Head of Estates

Use your engineering expertise to shape the future of an organisation that supports military veterans. This is a rare opportunity to take ownership of the engineering strategy, infrastructure investment and long-term development of a respected charitable organisation's multi-site estate portfolio.

Reporting directly to the Director of Operations, you will become the organisation's senior engineering authority, providing technical leadership across multiple sites while helping to shape future investment decisions, sustainability initiatives and asset management strategies.

This is not a traditional facilities management position.

The successful candidate will play a key role in influencing how buildings, engineering systems and infrastructure evolve over the coming years, ensuring environments remain safe, sustainable, compliant and fit for the future.

Most importantly, every decision you make will positively impact the lives of military veterans and their families.

Why this role is different

As Head of Estates, you will sit at the heart of the organisation's leadership team, acting as the bridge between technical engineering requirements and operational delivery.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Lead the long-term engineering and estates strategy across a diverse property portfolio
• Influence significant capital investment and infrastructure improvement programmes
• Develop asset lifecycle and replacement strategies
• Drive sustainability and environmental initiatives
• Provide expert engineering advice to senior leadership
• Shape future estate development and investment decisions
• Deliver meaningful improvements within environments that support military veterans

This is an opportunity to leave a lasting legacy while leading engineering decisions that genuinely matter.

The Role

As Head of Estates, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across building services, infrastructure, engineering systems and estate assets.

Working across multiple locations, you will oversee a small engineering team and specialist contractors while ensuring the estate remains safe, compliant, efficient and future-ready.

Key responsibilities will include:

Engineering Leadership & Strategy

• Act as the organisation's senior engineering and technical advisor
• Develop and implement long-term engineering and asset management strategies
• Support senior leaders with technical decision-making and investment planning
• Build strong engineering governance and compliance frameworks
• Lead infrastructure and sustainability initiatives

Asset Management & Capital Planning

• Develop structured asset lifecycle and replacement programmes
• Create long-term capital expenditure plans and investment roadmaps
• Assess infrastructure condition, risk and future viability
• Support business case development for major projects and upgrades
• Prioritise engineering investment to maximise value and operational resilience

Estates & Infrastructure Management

• Oversee building services, HVAC, mechanical and electrical systems
• Lead infrastructure improvement and upgrade projects
• Ensure estates services support operational excellence across all locations
• Manage planned maintenance strategies and contractor performance
• Drive continuous improvement across engineering operations

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build collaborative relationships across Operations, Sustainability and Senior Leadership teams
• Communicate technical information clearly to non-technical stakeholders
• Work closely with site leadership teams to ensure engineering solutions support resident wellbeing
• Foster a culture of openness, collaboration and shared decision making

About You

We are keen to hear from candidates who bring strong engineering leadership experience within multi-site environments.

You may currently be working as a:

• Head of Estates
• Estates Manager
• Senior Estates Manager
• Technical Services Manager
• Building Services Manager
• Engineering Services Manager
• Regional Engineering Manager
• Facilities Engineering Manager
• Head of Building Services
• Senior Engineering Manager

Experience gained within healthcare, care, facilities management, defence, hospitality, education, commercial property, manufacturing, engineering services or other regulated environments will be considered.

What You'll Bring

• Strong mechanical and electrical building services knowledge
• Experience managing engineering or estates functions across multiple sites
• Asset management and lifecycle planning expertise
• Capital expenditure planning and budget management experience
• Contractor and supplier management capability
• Strong understanding of compliance, risk and engineering governance
• Experience delivering infrastructure upgrades and improvement projects
• Ability to influence and engage senior stakeholders
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly

Experience of HVAC systems, water infrastructure, sustainability initiatives and regulated environments would be advantageous.

The Person

Cultural fit is critical to this appointment.

You will be:

• Collaborative and approachable
• Humble and respectful
• Values-driven and people-focused
• Comfortable working across teams and disciplines
• Emotionally intelligent with strong relationship-building skills
• Able to influence through expertise rather than hierarchy
• Passionate about creating positive environments for residents and colleagues

This role requires someone who understands that they are supporting people's homes, not simply managing buildings.

Working Pattern

This is a multi-site role covering locations including:

• Solihull
• High Wycombe
• Surbiton
• Worthing

The role typically involves:

• Visiting approximately two sites per week
• Three to four days site-based
• One to two days working from home

Travel is an essential part of the role. Travel time is paid from the point you leave home and mileage is reimbursed.

Benefits

• Salary of 60,000 - 65,000
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• 7.5% employer pension contribution
• Life assurance (3x salary)
• Professional membership fees paid
• Blue Light Card discounts
• Occupational sick pay scheme
• Additional paid leave for Reservists and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers
• Mileage reimbursement
• Paid travel time
• Hybrid working

Apply Now

If you are an engineering leader looking for an opportunity to shape the future of a multi-site estate portfolio while making a genuine difference to the lives of military veterans, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today to find out more about this unique leadership opportunity.