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Job summary

Main area
Estates and Facilities
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8c
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (per annum)
Job ref
193-7930826CORB8C-HOE
Employer
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Berkshire Hospital
Town
Reading
Salary
£79,504 - £91,609 PA
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
09/07/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust logo

Head of Estates

NHS AfC: Band 8c

At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we put our patients at the heart of every element of health and care that we provide. The Trust works together as a community to deliver its vision which is “Working together to provide outstanding care for our community.”

Royal Berkshire Hospital are pleased to announce that following our CQC inspection we have been rated ‘Good’ with inspectors reporting that we have made significant improvements.  The Trust’s overall rating has also improved to ‘good’.  

We are Compassionate in our thoughts, words and actions

We are Aspirational and have a true desire to be dynamic and to innovate

We are Resourceful and responsible in the way we work and live

We are Excellent in our development, fairness and sharing best practice

At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, we value candidates who bring their unique personalities, skills, and experiences to the Trust. When completing your application, we encourage you to highlight your individual achievements and strengths, showing us how they align with the requirements outlined in the job description and person specification. While we recognise that some applicants may use AI tools during the process, please be mindful that AI-generated responses can often lack the personal detail and relevance needed to demonstrate your suitability for the role. AI generated content is discouraged by the Trust and may diminish the candidates chances of success.

Amazing things happen at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; delivered by amazing people so why don’t you come and join us.  We offer a range of learning and development for all employees may you be clinical or non-clinical.  

Please note: all vacancies automatically close when 50 applications have been received.

Job overview

The Head of Estates is responsible for the operational delivery, performance, compliance and resilience of Hard FM services across the Trust estate.

The postholder ensures the estate is safe, compliant and fit for purpose, with clear accountability for Estates health and safety, statutory compliance and engineering performance. The role provides leadership to operational and technical teams, manages contracted services and delivers continuous improvement, financial performance, sustainability and digital transformation objectives.

The primary function of the role is to deliver the agreed Estates maintenance revenue budget, ensuring efficient use of resources while supporting the highest standards of environment and experience of care across the Trust.

A key priority of the role is to lead the development of a digitally enabled Estates function, using integrated systems and data to support real time performance, compliance and decision making.

Main duties of the job

Provide leadership for the delivery of Hard FM services, including planned, reactive and corrective maintenance, ensuring safe and reliable estate operation.

Lead and manage Estates Operations and Engineering functions through direct reports, including the Estates Operations Manager, Head of Engineering and Energy Manager, ensuring clear accountability, performance and workforce effectiveness.

Take responsibility for the health and safety of Estates services, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, including the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Manage the day to day performance of contracted Hard FM services, ensuring delivery against agreed KPIs and SLAs through robust performance management processes.

Working for our organisation

Diversity makes us interesting… Inclusion is what will make us outstanding.

Inequality exists and the journey to eliminate it is not easy. Every step we take will be a purposeful step forward to deliver a truly inclusive culture where all our people are enabled to deliver outstanding care, where background is no barrier, and where everyone can be their authentic self and we truly represent our patient community.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants where possible. All applicants who have a disability and meet the minimum criteria for the post can opt for a guaranteed interview.

If you need additional help with your application please get in touch by calling the recruitment team on 0118 322 6997 or 0118 322 5342.

Our primary method of communication will be via email. However, if you would prefer to be contacted through a different method, please inform the recruitment team.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Ensure engineering systems are maintained in accordance with HTM guidance and that Authorised and Responsible Persons are competent and effective.

Maintain effective compliance, audit and risk management systems, ensuring statutory and regulatory requirements are met.

Develop and deliver the annual maintenance programme of works, aligned to the asset register and SFG20, ensuring the programme is cost effective, risk based and efficient.

Lead the development and delivery of backlog maintenance programmes and provide Estates input into capital planning and project development.

Ensure effective soft landings of projects into operational Estates, including commissioning, documentation, training and transition to business as usual.

Maintain and assure the accuracy of the asset register and estates terrier, ensuring alignment with operational and statutory requirements.

Lead the development and delivery of digital estates transformation, including the implementation and optimisation of integrated CAFM systems to enable real time reporting of performance, compliance and risk, accurate asset management and lifecycle planning, improved visibility of PPM, reactive works and backlog maintenance, and data driven decision making and assurance reporting.

Lead on delivery of the Estates revenue financial plan, including management of budgets, Cost Improvement Programmes, and associated tracking and reporting.

Lead the compilation of annual Estates Returns Information Collection and Premises Assurance Model submissions, ensuring accuracy and completeness prior to submission to the Associate Director of Estates for ratification.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • · Degree in Engineering, Building Services, Estates Management, Construction, Management or related discipline, or equivalent experience
  • · Professional qualification or membership of a relevant body, for example CIBSE, IET, IMechE, RICS or Chartered Management Institute, or equivalent
Desirable criteria
  • · Higher level health and safety qualification, for example NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent

Experience

Essential criteria
  • · Significant senior leadership experience in Estates and Facilities within a complex acute healthcare organisation, or equivalent
  • · Experience of delivering Hard FM services, including planned preventative maintenance, reactive maintenance and engineering systems
Desirable criteria
  • · Experience of working within a Health Care Estates environment
  • · Experience of Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response, including business continuity and incident response

Knowledge skills and Abilities

Essential criteria
  • · Strong leadership and influencing skills, with the ability to operate effectively at senior level, or equivalent
  • · Knowledge of statutory compliance and healthcare Estates standards, including HTMs, or equivalent
Desirable criteria
  • · Knowledge of NHS Estates assurance frameworks, including ERIC and PAM, or equivalent
  • · Advanced digital and data skills, including CAFM systems and performance reporting, or equivalent

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Apprenticeships logoNo smoking policyCare quality commission - GoodArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Florence Nightingale FoundationNational Preceptorship for Nursing Quality Mark 2024

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

This vacancy will automatically close when 50 applications have been received.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Guy Kieser
Job title
Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07584775399
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