Facilities Assistant (Apprentice)

University of the Built Environment; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 23,000; Full time

Job summary

A local educational institution in Reading seeks a Facilities Assistant apprentice to support the Facilities Management team. This role involves providing administrative and practical support while gaining work experience and undertaking a fully funded Level 2 Facilities qualification. The ideal candidate will possess excellent communication skills, the ability to work in a team, and a strong interest in facilities management. Benefits include a salary of £22,284 per annum, a supportive learning environment, and generous holiday and wellbeing policies.

Benefits

26 days paid holiday

Pensions auto-enrolment

Employee Assistance Programme

Learning platforms including LinkedIn learning

Qualifications

• Experience in a customer-facing role is desirable.
• Ability to work well within a team.
• Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the Facilities Management team.
• Help with event and meeting room requests.
• Greet visitors and manage reception duties.

Skills

Teamwork

Strong communication skills

Organisation and time management

Adaptability

Digital skills (MS Office)

Education

GCSE Maths and English Grade C or 4

Job description

JOB DESCRIPTION

Employment status and working hours

Permanent, full time.

Full time hours at the University are 35 per week with the standard working pattern Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00. Your weekly working pattern will be 08:30 to 16:30 Monday to Thursday in the office. As part of your apprenticeship, Friday will typically be dedicated to study for your Level 2 Facilities qualification.

Organisation structure

Chief Operating Officer, Facilities Management Team.

Your line manager will be Kathy Matthews, Head of Facilities.

Place of work flexibility

The majority of your working week will be spent at our Horizons, Reading office with Friday as a study day at home, subject to your home environment being suitable. On occasions and as part of your learning and development, we will ask you to attend the office on a Friday, so you can experience aspects of facilities work which take place when other staff are not on site.

High level summary of job role

As a Facilities Assistant apprentice, you will provide administrative and practical support across the Facilities Management (FM) team and be involved in the daily operations and activities at the Horizons office. You will gain work experience and a qualification by undertaking a Facilities Services Operative (Level 2) apprenticeship, which is fully supported and funded by the University. As part of your work, you will also provide administrative support to the Human Resources (HR) team, in those areas where FM, HR, and Technology work interlinks.

You will be involved in the processing and setting up of event and meeting room requests, as well as helping with building and contractor matters. You will help with setting up new starters to the University and allocating desks, making sure all teams have information in a timely manner. You will also support with monitoring contractors on site, covering reception, undertaking compliance checks, raising purchase orders, writing Local Operating Procedures, and providing general administrative support to both FM and HR.

Overall, you will collaborate with colleagues across the University to contribute to a safe, clean, positive and supportive work environment, where our staff can thrive.

Specific job role accountabilities and responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the team, maintaining documentation, records and the intranet area, for operational efficiency.
• Greet all visitors (external and internal) to the building in accordance with the visitor and parking policy.
• Respond to reception emails and provide switchboard cover for other departments.
• Support with meeting room set up for events, including hospitality delivery and clearance.
• Help to maintain accurate and up to date systems, including access cards (Brivo), Travel (Click), and Atlas Citation (Health and Safety).
• Working with the Facilities Manager, keep thorough, accurate and up-to-date records in relation to contractor management, to comply with legislation and ISO certification.
• Assist with devising and updating of Local Operating Procedures (LOPs) and Risk Assessments.
• Follow the process for new starters, changes and leavers, including desk setups, support with equipment deliveries/collections, onboarding and induction of new starters. Support the HR team with aspects of the new starter onboarding process.
• Help the team comply with institutional reporting requirements when required. This will include working with HR to provide quarterly updates on completion of mandatory training.
• Raise and monitor Purchase Orders.
• Respond to requests within the assigned Service Level Agreement (SLA). Escalate incidents or requests to the appropriate person or team when necessary.
• Deliver excellent customer service in all aspects of the role and contribute to a safe, clean and positive work environment.
• Dedicate the weekly time to your apprenticeship learning to keep up with your study programme.

Team cover

• Participate in the statutory weekly fire alarm test.
• Assist the FM Coordinator on bigger projects.
• Provide holiday and sickness cover for the FM Coordinator and FM Assistant. This includes servicing areas of the building such as kitchen areas.
• Provide ad-hoc support to other teams within the COO department as and when needed.

Other important features of the job role

We would like you to consider becoming a trained First Aider and Fire Warden.

In this role you will liaise with the following: Employees across the University working closely with Technology and HR; external visitors; third party suppliers; contractors.

