Technical Services Manager

Technical Services Manager – Facilities Management

Salary Range - £62,595-£65,880

About Waltham Forest

Driven by our sense of the place and community, Waltham Forest continues to grow and prosper. Waltham Forest is London’s first Borough of Culture and 2019 MJ Council of the Year. Our opportunities are real: a new university campus, £300 million new shopping centre, 10,000 new homes over the next ten years, re-invigorating a much-loved 950-seat theatre and a new hospital at Whipps Cross.

However, we face challenges and need people that thrive in creating solutions and unlocking potential in all areas.  Our Property team is at the helm of many new exciting developments, such as Fellowship Square, home of our newly refurbished Town Hall alongside revitalised public square and fountain and many more across our borough. Our Facilities Management team ensures our corporate properties are well maintained, safe and comfortable for all of our users. It also provides the support to make sure our destinations – such as libraries - are safe and welcoming for our residents to visit.

We do FM a little differently in Waltham Forest, building a team who are driven, pragmatic, think outside the box and strive to deliver an excellent experience to all our users.  FM is an integral part of our property team and are trusted advisers and practitioners to our colleagues.

About the role

The Technical Services Manager is a newly created role and will be the council’s subject matter expert for all technical aspects of facilities management.  This will include responsibility for the council’s Planned & Preventative Maintenance regime and statutory compliance for all non-domestic buildings within the FM scope of responsibility.

As the lead on the development of the council’s maintenance strategy they will be responsible for ensuring the council is up to date with current legislation and best practice in the servicing and maintenance of building plant and fabric and all other relevant matters. 

The post holder will be responsible for the performance and delivery of the capital replacement programme/forward maintenance plan.  This will include the planning of projects, commissioning of technical advisors and contractors as appropriate for each scheme.

Some of the projects that will need to be commenced immediately by the successful applicant are:

• Replacement of the Council’s access control system to unify all of our sites
• A comprehensive programme of condition surveys across all corporate sites
• Development of the Council’s Facilities Management Strategy

About you

You will need to be someone who thinks outside the box, maximises value for the council and has a fantastic customer focus.

As an expert in your field, you will have up to date knowledge of all of the statutory requirements in a broad range of areas including gas, electrical, asbestos, legionella, fire etc.  You will be able to train a range of interlocutors including building managers and other colleagues in property in plain language on all matters relating to FM.

You will have experience writing high level reports for senior management, applications for funding (both internally and externally) and developing suites of publicly available performance tools.  You will be able to manage maintenance budgets of up to £2M and demonstrate an ability to prioritise works.  There is never enough money to do everything.

Specific skills, experience and qualifications

• Demonstrable commitment to and awareness of equality and diversity in the workplace
• Specialist knowledge – All round FM experience, with bias for Hard Services FM provision.
• In depth technical knowledge of professional aspects of work, continually seeks to maintain knowledge.
• Substantial experience FM Hard Services and generalist experience in the property field including surveying, inspection and reporting; maintenance and servicing contracts; design and specifying

• Sound knowledge of all aspects of planned maintenance for all building types, including lighting, power, fire alarm and emergency lighting, intruder and security entrance systems

• Excellent knowledge of Building Regulations and Statutory requirements as they apply to the facilities management discipline eg. Asbestos, fire, water, electrical, gas regulations and relevant HSE codes of practice

• Experience of developing Forward Maintenance Plans and asset planning (E)
• Experience of managing planned maintenance and statutory compliance (E)
• Experience of public sector procurement of contracts valued up to £1M (E)
• An excellent understanding of good practice in contract management (E)
• Excellent ICT skills, including the ability to full utilise Microsoft Office products, particularly Excel (essential) and experience of CAFM and AM packages would be an advantage
• Work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team environment and ability to work alone as required, requiring minimal supervision (E)

• Must hold relevant either mechanical or electrical degree or suitable higher education qualification
• IOSH qualified as minimum NEBOSH Certificate (General Level) desirable
• Membership of recognised relevant institute desirable