Head of Estate Strategy

Atomic Weapons Establishment; Reading; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

9-day working fortnight

270 hours of annual leave

Pension scheme 9-13%

Maternity/Paternity leave

Job summary

Atomic Weapons Establishment is seeking a Head of Estate Strategy to define and drive the long-term strategic direction of the estate. You will lead infrastructure development and major investment programmes ensuring delivery against time, cost and quality objectives across critical environments.

Applicants should demonstrate strong strategic planning, governance, and senior stakeholder management experience, with a track record of delivering complex estate projects.

Qualifications

• Strong strategic planning and business case development skills.
• Experience managing large-scale capital investment portfolios.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for infrastructure development and estate investment across AWE.
• Lead the planning and delivery of estate investment and renewal programmes.
• Provide expert advice to the Estate Strategy and Planning Director and wider Estates and Liabilities organisation.
• Support governance and decision-making processes on behalf of the Estate Strategy and Planning Director.
• Engage with business leaders to define future estate requirements and development plans.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Estate strategy

Investment planning

Stakeholder management

Financial risk management

Presentation skills

Job description

Head of Estate Strategy Location: RG7 4PR, located between Reading and Basingstoke, with free onsite parking.

Package: A competitive salary aligned with the seniority and impact of this role.

Working Pattern: AWE operates a 9-day working fortnight, with every other Friday as a non-working day. For this role, employees are required to work fully onsite. We support flexible working arrangements where possible, including part-time and varied working hours, while maintaining an onsite presence. Please let us know if you would like us to consider an alternative working pattern as part of your application.

Ready to play your part? We are seeking an exceptional leader to define and drive the long-term strategic direction of AWE's estate. This is a unique opportunity to take full accountability for infrastructure development and investment across some of the UK's most critical and complex operational environments. Leading the estate investment and renewals programme, you will ensure the delivery of future infrastructure requirements across areas including Conventional Manufacturing, Science, Engineering and Technology, Assembly, Explosives, Hydrodynamics and Engineering Trials, Sites and Infrastructure, and Uranium and Plutonium facilities. With responsibility for significant investment programmes, you will oversee delivery against time, cost, quality and compliance objectives, ensuring the estate continues to support the evolving needs of the business.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities include:

• Setting the strategic direction for infrastructure development and estate investment across AWE, ensuring the estate continues to meet current and future business requirements.
• Leading the planning and delivery of estate investment and renewal programmes, ensuring projects are delivered safely, compliantly, on time, within budget and to the required quality standards.
• Providing expert advice and guidance to the Estate Strategy and Planning Director and wider Estates and Liabilities organisation on estate management, investment priorities, risks and opportunities.
• Supporting governance and decision-making processes on behalf of the Estate Strategy and Planning Director.
• Engaging with business leaders and stakeholders to develop and maintain AWE's Estate Strategy, defining future estate requirements and development plans across the organisation.
• Establishing and embedding an effective sponsorship capability across Business Units, Site and External Estates teams to drive successful project initiation and delivery.
• Building strong relationships with General Managers, Business Unit Directors, Site Directors and their teams to understand future capability needs and translate these into estate development opportunities.
• Developing and implementing AWE's external estate strategy, including the acquisition, fit-out, transition and operational utilisation of external facilities.
• Leading the development, review and challenge of business cases to support estate development, investment and infrastructure projects across AWE sites and external locations.
• Ensuring investment plans are supported by appropriate safety, technical and governance committees throughout their lifecycle.
• Providing expert guidance to stakeholders on the development of investment proposals and business cases.
• Identifying and evaluating internal, external and international opportunities that enhance AWE's estate capabilities and business objectives.
• Supporting the development of the Chief People Officer's People and Places Strategy, ensuring estate plans enable workforce and organisational goals.
• Championing delivery of AWE's mission, values and strategic objectives across all estate-related activities.
• Ensuring robust scrutiny and challenge is applied to resourcing, financial management, risk and capability planning within the Estate Strategy and Planning team.
• Supporting the Head of Master Planning in prioritising and balancing estate management activities, development programmes and future investment priorities.

Who are we looking for?

• We're looking for a strategic and influential leader with experience shaping estate, infrastructure or investment strategies within a complex organisation.
• Proven experience leading estate, infrastructure or investment programmes.
• Strong strategic planning and business case development skills.
• Experience managing large-scale capital investment portfolios.
• Ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders.
• Strong commercial, financial and risk management capability.
• Experience translating future business needs into estate and infrastructure plans.
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
• Track record of delivering complex programmes to time, cost and quality requirements.
• Strong leadership skills with experience developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Work hard, be rewarded:

We ask a lot and set the bar high because our work truly matters. In return we offer balance, with award winning benefits including:

• 9-day working fortnight – meaning you get every other Friday off work, in addition to 270 hours of annual leave.
• Market leading contributory pension scheme (we will pay between 9% and 13% of your pensionable pay depending on your contributions).
• Family friendly policies: Maternity Leave - 39 Weeks Full Pay and Paternity Leave - 4 Weeks Full Pay.
• Opportunities for Professional Career Development including funding for annual membership of a relevant professional body.
• Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services.
• Life Assurance (4 x annual salary).
• Discounts – access to savings on a wide range of everyday spending.
• Special Leave Policy including paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring.

Important things you need to know:

You will need to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role. This will be funded by AWE. The nature of our work does mean you need to be a British Citizen who has been resident in the UK for the past 5 years in order to apply for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. We want you to feel comfortable and able to shine during our recruitment process. Please let us know on your application form if you need any adjustments/accommodations during the process. Our interviews typically take place over Teams and for most roles are a 1 stage process. Our ambition is to create workplaces where we recognise and celebrate differences, encourage diverse contributions and our employees feel able to be themselves at work. We strive to create a genuine culture of openness and inclusion and encourage diverse applicants. Any inclusion information you provide will be stored in accordance with GDPR and kept separate from your application form and CV, and the information will not be shared with anyone involved in interviewing or making hiring decisions. Please note that you must be a British Citizen to apply for a role with us.

If you’re looking for a role with excitement, intrigue and something that really makes a difference then now is the time to join AWE. We are at the start of a once in a generation – possibly two generations – programme to design and produce a replacement warhead for the UK’s continuous at sea deterrent. We will do this while continuing to deliver the Trident programme as well as managing ambitious state-of-the-art capital and construction projects – some of which have never been done before. Find out more on our website.

Next steps:

Everyone who works at AWE brings unique skills and perspectives to the table. We recognise that great people don’t always ‘tick every box’. That’s why we focus on your potential, your fit with our values, your transferable skills as well as your experience.

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