Campus Operations Director

JR United Kingdom; Chelmsford; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Reading seeks a Campus Operations Director to lead operations across its extensive estate. This key role involves managing substantial facilities services, ensuring compliance and performance improvements while fostering a collaborative team ethos. The successful candidate will have significant leadership experience and a strong background in managing large operational budgets, providing an opportunity to shape the future of campus operations.

Benefits

Generous annual leave (40 days including public holidays)

Exceptional USS pension

Strong commitment to employee health and wellbeing

Qualifications

• Experience in estate leadership roles managing operational property portfolios over £10 million.
• Ability to inspire and lead in-house staff across various operational levels.
• Experience in complex organizational environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of campus and facilities services across the university.
• Ensure FM services are customer-focused and compliant with legislation.
• Deliver maintenance plans on time and within budget.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Communication

Job description

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The University of Reading is seeking to appoint a Campus Operations Director to lead the delivery of outstanding campus and facilities services across the University’s diverse estate portfolio.

The University of Reading has been at the forefront of UK Higher Education for nearly a Century. We are a global university that enjoys a world-class reputation for teaching, research and enterprise. Key to the University’s success is its estate portfolio - the campuses in Reading and Henley have regularly been voted one of the best university green space in the UK serving over 19,000 students and nearly 4,000 staff.

Occupying three beautiful campuses ranging from the urban utopia of London Road, the peaceful parkland of Whiteknights to the riverside retreat of Greenlands, the unique “University in a Park” setting of the University of Reading is an inspiring place to come to work.

The University has a significant operational estate portfolio consists of more than 200 buildings and over 250,000m2 of space, spanning academic, research, enterprise, sport, recreation and residential buildings and facilities. It also has an investment portfolio comprises an incredibly diverse variety of land and property including commercial, residential, innovation & enterprise, research & development, industrial, retail and rural space. We have over 500 tenants ranging from multi-national corporations to individual partners.

A rare opportunity has arisen to shape the future of Campus Operations provision at the University. Reporting to the Director of Estates, the Campus Operations Director leads a department spanning Hard FM (Planned Maintenance, Reactive Maintenance, and Gardens & Grounds) and Soft FM (Security, Cleaning, Post, Portering, and Building Support) across the campus and estate portfolio.

Leading the department involves fostering teamwork and instilling the ‘One Estates’ ethos, emphasising collaboration across the Directorate. The Director of Campus Operations is accountable for ensuring FM services are fit for purpose, customer-focused, innovative, compliant with legislation, and promote best practice. Delivering the Maintenance Plan on time and within budget, reducing backlog maintenance, aligning maintenance activities with the Decarbonisation Plan and improving HESA condition ratings are key objectives.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience in estate leadership roles, managing large-scale operational property portfolios with budgets exceeding £10 million. They will possess a specific track record in leading performance improvements across estates operations functions, as well as the ability to oversee a portfolio of soft FM services. Experience in environments with comparable characteristics to those found at the University, including 24/7 operational settings, diverse property and facility types, and complex processes, is essential.

We are seeking an individual that has senior-level leadership experience within complex organisations, with a proven ability to inspire and lead a substantial in-house staff cohort, ranging from senior managers to operational professionals. They will possess excellent interpersonal, communication and stakeholder management skills, coupled with a dynamic yet collaborative disposition.

The University of Reading offers a compelling benefits package including the exceptional USS pension (www.uss.co.uk), generous annual leave (40 days including university closure days and public holidays), a strong commitment to employee health and wellbeing and access to various optional benefits. Further information can be viewed at https://www.reading.ac.uk/human-resources/working-at-reading

The candidate brochure can be viewed here.

For a confidential briefing discussion please contact our advisor Michael Hewlett ([emailprotected] ) of MRG.

Applications should consist of a comprehensive CV and supporting statement and should be sent to [emailprotected]

The closing date for applications is Sunday 22nd June 2025.