Head of Property Compliance and Facilities Management

Welcome

Are you a strategic leader ready to shape and manage the future of property compliance and management services? If so, we are seeking a new Head of Property Compliance and Facilities Management to lead, coordinate, and provide effective management of our property compliance and facilities service.

We are at a pivotal point in our history. In April 2023 the 8 councils that served North Yorkshire unified to create geographically the largest council and third largest unitary within the country. Given that we are at the inception of our new council this role provides an unrivalled career opportunity to lead, shape and inspire our new property compliance and facilities management service.

This is a fascinating high profile role, presenting a real career opportunity for an ambitious, creative and experienced property compliance and facilities service professional. You will be the lead professional on all property management, facilities management and compliance matters including reactive repairs and maintenance, condition surveys, property compliance and workplace services. Working at scale, you will be responsible for managing an annual revenue budget of circa £30million, plus £4million from a traded service, and will work closely with other stakeholders including the Head of Strategic Property and the Shared Head of Health and Safety to ensure that the council’s property portfolio is fit for purpose and all property risks are managed.

In addition, the role affords the commercial opportunity to grow traded services - you will tender for, develop contracts and provide services to outside organisations, not only in local government, so we are also looking for a leader with business acumen and vision.

As the recently appointed Assistant Director Commercial, Property and Procurement I am looking to appoint to this new role at a pivotal time. I know from experience that this is an ideal time to join us, but here’s some of the reasons why. You will:

• provide strategic direction, leadership and management of operational property portfolio whilst acting as responsible person within the council for building compliance
• ensure the council’s property portfolio is managed in a safe and compliant manner, is fit for purpose, cost effective and enables service departments to deliver their existing and future services in the most effective way
• work alongside the Head of Strategic Property whose main duties will be to set and deliver the council’s overarching Property Asset Management Strategy, plans, policies and programmes, including the embedding of the Corporate Landlord model within the council
• enable us to be a modern, inclusive employer - the environment in which our staff work is fundamental to our success, providing effective space to deliver services and good working conditions, ensuring staff are safe, can work effortlessly and effectively - you and your service will enable this to happen, and dynamically respond to the ever-changing demands on our services
• manage and lead with autonomy - you will manage a team of over 60 employees and have wider responsibilities for the commissioning and management of external contractors, some of which are delivered by other council traded services

We are seeking an experienced property compliance and facilities management professional. This is an ideal opportunity for colleagues working in the private sector to expand their remit and provide the leadership and make a real difference to North Yorkshire residents. We equally welcome applications from property compliance and facilities management colleagues already working in and across public sector estates who have the drive and ambition to work at scale and maximise returns and outcomes from our portfolio.

Kerry Metcalfe, Assistant Director Commercial, Property and Procurement

The service

North Yorkshire Council’s property portfolio is managed under an emerging Corporate Landlord approach and consists of over 3,000 land and property assets including schools, corporate offices, depots, service delivery accommodation, farms, industrial units, surplus sites, and commercial assets. The portfolio generates rental income in excess of £13million and has a balance sheet value of circa £1.3billion. As the new Head of Property Compliance and Facilities Management you will lead, coordinate, and provide effective management of our property compliance and facilities service.

North Yorkshire Council and the local government reforms

In April 2023 a new unitary council was launched for North Yorkshire, with our new council replacing the former eight county, district and borough councils. North Yorkshire Council is geographically the largest council and the third largest unitary authority. This change offers you the opportunity to build on the great work done within each of the predecessor councils and consider how the property service can best be taken forward. The response of the commercial, property and procurement service is pivotal to the success of the organisation going forward.

You will work with former district, borough and county colleagues, providing the opportunity to review the property service with a fresh perspective and implement any necessary changes. The breadth of work within this role will enable you to develop within your career, providing you with the opportunity to influence and lead at a large scale and network with colleagues across the region.

The role

Salary: from £65,444 up to £73,755 plus relocation support 
Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire - with hybrid working
Closing date: Tuesday 13 February (midnight)
Interview date: Monday 26 February (in person at the offices of North Yorkshire Council, Northallerton)

Your responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for the following areas:

• developing and implementing a Compliance Policy, and delivering all associated activity, for the council’s entire property portfolio
• facilities and workplace management
• fulfilling the corporate responsibilities for property ownership, as determined through the Corporate Landlord model set out within the Property Asset Strategy
• managing all responsive building maintenance works within the council
• building condition: undertaking a programme of cyclical condition surveys across the council’s entire property portfolio, and identifying associated risks relating to building condition to inform property risk registers and the development of the planned maintenance programme
• decommissioning and managing surplus and vacant land and property assets
• managing the property traded service, achieving income targets (currently £4million per annum) and maximising financial returns from the service

This politically restricted post, under the terms of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989.

What will you bring to the role?

To be successful in this role you will bring:

• evidence of successfully working in a senior management role in a relevant property environment
• in depth and up to date knowledge and understanding of the current issues and challenges facing local government
• in depth knowledge of promoting, preserving and protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of councillors, employees, service users, contractors and partners across the council’s property portfolio - ensuring that the provisions of all relevant legislation are achieved, such as the Health and Safety at Work Act
• demonstrable evidence for effective development, accountability, delivery and monitoring of a property related compliance policy
• extensive experience of successfully and effectively managing and monitoring high value property contracts, contractors and consultants
• demonstrable evidence of significant service improvement through managing change including staff engagement, capacity building, workforce modernisation and organisational reform
• evidence of successful partnership development or delivery through partnerships including an ability to work with local partners
• demonstrable evidence of significant service improvement through managing change including staff engagement, capacity building, workforce modernisation and organisational reform
• significant experience of driving performance management using appropriate quality and management methods and models to deliver efficient and effective services through collaborative working

What will you gain in return?

