Estate Director - Oxford North

Purpose of the Role

A high calibre and dynamic business leader with overall responsibility for the estate, buildings and the operational team at Oxford North. The individual will be inspirational to their team, with the ability to motivate and manage others. Robustness and resilience must be complemented by diplomatic skills enabling constructive relationships with stakeholders, technology, commercial and science occupiers, customers, visitors, third party contractors and the wider community. An influencer who can give strategic direction and clearly communicate the vision for Oxford North, including values, culture and behaviour. The employee will be highly commercial and attuned to the client’s business strategy. To represent and be the public face of the brand before, during and beyond launch. To have clear vision for place and our role in carrying out the principles of the brand long into the future. Ensuring brand integrity is the core to Oxford North.

Key Responsibilities

Management & Leadership

As the Estate Director of a new science and tech-led mixed-use development, strong management and leadership is essential. The Estate Director will be required to lead on the development of a business plan, which is aligned to the values and aspirations of the client and then cascaded to all team members. Other roles within management and leadership include;

• To direct, drive and support the senior management team providing depth and resilience to the operation of Oxford North.
• Ensure all team members receive exemplary levels of support, development and performance feedback.
• To monitor metrics providing an objective view of Oxford North’s performance and subsequently produce action plans for change implementation.

The following is a list of the primary duties and responsibilities. Please note the candidate is part of a larger team at Oxford North (ON) and that the list below is not exhaustive and should therefore be willing to help and assist all our colleagues in other teams within the business at any time.

1. Strategic Planning: Be an innovative thinker, developing and executing comprehensive strategies for Oxford North aligning with client vision, industry trends and best practice, an understanding of the life science industry, marketplace and local area.
2. Occupier Management: Oversee occupier relationships, ensuring satisfaction and facilitating communication between life science companies and commercial entities, be the primary contact for senior staff at site level. Encourage occupier engagement and understand their business performance.

3. Financial Oversight: Establish and nurture a culture which allows the management team to take overall responsibility of the financial aspects of the estate, including budgeting, forecasting, and cost control measures to maximise profitability and ESG to ensure Oxford North is a best-in-class destination.
4. Business Development: Identify and pursue new opportunities for the growth, technological advancement and diversification of the estate, enhancing the efficiency of Oxford North collaborating with stakeholders to identify opportunities to support occupiers from a property perspective with growth and progression.

5. Project Management: Be a strong leader and decision maker with the ability to inspire, manage and communicate effectively with all personnel working for and on the development.
6. Community Engagement: Foster positive relationships with the local community, promoting the estate's positive impact on the region and addressing any community concerns, and work with the wider ON team to drive social value
7. Risk Management: Implement risk mitigation strategies and crisis management plans to address unforeseen challenges in the operation of Oxford North.
8. ESG & CSR: Champion ESG and CSR practices within the estate. Lead the delivery of ESG goals of the client and Savills. Engage with occupiers to understand their ESG aspirations to encourage aligned goals and behaviours. Ensure an integrated way of working by driving the ethos through the onsite teams, including implementation of environmentally-friendly policies such as active travel, technologies and the teams’ wellbeing.

9. Brand Enhancement: Developing, enhancing and upholding the Oxford North brand, its values and spirit. Work with the team to consistently exceed customer expectations and delivery long term sustainable customer satisfaction both internally and externally. Understand and react to customer feedback and data from social media platforms.

10. Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including clients, customers, community groups, local councils and neighbours, to enhance the overall success, reputation and customer journey of Oxford North.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Skills

• Strategic - Creative, highly self-motivated and strategic with drive, energy and passion to execute plans and achieve goals across the estate.
• Occupiers – Personnel skills in fostering positive relationships with a diverse range of occupiers including commercial, life science and residents.
• Financial – Work with Savills and Stanhope Asset Management to deliver the Operating Budget, Estate and individual building Service Charges and assist in maximising income and commercialisation revenue. Oversee and ensure capex projects remain on budget and deliver service charge expenditure within the agreed budgets.
• Compliance – Knowledge of H&S policies, local and industry estate management legislations, ensuring adherence to legal requirements and standards.
• Business Development – The individual should be able to create and consider the 3 year strategy for the estate taking into account the different client’s agendas, opportunities for growth and diversification of ON innovation ecosystem.
• Project Management – Strong project management skills to oversee the vision and goals of Oxford North, ensuring best practice for energy usage and enlivenment.
• Community Engagement – Ability to engage positively with the local community, addressing concerns and promoting the estate’s positive impact.
• Risk Management – Skill in implementing risk mitigation strategies and crisis management plans to address unforeseen challenges.
• Environmental Sustainability – Understanding of sustainable practices and the ability to work closely with ESG Managers to review current performance and target waste and consumption to strive to meet the clients net zero carbon targets.
• Stakeholder Collaboration – Establish regular occupier liaison and undertake feedback surveys to review standards of operation across the estate.
• Communication – Maintain a consistently high level of dialogue with the full team, ensure everyone understands the business objectives and the part they play by championing any necessary changes and always acting as a role model.

Knowledge

• Ability to review and provide appropriate staff structure and level of resource within each of the buildings and their respective management teams.
• Develop a proactive and responsive team within a strong business ethic, taking responsibility for key appointments, staff development, training and motivation.
• Focus and oversee the development of the brand identity, tone of voice and customer marketing strategy, ensuring a unified consistent message in all communication.
• Work closely with the Stanhope development team and Savills on site and wider teams, to ensure the management considerations for future developments are incorporated for successful implementation to property management.
• Spearheading the importance of accuracy for energy and waste reporting and guiding ongoing initiatives to reduce energy usage and the optimisation of recycling levels to create revenue and reduction of waste to incineration.
• Ideally previous knowledge of working with science or technology occupiers.

Experience

• A track record of developing and leading large developments that deliver excellent commercial plans and successful results to all stakeholders.
• Ideally science and technology experience but not essential.
• Experience of a customer focused service provision as well as experience of branding and marketing
• Ability to closely review all leases ensuring compliance and where applicable, working closely with occupiers to drive performance and collaboration.

Working Hours - 5 days a week, hours may vary depending on the estate requirements including periodic weekend work

Salary - £120,000 PA plus car allowances and benefits

Please see our Benefits Booklet for more information.