Area Workplace Manager

The Area Workplace Services Manager is a pivotal position within the Workplace Service Delivery Team.

Supporting the Workplace Services Regional Manager, the post-holder will have responsibility for leading delivery of high-quality contract, client relationship and supplier performance management services across a portfolio of sites within an Area of the GPA’s Northern region.

Passionate about customer service excellence, the successful candidate needs to be able to build teams of civil servants to deliver excellent workplace experience within their assigned portfolio of buildings.

As we expand our portfolio, we are seeking a diverse team of team leaders.

Key Responsibilities

• Being the face of GPA Workplace Services to the local clients/customers within remit,
• Line management responsibility for a small team of Workplace Managers. Typically, responsible for managing direct reports of 1 to 6 FTE, leading and inspiring team members to consistently deliver excellent customer service across our client portfolio,
• Driving service performance through teams responsible for day-to-day management of a portfolio of GPA serviced buildings,
• Managing operational and contractual risks, developing risk mitigation plans and ensuring risk control measures are fully implemented and completed to remove or lessen the risk as appropriate,
• Working closely with and taking ownership of the management of contractual activities between GPA and its service providers,
• Responsible for managing risk notices, contract variations and contract notices as required across all service contracts by developing a strong understanding of the commercial terms and building strong relationships with internal key stakeholders and WS Service Providers,
• Undertaking scheduled site visits as required to manage the services, including supporting the transition of new sites into the Region,
• Ensure prompt resolution of customer issues and complaints escalated from the client, customer, manager or helpdesk. Escalating when appropriate to Regional Workplace Services Manager,
• Management of incidents including engagement with key stakeholders, external support and GPA senior management, ensuring the full alignment to the GPA incident management process including out-of-hours support and incident reporting,
• Managing delivery of minor works and churn projects (lower value and less complex projects) and escalation of higher value / more complex projects to GPA Capital Projects and Workplace Service Delivery projects,
• Review and agreement of regional supply chain partner’s proposals for lifecycle replacement and planned maintenance work, working closely with the GPA’s asset and engineering management team,
• Management of chargeable / billable works. Budget management responsibility or the area, including forecasting, management and improvement. Taking responsibility for the approval of works within the delegated budget as requirement to ensure compliance with the contractual prompt payment clauses,
• Driving excellence in service delivery by liaising with GPA teams including seeking advice from experts as required (Property Asset Management, Project/Programme Delivery, Finance and Assurance),
• Actively participate in and support the development and deployment of the WSD strategy,
• Contributes to and embeds change programmes across WSD and the GPA, Workplace Services Strategies into the operating model,
• Actively supports tender processes to ensure the GPA has suitable contractual arrangements to support customer needs,
• Responsible for ensuring that PQs and FOIs are responded to in a timely manner by providing quality information as required,
• Responsible for ensuring that the correct governance and controls are in place to provide assurance over supplier performance and GPA standards,
• Develop robust succession plans to de-risk the business for team,
• Any other reasonable and authorised activity as needed from the business from time to time, and
• Deputise for the Regional Manager and/or Peers as required.

Experience & Technical Skills

Essential criteria

• Have relevant practical experience in Workplace Services Management at a Senior level,
• Have demonstrable experience in people management, specifically remote management of geographically dispersed staff and / or teams,
• Be able to travel within the geography of the Region (and occasionally nationally) to deliver the duties and attend management and client meetings, and
• Experience of leading workplace-related services (hard and soft FM, operational security, ICT services, hospitality, community engagement) ideally with commercial understanding and awareness and the ability to get the best out of key suppliers.

Desirable criteria

• Have the capability to be an excellent leader and manager, with experience of identifying and implementing improvements and promoting a culture of a high-performance customer service,
• Have the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels Creative, innovative and adaptable, and able to evolve as the Agency develops, supporting the Regions Workplace Services Manager with any change that needs to be implemented, and
• Comfortable working in a fast paced and matrix environment, dealing with uncertainty and handling a range of challenges competently as they emerge.

Qualifications and Accreditations

Essential criteria:

• A proven experienced property and/or workplace service management professional with knowledge of asset management, maintenance, customer service and supplier management.
• Appropriate professional qualifications and memberships, such as IWFM or equivalent (e.g., RICS, APM Registration or Chartership). Applicants from other sectors with relevant transferable skills and experience such as hospitality or events management will also be permitted to apply.
• Agreement to obtain the minimum level of Security Clearance for the role (SC). The candidate must meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of security vetting being undertaken for the role, which for SC is 5 years UK residency. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the recruitment team prior to submitting your application.

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge of AI systems such as Gemini.

You will need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of security vetting being undertaken for the role, which for CTC is 3 years UK residency, SC is 5 years UK residency, and DV is 10 years UK residency.

If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the recruitment team prior to submitting your application.