Guildford Borough Council has an opening for a Building Surveyor and Engineering Manager to join its Assets and Property Service.  We are looking for an individual who is forward thinking, confident and able to lead a team of building surveyors, civil engineers, and compliance officer who are responsible for the upkeep of the Council’s corporate property and infrastructure portfolio. 

The work covers a large and varied number of assets.  Buildings include the head office, a depot, industrial premises, pavilions, multi-storey car parks and a crematorium as well as miscellaneous properties such as tunnels, closed burial grounds and several heritage sites.  Infrastructure assets include bridges, surface car parks, roads, and footways. 

If this is of interest, you will be responsible for the following aspects: 

• The Council’s asset framework sets out the standards for maintaining our assets. You will be accountable for ensuring those standards are delivered and maintained through extensive capital and annual maintenance programmes working closely with our finance and operational colleagues as part of a corporate landlord service.
• You will be responsible for overseeing the team’s projects as well as managing your own, ensuring compliant procurement of contractors and consultants, maintaining tight control of capital and revenue budgets, and procuring condition surveys. 
• You will be our specialist advisor to client services and project teams providing technical expertise on pipeline capital schemes such as a new depot and potentially a new leisure centre and applying your expertise to wider asset-related objectives aimed for delivery over the next 5 years.
• The team has responsibility for compliance of asbestos, fire, and Legionella across the corporate estate.  Managing this is a vitally important part of this role to protect users and occupiers of our buildings.  You will work with the officer responsible for checking all tests, assessments and paperwork are up to date and completed.
• The role includes representing the Council in its contribution to surface water flood management in the Borough, helping to maintain relief infrastructure and strategic watercourses in conjunction with statutory partners.

You must hold a degree and RICS professional membership or equivalent and have extensive experience in maintaining buildings and infrastructure assets.  Candidates must be proficient in CDM, MEES regulations, and management of asbestos, fire safety and Legionella.  Experience in mechanical and electrical engineering would be an advantage.

Excellent communication skills to represent the team at board and committee level and demonstrable team leadership experience are essential requirements.  Strong numerical skills and proficiency in MS Excel is required to prepare and monitor budgets accurately.

We guarantee no two days are the same.  The team is hardworking and constantly busy dealing with many assets and a varied workload.  As such, the role suits someone experienced in managing teams that work under pressure, can delegate effectively, and is self-motivated.

What’s in it for you?

We want to attract the best personnel, and so we provide training opportunities, including support towards professional qualifications.  We also offer flexible working arrangements including the ability to vary your start and finish times around core hours and an agile working policy enabling you to work from home for 50% of your working week.  We offer many other benefits including health and wellbeing initiatives, an employee assistance programme and discount off a range of well-known high street shops and supermarkets. 

Your role will be to:

• Lead all aspects of asset maintenance ensuring the robust performance of the team.
• Supply leadership, oversight, support, and line management to surveyors, engineers and compliance works officer.
• Collaborate with and provide technical, specialist advice to internal service teams.
• Play a key role in guiding the wider strategies and plans for the Council’s assets.
• Develop policies and strategies for asset maintenance and put in place procedures and protocols to improve the condition and efficiency of the assets.
• Review key assets to improve energy performance, potential savings and deliverability of services through our assets.
• Project manage your own schemes either directly or via consultants including non-maintenance projects such as demolition works and dilapidation surveys.
• Communicate with key councillors to ensure clear understanding of any proposed major works to assets.
• Work with our asset managers, facilities management officers and mechanical and electrical colleagues to ensure smooth crossover of work.
• Set maintenance budgets and maintain within limits, working with our finance colleagues to prepare the Council's annual capital and revenue budgets.
• Prepare the planned preventative maintenance programmes on behalf of the Council.
• Prepare business cases for programmes and projects and manage delivery and updates, where appropriate.
• Assist Assistant Director of Assets and Property to manage FOIs, Health and Safety Part II documents, business continuity plan; and covering meetings and responding to enquiries when the Assistant Director is away.