Line management and budget responsibilities: None.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

E = Essential person requirement; D = Desirable person requirement

How the person requirement will be assessed:

A = Application; I = Interview; T = Test or other assessment

Please be aware that as part of onboarding processes, we will seek original documentary evidence of the relevant academic and/or professional qualifications which you include within your job application. This is all part of our comprehensive pre-employment screening which also includes checking your identity, right to work, criminal record history (basic disclosure), and three years employment history.

Qualifications and training

GCSE Maths and English language Grade C or 4 or above (D, A).

Previous experience

Work experience, ideally in a customer facing role (D, A, I).

Skills, knowledge, and aptitudes

Ability to work well within a team (E, A, I).

Strong communication skills, both written and verbal (E, A, I).

Effective organisation and time management skills (E, I).

Ability to adapt quickly to changing pressures and demands whilst maintaining accuracy (E, I).

Ability to make and build relationships (E, I).

Keen interest in Sustainability and Health & Safety or Wellbeing (D, I).

Digital skills confidence: We use MS Office which includes Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and several other systems/technologies (E, I, T).

Other requirements or special requirements

Alignment to the University’s core values of Passion, Integrity, Excellence and Support; all employees are expected to demonstrate our values at work (E, I).

Commitment to delivering positive outcomes for our students; we want our students to be successful (E, I).

You must be prepared to undertake mandatory online training should you be appointed including Data Protection, Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Prevent, and EDI (E, I).

A commitment to your personal development and a desire for a career within Facilities Management (E, A, I).

You must have been a resident in the UK for the last three years in order to qualify for apprenticeship funding (E, A, I).

Willingness to become a Fire Warden and First Aider (D, I).

Manual handling training (D, I).

PAY AND BENEFITS

Salary:£22,284 per annum.

Holiday: 26 days paid holiday (rising to 28 with service) plus paid bank/public holidays plus up to five paid closure days (typically between Christmas and New Year); all per holiday year Full Time Equivalent. Our holiday year runs from 1 August to 31 July. We also have a holiday buy and sell scheme in place. Sometimes the University does not need to close for five days per year and any balance (for example one day), can be used as a paid Wellbeing Day to take time out for your own physical or mental health.

Pension and life assurance:Pensions auto-enrolment to the People’s Pension which is a default salary sacrifice scheme. You may opt out of salary sacrifice but remain in the scheme, or you may choose to opt out altogether.We provide life assurance (death in service) cover as standard to all employees.

Family-friendly policies:Policies in place for all types of family-friendly statutory leave with enhanced pay available from day one of employment for some leave types.Access to Tax-Free Childcare (Government scheme).

Wellbeing:Full access to the Employee Assistance Programme as well as the Thrive Mental Wellbeing app. Several employees are trained Mental Health First Aiders and can support staff. We have a wellbeing policy and we focus on five pillars of wellbeing.

Sustainable travel:Cycle to Work and Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.

Parking: We have locked sheds for bicycles. For cars, for Horizons based roles, we may in the future be able to offer parking on site however you must not assume this will be possible. Every now and then we may have a spare parking space become available and you can ask to join the waiting list. The University is keen wherever possible, to encourage staff to commute as sustainably as possible.

Other health related benefits: Employer-funded Health Cash Plan (Simplyhealth) and voluntary dental insurance (Unum).

Other valuable benefits:

• Charity giving options available including one voluntary paid day, per annum.
• You will have access to Microsoft Office 365 applications for personal use.
• You will have access to range of lifestyle discounts and everyday savings.
• We offer learning platforms including LinkedIn learning.

On the Join the team page of our website, you will find the full list of employee benefits.

APPLICATIONS - THINGS TO CONSIDER

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Kathy Matthews on 0118 467 2077 or email [e-mail]. For any other enquiries please contact HR on 0118 467 2454 / 2433 or email [e-mail]

Did one of our employees recommend you? If you apply on the recommendation of an existing employee, please make sure to mention their name within your application.

We're passionate about sustainability and we have a five-year strategic plan: We expect job seekers to be curious about who we are and what we do. We point you towards a couple of resources about who we are and sustainability.

Closing date and next steps

We will receive applications until the advert closes on Monday 8 December2025 at 10:00. We will not consider late applications. Our ATS does not screen applications, we humans do.Applications may be reviewed prior to the closing date and occasionally, you may be invited to interview ahead of the closing date.

Interview details

Dates for interview will be advised to you later in the process. We'll ask you to tell us about any dates you cannot make, up to 4 weeks from the closing date; this helps us to plan interviews should you be shortlisted, prior to contacting you.

Please be prepared for a two-stage interview process, held on different dates. As part of the interview process, you will likely meet a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

Note for internal candidates

If you are an existing employee, we request you inform your current line manager of your intention to apply for this role.