Head of Strategic Property

Are you a strategic leader keen to shape the future of property services within a high performing local authority? If so, we are seeking a Head of Strategic Property to lead and innovatively manage our service and portfolio.

Our property plays a significant part in the delivery of the Council’s strategy.  We have 728 property assets with a combined value of £507 million. The portfolio includes schools, offices, depots, farms and investment properties, owned and leased, all of which directly or indirectly support the people of Leicestershire

You will lead and support the service to deliver projects to the value of £273m. These include the delivery of the school place programme, the Investment in Leicestershire programme and the planning and delivery of major infrastructure projects.

This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and experienced property professional to enhance their career in a transformative role. Providing the drive and vision to maximise the potential of our property assets.

About the Role

You will:

·    Oversee preparation of the Corporate Property Strategy, Property Asset Management Plan and Service Asset Management Plans, driving forward their implementation to ensure property is used to maximum advantage in delivering the Council’s services and broader objectives.

·    Recommend and action the acquisition and development of property to support the Council’s’ Investing in Leicestershire Strategy.  Working with partners, stakeholders, senior leaders and councillors, you’ll develop and deliver the approach to our land and property investment portfolio. Providing strategic leadership and direction, you’ll ensure value for money for all activities, maximising financial and economic returns.

·    Be responsible for the Council’s leased estate, you’ll review, establish and implement a measurable approach to managing this, to include maximising rental incomes, while reducing un-let space and arrears through effective lease negotiation, tenancy management and valuation advice.

·    Proactively and effectively work with the Operational Property & Facilities Management Teams, embedding data and performance management across the services.

·    Drive the sustainability agenda, implementing carbon reduction strategies, life cycle plans and sustainable construction techniques for the property portfolio, contributing to Leicestershire’s growth and regeneration in an environmentally conscious way.

With an extensive background in property and strategic asset management, including in a local government setting, you’ll have excellent relationship management skills to manage a complex and challenging workload in a political environment. You’ll be able to lead, inspire, motivate and manage in a manner that commands the trust of colleagues, Councillors and partners.

This post is politically restricted therefore the postholder is disqualified from undertaking certain political activities under the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990.

About You

To apply for this post, you must have:

·        Relevant degree or equivalent qualification and full membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

·        Demonstrable expertise in estate and asset management within a public authority, including its role in supporting wider services.

·        Proven ability to deliver high-value, complex property transactions within budget and on schedule.

·        Awareness and understanding of political sensitivities and the challenges faced by local government.

·        Strong leadership skills to inspire and develop teams to achieve objectives and drive high performance in a pressured environment

·        Substantial experience of developing and delivering property strategies that align with service needs and organisational goals, including budget management and control

·        Understanding of property and mapping databases, with a track record of identifying and maximising opportunities for income generation and efficiency.

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunities, and the ability to apply this to all situations.

In addition, we expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual’s personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.

Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the Our Working Styles page on our career site.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Lucy Littlefair – Assistant Director – People, Property and Transformation

Email:lucy.littlefair@leics.gov.uk

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services, we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job, please click ‘Apply Now’. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. For more information, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Employee Service Centre: https://emss.freshdesk.com/support/home.

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

Other Senior Property Professional opportunities. Join us

We are ambitious in our aim to realise the potential and return on our property assets; as a result we will be investing in and strengthening our property services early in 2025.  If you are a property specialist looking for an interesting prospect and an opportunity to enhance your career we want to hear from you.  Send us your CV and join us on this exciting journey.