition, maintenance expenditure and life cycle costs. Develop management plans and budgets for local management and central monitoring; • Security and CCTV – Review existing systems and make recommendations as appropriate for the operation of the existing shared systems and individual contracts; • Fire and life systems – Review existing records and consider the compliance to current standards. Review options for local and central management of survey and management of systems. PROJECT DELIVERY • Brief development from educational business cases – Liaise with school/academy in the development of the Educational Business Plans and prepare an initial assessment of viability. Review and if required obtain information to enable the project to be designed and costed leading through the Board commitment; • Project procurement – Assess scale, cost and complexity to propose delivery options through either the school/academy business manager or through the office of the Head/Director of Estates; • Project Delivery – Provide financial and technical support and monitor projects delivered by schools or academies. Project manage projects delivered for United Learning schools or academies; • Feedback – Review completed projects and provide structured feedback to colleagues and boards. Implement any appropriate agreed revisions to policies and procedures for future projects.

ORGANISATION CHART

Louise Johnston Chief Financial Officer

TBA Head of Estates

Warren Baker Capital Programme Manager North

Steve Tully Capital Programme Manager Independent Schools

Jackie Harnett EA to Head of Estates/ Estates Executive

Apoorva Sherekar Capital Programme Manager South

Shannon Druhan London Office Co-ordinator

TBA Estates Assistant

Ruta Kurtinaityte London Support Officer

PERSON SPECIFICATION

PERSON SPECIFICATION

PERSON SPECIFICATION

EDUCATION • Relevant property, construction or facilities management degree and professional membership. EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE • Minimum of five years’ experience working within a property environment; • Proven experience of property portfolio management; • Experience of asset and estate management; • Experience of rating and due diligence on acquisitions and disposals; • Experience of leading and contributing to the development of strategic plans; • Experience of developing briefing documents, analysing curriculum and accommodation schedules and procurement/delivery methods; • Experience of presenting complex information to varied audiences; • Experience of developing a quality and value based framework for services, contractors and suppliers; • Current awareness of industry standards with the ability to make recommendations for adoption. SKILLS/COMPETENCIES • Ability to lead, develop and engage a team; • Track record of developing strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders; • Ability to work effectively in a team environment; • Highly effective organisation skills with an excellent attention to detail; • Ability to remain calm under pressure; • Proven ability to effectively develop, monitor and manage multiple projects; • Highly developed listening skills with the ability to effectively communicate complex information both orally and in writing; • Strong influencing and negotiating skills; • Strong customer focus; • Clear ability to manage reactive and proactive work priorities; • High level of numerical ability with well-developed analytical skills; • Ability to adapt the personal style to achieve effective professional relationships; • Ability to provide high quality feedback to colleagues.

COMMUNICATION AND WORKING RELATIONSHIPS INTERNAL • Chief Financial Officer; • The Executive Team, including Educational Directors; • New Projects Team; • School contacts within the Group, in particular Business Managers. EXTERNAL • Professional organisations working with the Group i.e. agents, architects, surveyors etc; • Schools, Local Authority and Department of Education contacts; • Landlords of leasehold properties. SCOPE FOR IMPACT There is scope for impact on the following areas: • New projects; • Regularly reviewing the property management process and recommending changes; • Ensuring customer and property >Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16

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