Head of Workplace Experience & Estate Management

Head ofWorkplace Experience & Estate Management

The aim of the Central Operations Directorate is to create and maintain an effective, efficient, and resilient Workplace Experience across the Bank of England, embracing new ways of working in safe and secure ways. Within Central Operations, our Property Division is responsible for the Bank’s entire property estate, including our facilities and maintenance operations, covering all our sites across the UK.

The Head of Workplace Experience is a critical and exciting role, with full responsibility for actively managing the Bank’s property portfolio and the delivery of soft services throughout the UK Central Bank. This includes our landmark, Grade I Listed, Threadneedle Street site, and nearby Moorgate offices, as well as our sites across the UK including Essex, Leeds, and smaller hub locations, ensuring the Bank connects with, and represent the people from across the country.

This is an opportunity to lead a team of ~45 FTE, as the Head of Workplace Experience & Estates, driving excellence in customer experience and continuous improvement to maximise the benefits of smarter working within a hybrid environment. The role requires creativity and a vision of where the future workplace needs to go, and the determination and drive to take it there.

The successful candidate will need to be highly experienced and a confident negotiator, with a proven track-record of achieving value for money and managing supplier relationships. You will care deeply about your role in achieving carbon savings and maintaining prestigious premises which are home to the Bank’s critical national infrastructure and UK Gold Reserves, as well as our 5,000 colleagues.

As Head of Workplace Experience & Estates Management, you will ensure that the Bank’s portfolio is being managed efficiently and soft services delivered throughout the Estate at the highest standard. These aspects play a key role in the Bank’s Employee Value Proposition. With ownership for Estates Management, the role further ensures that our portfolio of properties align to business requirements and remain fit for purpose, both now and looking to the future. This includes driving improvements to maximise the benefits of smart working within a new hybrid environment, incorporating the Property sustainability agenda, and developing workplace policy, compliance, and design. This is an essential role that is vital to our continuous operation and futureproofing National Critical Infrastructure.

Key responsibilities include:

• Strategic Focus - develop, promote, and deliver the Bank’s Property strategy, supporting the Director of Property in providing strategic direction for the delivery model for all Soft FM Services and Estates Management related activities, and provide strategic direction for the supporting teams.

• Soft Services, Workplace and Estates Management - own end-to-end service delivery of Soft Services, Workplace and Estates Management and deliver an effective space management solution – including oversight of events set-up and the management of facilities such as reception and Helpdesk.

• Strategic Portfolio Management - set robust business cases to support recommendations and benefits towards the Property Strategy and ensure the delivery of Soft FM and Estates Management that meet the requirements of the Bank’s business operations, optimising from a cost and Value for Money perspective, driving innovation, and maximising flexibility, smarter working and leveraging market opportunities.

• Finance - own Soft Services and Estates Management budget, leading robust cost management, managing and implementing capital investment plans and supporting the Director of Property (in collaboration with Head of Infrastructure) in Estates-wide strategic budget planning and allocations.

• Stakeholder Relationships -work with colleagues across the Central Operations Directorate to drive the development of Soft Services and Estates Management-specific policy and implementation plans and advise, steer and quality-assure all matters related to Soft Services and Estates Management.

• People Development - build and manage multi-disciplinary Soft Services and Estates Management teams, providing a development path, training and the development of technical expertise and work with the Director of Property to support joined up training, development, and succession planning activities across the whole of the Property function.

• Policy, Process, and Improvement -support the Director of Property with risk mitigation and build and implement a portfolio planning framework, processes, systems, reporting and data to drive focussed decision making and continuous improvement and drive a fully compliant approach to a safe working.

• Thought Leadership - provide expertise, thought leadership and authoritative advice across the whole Estate and implement environmental solutions across a complex portfolio.

No. of direct reports - c. 3-4

Role Requirements

Essential Criteria

• Strong working background in workplace strategy, design, policy, project and programme management, space utilisation planning and change management preferably in historic or Listed buildings, with experience in smart buildings and how to implement smart building design.
• Superior customer service delivery demonstrating a constant drive for excellence in all aspects of soft service delivery, as measured through user feedback, improvements, and financially sound decisions.
• Relevant real estate undergraduate degree or equivalent applicable qualification.

Minimum Criteria

• Proven expertise in managing complex estates and delivering superior customer service through events, reception facilities, helpdesk etc., considering sustainability and Greening Government practices, implementing them within all property-related decisions.
• Proven expertise and track record in gaining trust of senior stakeholders in complex or high-risk property matters and managing potentially conflicting views.
• Well-developed inclusive leadership skills and dedication to developing your team.
• Demonstrable understanding of property function strategy and business planning, including current and future capability and capacity requirements, around topics such as Levelling Up and Net Zero.
• Experience in technology and innovation demonstrating the ability to apply a risk-based, research focussed approach to developing and testing new technology and practices, with experience in analytical decision making, converting data into strategic insight, applying this to all projects and property related decisions.
• Expertise in health & safety, compliance and inclusion providing robust professional advice to protect the Bank from any property related legal, financial, or H&S risk around building legislations, regulations and working procedures.

Desirable Criteria

• Member of Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors certified or equivalent.
• Post graduate qualification or equivalent in Property Management/Facilities management or applicable degree.

You should not be put off from applying if you do not meet or do not have all of these criteria – we would actively encourage you to get in touch to discuss what support you might need to close any gaps and/or any other skills you might have which you think could be effective in this role.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders. This role can be based from either our Threadneedle St office in London or our Leeds office in the city centre.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

This specific role offers a competitive base salary. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• An 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank's Privacy Notice