Building Safety And Compliance Lead

About the Borough  

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

About the Role  

We are looking for a technical lead officer to act as our expert in statutory compliance and to control risk across the corporate property portfolio. The Building Safety and Compliance Lead will be responsible for ensuring that the corporate property portfolio is compliant across the six key areas; gas safety, water hygiene, lifts, asbestos, fire Safety and electrics. You will develop a robust working relationship with facilities management contractors to fully understand their planned maintenance regimes, monitor their record keeping and remedial programme. 

In addition to this, you will act as the lead specialist within the facilities management team on technical compliance  regarding specifications for minor works projects and reactive repairs. You will keep senior management informed of risk and performance regarding  statutory and mandatory compliance across the corporate property portfolio.

Working with premise coordinators across a range of services will be required to ensure compliance information is captured and understood at site level.  You will also connect with the capital delivery team on new build projects or condition works to ensure buildings are transferred to FM in a compliant manner in order for a maintenance regime to be developed. You will also ensure remedial works are undertaken following compliance testing and to the correct standard as well as ensuring an effective system is in place to provide assurance to stakeholders that RBK properties comply with building regulated statutory requirements. There will also be a project to ensure all documentation for compliance and O&Ms are visible and accessible to RBK staff (property).

About Us  

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is focused on delivering the best possible outcomes for its communities. To do this the Council needs employees who thrive in an agile and networked organisation and who can support continuous improvement within a constructive organisational culture. 

Facilities Management  manages the built environment to ensure safety, efficiency and comfort for all users as well as playing the key role in maintaining the Council’s assets in optimum condition. The Facilities Management team plays an integral part in providing a better environment for service users.  The need for a highly skilled and experienced, strategic and operational management team, with vital back up from suitably skilled support staff, is critical to its success, as is a progressive and forward thinking team operating in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

We are a fairly new team and this is a great opportunity to be part of the success story of the FM team.  It is an exciting time to join and help us build our knowledge and expertise in this area.  With your technical skills you will become an invaluable member of the team who can provide guidance and advice when required.  Due to the nature of our work the FM team works closely with services such as Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Green Spaces.  We work closely with Health and Safety colleagues and property management and developing these networks will be an important part of this role.  We take a very collaborative approach and welcome contributions from every team member whilst we set procedures in place. No input is too big or too small and we have an all hands on deck approach!

About You  

We're looking for a competent professional who demonstrates a robust understanding of core compliance standards with regards to property maintenance within a facilities management environment.  You will be a technical person who understands Mechanical and Electrical servicing (M&E) and who can provide expert advice when commissioning services to undertake projects/maintenance across the property portfolio.  You will have strong reporting skills and be able to identify risks and provide solutions to such risks. Additionally, you will be confident in offering guidance and advice with specification and tender evaluations for property projects or maintenance routine programmes.

To be successful as the Engineering Services & Compliance Lead, you must:

• Be educated to a degree/HNC/ONC level or have equivalent experience.
• Hold a IOSH or NEBOSH general certificate in health and safety.
• Must have a substantial, proven background in managing engineering services maintenance within corporate buildings and be thoroughly conversant with statutory workplace regulations and their interpretation and application.
• Experienced in a public sector, client-side capacity with experience across an extensive and varied property portfolio of complex buildings is desirable. 
• Must have a collaborative work ethic with excellent leadership and influencing skills.
• Must be an effective communicator 
• Must possess skills and experience to manage engineering services supply partners, achieving maximum quality and value for money whilst building and maintaining effective working relationships.

For more in-depth information about the role, please refer to the job description.

Our Offer To You  

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process  

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. 

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the ‘Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme’ at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we’re incredibly proud of.

Hiring managers are encouraged to ensure that their interview panel is diverse, and representative of a range of protected characteristics, to help remove unconscious bias and ensure candidates are treated fairly during the selection process. Some characteristics may not be obvious, but our panels are diverse wherever possible. We have a number of measures in place to inform and support our approach, including mandatory EDI and unconscious bias training for all staff, safer recruitment training for diverse panel members, engaging with our staff networks and encouraging allyship. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information  

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.