Head of Property Operations

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF SERENA’S VISION

Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories.

Where innovative and open-minded people bring everything to the cause. Even expertise from surprising places. Take Serena. She is an absolute force of nature at the heart of our Church Street regeneration. And she puts the residents first in everything.

Serena’s vision is clear. Regeneration isn’t just about bricks and concrete. It’s about communities. It’s about the environment. It’s about the lives of people and how they feel about where they call home. Serena is their advocate, making sure residents’ voices aren’t just heard, but drive the changes we’re making. The future is safe in her hands.

Please view the extraordinary story of Serena’s Vision here.

The Role:

As the Head of Property Operations, you can make your own powerful contribution.

You’ll play a key role in our ambition to maintain the highest standards of housing stock for our residents. Across minor works, disrepair, voids, commercial matters and adaptation works, you will help us reach new levels of service.

You’ll also shape our asset strategy, defining key investment needs and considerations to our capital works and regeneration teams so that our vital works can be properly planned in our capital programme.

You’ll then work with our other property managers to create a system that can deliver consistently high-quality inspections for communal and external parts of our properties. The system also needs to guarantee effective prioritisation of works according to urgency.

On top of strategy and process, you’ll develop a high-performing team of technical staff who can provide exceptional levels of service across the board. You’ll be responsible for embedding a culture of innovation and collaboration that lives up to our values as a council.

Above all, you’ll be making a significant impact on our residents’ lives, all while contributing to a high-profile area of council activity that will boost our reputation nationwide.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

You’ll have substantial experience managing repair and maintenance services for residential buildings as well as experience managing contracts for large-scale services.

Your experience should also include project management, budgeting, performance monitoring, recruitment and handling major service failures.

In terms of skills, we’re looking for great communicators, collaborators and strategic thinkers.

You should also have a degree in building surveying or a similar technical discipline along with membership of a professional body e.g. MRICS, MCIOB.

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a global majority background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background, you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to over 250,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.