Creative Quarter Estates Manager

Creative Folkestone; Folkestone; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A community-focused charity in Folkestone is seeking an Estates Manager to oversee property maintenance and ensure legal safety compliance. The ideal candidate will demonstrate excellent negotiation and communication skills, manage contracts, and coordinate with tenants and external contractors. This role is crucial for maintaining properties in line with safety standards and requires attention to detail in a dynamic environment. Applications should be sent to the specified contact email by the deadline.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in estate management and maintenance oversight.
• Ability to manage contracts and compliance effectively.
• Experience in tenant relations and coordinating with contractors.

Responsibilities

• Oversee estate buildings and their maintenance.
• Ensure legal safety standards are met for all properties.
• Manage tenant inquiries and coordinate with external contractors.

Skills

Excellent negotiation skills

Excellent communication skills

Attention to detail

Tools

Property Management System

Job description

Overview

The Creative Quarter is central to the charity Creative Folkestone’s mission to revitalise communities through creativity. Comprising 60 restored properties with over 280 mixed-use units, it supports a dynamic community of approximately 300 artists and creatives, contributing to the rejuvenation of the local economy by fostering numerous businesses and job opportunities, and encouraging visitor footfall.

Income from the Creative Quarter goes towards estate maintenance, and helps fund the delivery of our charitable objectives and projects, and ensures the organisation’s future sustainability.

Main purpose of this role

This is a vital role with the Creative Quarter team, as it oversees the estate buildings, their care and maintenance, to ensure all properties are habitable and meet all legal safety standards. The Creative Quarter Estates Manager oversees tenant enquiries relating to maintenance, coordinating with our Estates team and external contractors to carry out the work, and ensuring effective maintenance and safety protocols. The role oversees contract management and compliance within the charity’s property portfolio, and is responsible for managing tender and procurement processes. The ideal candidate will have a desire for driving operational efficiency and keeping a tight control of budgets.

Skillset / Responsibilities

• The role requires tact and diplomacy, and excellent negotiation and communication skills, as it involves regular interactions with tenants, our Estates team, maintenance contractors, and other companies responsible for compliance across our portfolio.
• Due to the range of different relationships, this role would suit someone who enjoys working with people, and has an interest in the organisation’s mission to support creative talent within our community.
• Using our new Property Management System to monitor all maintenance tickets and contracts, this role requires someone with excellent attention to detail who thrives in a busy, dynamic work environment.

About Creative Folkestone

Creative Folkestone believes in the power of creativity to transform people, places, and communities. We lead with imagination and purpose, enabling others to be curious, ambitious, and empowered to shape a changed future. Through collaboration, risk-taking, and deep local knowledge, we make bold ideas happen.

Since 2002, Creative Folkestone has enabled long-term cultural change in one of the UK’s most deprived seaside towns. We’ve nurtured a creative community of approximately 300 people living and working in 60 restored buildings, established Quarterhouse, a thriving venue for live performance, and staged six internationally acclaimed Triennials. We are home to the UK’s largest urban outdoor art exhibition, Folkestone Artworks, and we run a year-round programme of performance and learning, alongside an ambitious and inclusive book festival. Our work has led to new jobs, new businesses, and new confidence across the town.

Since 2020, Creative Folkestone also stewards Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage and runs a residency programme in Dungeness; we’ve shaped the cultural vision for Otterpool Garden Town and helped return the former gasworks at Ship Street to public ownership.

Our team is small, skilled, and supportive – powered by care, creativity, and a strong sense of place. We are governed by a committed and knowledgeable voluntary board.

We have declared that FOLKESTONE IS AN ART SCHOOL and now, Folkestone is a Library, a three-year project funded by Arts Council England. All our work is underpinned by a joyful, ambitious learning and engagement programme that champions access, inclusion, and creative expression across every artform, age and ability. Together, we imagine new ways to live, learn and thrive, for all.

Location: Quarterhouse, Mill Bay, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1BN

How to apply

Please send:

• your completed application form
• your up-to-date CV
• to [e-mail] by Monday 2 February 10am

If you have any questions, please contact our Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Chief Executive by email [e-mail].