Facilities & Maintenance Manager

Cherry Trees; Guildford; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 37,000; Full time

Job summary

Cherry Trees in East Clandon & Passfield Common, Liphook, is seeking a hands-on Facilities & Maintenance Manager. This permanent, full-time role offers £33,000–£37,000 per year and 37.5 hours per week.

You will lead maintenance across buildings and grounds, supervise two part-time handymen, coordinate contractors, and manage purchasing and invoices to ensure safety and quality. The successful candidate will combine practical maintenance skills with strong organisational and people-management

Qualifications

• Experience in a practical maintenance, property, facilities or building-related role.
• Experience supervising others and coordinating contractors.
• Experience purchasing materials or services and managing invoices.

Responsibilities

• Carrying out day-to-day maintenance and repairs.
• Coordinate two part-time handymen and contractors.
• Manage planned preventative and reactive maintenance and budgets.

Skills

Supervising contractors

Budget management

Planning & organisation

People management

Education

Trade qualification or equivalent experience

Tools

Facilities management software

Job description

Location: Cherry Trees, East Clandon & Passfield Common, Liphook

Salary: £33,000–£37,000 per annum, depending on experience

Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Make a real difference behind the scenes

At Cherry Trees, the environment we provide is just as important as the care we deliver.

We provide specialist short-break care for children with disabilities, creating a warm, safe and welcoming home-from-home environment while giving families valuable respite. To help us maintain that environment to the highest standard, we're looking for an experienced Facilities & Maintenance Manager to join our team.

This is a genuinely hands-on role. You'll take responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance, facilities and general upkeep of Cherry Trees, making sure our buildings, grounds, equipment and facilities are safe, well maintained and fit for purpose.

You'll combine your practical maintenance skills with strong organisation and people management. You'll undertake repairs yourself, while also planning and allocating work for our two part-time Handymen, coordinating contractors and suppliers, managing purchasing and invoices, and keeping planned maintenance and compliance requirements on track.

What you'll be doing

You'll have a varied role, including:

• Carrying out day-to-day repairs and maintenance, including basic carpentry, decorating, plumbing, furniture and fixture repairs.
• Diagnosing faults and deciding on the most appropriate solution.
• Managing and supporting our two part-time Handymen, allocating work and ensuring priorities are clear.
• Managing both planned preventative and reactive maintenance.
• Coordinating contractors and specialist suppliers and ensuring work is completed to a good standard and represents value for money.
• Ordering materials, equipment and services and managing invoices and expenditure.
• Coordinating statutory inspections, servicing and testing and keeping compliance records up to date.
• Supporting fire safety and emergency arrangements.
• Maintaining our buildings, grounds and facilities to a high standard.
• Managing the maintenance and facilities budget and identifying opportunities to reduce costs without compromising safety or quality.
• Keeping accurate records and providing updates to the senior team.

About you

We're looking for someone who is practical, proactive and highly organised, with the confidence to take ownership and get things done.

You'll need experience in a practical maintenance, property, facilities or building-related role, together with strong repair and fault-finding skills. You'll also have experience of supervising others, coordinating contractors and suppliers, purchasing materials or services, and managing invoices or expenditure.

You'll be someone who:

• Enjoys being hands-on and isn't afraid to get stuck in.
• Can manage competing priorities and stay calm when unexpected problems arise.
• Takes pride in doing things properly and following work through to completion.
• Is confident managing contractors and challenging poor work when necessary.
• Communicates well and works collaboratively with colleagues.
• Understands the importance of maintaining a safe, welcoming environment for children with disabilities.
• Shares Cherry Trees' commitment to providing a high-quality service to children and families.

A relevant trade qualification or significant practical maintenance experience would be desirable. Experience in a care, healthcare, education, children's or residential environment, as well as knowledge of fire safety, statutory compliance or planned preventative maintenance, would also be advantageous.

Why this role matters

This isn't just about fixing things.

You'll be helping to create an environment where children feel safe, comfortable and welcome, while ensuring our care team has the facilities and support they need to provide an excellent service.

Success in this role means that maintenance is completed promptly, our team and contractors are well organised, compliance requirements aren't missed, expenditure is controlled and potential problems are identified before they become bigger issues. Most importantly, the care team can rely on the facilities function to get things done.

Safeguarding

Cherry Trees is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Appointment will be subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including identity and right-to-work checks, references and an appropriate DBS check.