You will be joining one of the largest councils in the country at a unique moment to progress and enhance your career. You will have the opportunity to work at scale, as the lead professional on all property management, facilities management and compliance matters with responsibility for an annual revenue budget of circa £30million. The role also affords exciting commercial opportunities to grow traded services - currently worth £4million - you will look to develop this further and provide services to outside organisations, not only in local government.

This is an important, career enhancing role, with a varied and rewarding remit. You will be welcomed by talented colleagues who are passionate about delivering exceptional services to North Yorkshire residents.

Key documents

•  view the job description / person specification (pdf / 332 KB)
• read our council plan
• view our management structure

Our vision

We want to build on North Yorkshire’s natural capital, strong local economy and resilient communities, to improve the way local services are delivered and support a good quality of life for all. The council plan 2023 to 2027 sets out the council’s vision, ambitions and priorities for the next four years, as well as the approach we will take to achieve them.

Why work for us

We are strong performing authority, with supportive political leadership, and talented teams providing the platform to have a fulfilling, challenging and successful career in a truly stunning place.

A recent peer challenge found that the council is a good place to work, with strong leadership and a loyal and committed workforce who have access to well-regarded training and development.

We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice, offering a range of training and development opportunities and career progression allowing you to manage your own development journey and empowering you to control your career. Your career can change with your life here in North Yorkshire.

We positively encourage flexible working and we provide you with the technology you need to work from a wide variety of locations.

We believe in the importance of inclusion, which is why we are always working towards being a more diverse, equitable and inclusive employer. Find out more about our equality, diversity and inclusion work on our working for us page. You can bring your whole self to work, and we will support you to be the best that you can be.

Our values, behaviours and ambitions underpin everything we do.

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of great benefits to help you financially make life a bit easier. These include:

• a local government, career average employer contribution pension scheme
• family friendly leave
• salary sacrifice schemes
• modern flexible working practices
• learning and development packages
• career advancement opportunities
• employee discount benefits including shopping and gym discounts
• green car and cycle schemes
• travel loans

You can find more information on the range of benefits we offer on our total rewards page.

Our relocation package

If you are considering relocating to North Yorkshire we provide a comprehensive relocation benefits package.

This features up to £8,000 to cover reasonable costs such as:

• removal expenses
• storage costs
• legal and estate agent fees
• travelling expenses

Living and working in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a thriving county that adapts to a changing world and remains a special place to live and work.

North Yorkshire's natural beauty is captured in its three areas of Outstanding Natural Parks, National Nature Reserves, stunning coastlines, scenic rural villages, vibrant cities and market towns. North Yorkshire really is a beautiful, thriving and special place to live and work, rich in heritage and culture.

North Yorkshire features significantly in the ten best places to live in the UK in Halifax Quality of Life Survey. The Quality of Life index aims to quantify where living standards are highest in the UK by ranking local performance across a range of indicators.

Richmondshire was placed second in the list, a position boosted by excellent personal wellbeing factors including life satisfaction and happiness.

Hambleton was placed fourth and Ryedale was placed eighth, a truly commendable achievement and another incredible accolade for North Yorkshire.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics bulletin positions North Yorkshire as the safest place in England with extremely low crime rates.  

In addition, the county benefits from excellent road and rail links, with easy access via the east coast mainline, the A1(M) and A19. Leeds, York, Newcastle, Durham and Teesside are all easily commutable, and London and Edinburgh are just two hours away by train.

From its lively cities to pretty villages, rolling countryside and grand coastline, Yorkshire has so much to offer including great employment opportunities for your family members, along with a higher proportion of schools which are good or outstanding compared to national figures.

You can find out more about what North Yorkshire has to offer on the No place like North Yorkshire website.

Key dates

Closing date: Tuesday 13 February - midnight

Interview date: Monday 26 February - in person at the offices of North Yorkshire Council, Northallerton

Contact us and apply

For an informal confidential discussion about this opportunity, please contact Sarah Hunter on 07816 251271 / Sarah.Hunter@northyorks.gov.uk or Leanne Auton on 07815 028 548 / Leanne.Auton@northyorks.gov.uk.

Please submit one Word document that details a comprehensive CV, including current salary, and a supporting statement outlining your suitability for the role.

Applications should be emailed to Executive.ResourcingSolutions@northyorks.gov.uk.

It is important that your written application fully addresses the experience criteria as detailed in the person specification.

You should include contact details for at least two referees, one of whom must be your current / most recent employer/engager. If you specifically do not wish referees to be approached without your permission, please indicate this. We will remove your personal details from your application on receipt to enable anonymised shortlisting, therefore it is important that your application is made using one Word document. Please do not send PDF versions.

Please ensure that you have included both your work and home telephone contact numbers and e-mail addresses where applicable.

We believe in the importance of inclusion, which is why we are always working towards being a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive employer. You can find out more about our equality, diversity and inclusion work on our working for us page.

This is a politically restricted post.

We are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers.