Library Buildings and Facilities Manager

Newcastle University; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

An established university is seeking a Library Buildings and Facilities Manager to ensure the operational excellence of library facilities. This pivotal role involves overseeing health and safety, managing a diverse team, and ensuring a high-quality customer service experience. The successful candidate will demonstrate significant experience in facilities management and possess strong leadership skills to effectively manage complex operations. Join a vibrant academic community that values diversity and is committed to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all staff and students. This is an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact in a dynamic setting.

Benefits

Generous Holiday Package

Pension Schemes

Health and Wellbeing Initiatives

Qualifications

• Significant experience in facilities management and leading teams.
• Strong organizational skills with a proven record of meeting deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Oversee operational management of library buildings and facilities.
• Lead health and safety activities across library sites.
• Manage a large team of Library Attendants and Customer Services Coordinators.

Skills

Facilities Management

Customer Service

Project Management

Health and Safety Compliance

Communication Skills

Organizational Skills

IT Skills

Education

Degree Level Education

Substantial Relevant Experience

Tools

MS Office

Job description

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Library Buildings and Facilities Manager

Requisition ID: 28108

Location:

Newcastle, GB

Contract Type: Open Ended

Working Pattern: Full Time

Posted Date: 28 Apr 2025

Salary:£35,116 to £37,174 with progression to £45,413 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 12 May 2025

The Role

Newcastle University Library is the only University Library in the UK to have received the Charter Mark five times, and now holds the Customer Services Excellence award which replaced it, illustrating our dedication to delivering a friendly, professional, and efficient service to all our customers. To read more about us, please click here .

The Library’s Buildings and Facilities Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational oversight of library buildings and facilities, ensuring that these are maintained to a high standard. You will lead on managing health, safety and security across all library sites, to ensure a safe and secure working environment for all staff, students and visitors.

You will be an excellent communicator with experience of leading complex frontline and front-of-house teams in large organisations; effectively leading change and successfully delivering projects. You will contribute to leading a large team of Library Attendants and Customer Services Coordinators, working across the 24/7 period.

This is a full-time, on-campus role, and is not suitable for blended working.The role will include out of hours weekend and evening working. The postholder will also act as Deputy to the Head of Library Estate Services.

• In the role of operational building manager, oversee the regular monitoring of all library spaces, ensuring the maintenance of spaces and facilities to the required standards. Work closely with colleagues in University Estates and Facilities to monitor and report defects within the buildings, and coordinate maintenance activities within the libraries
• In the role of Unit Safety Officer, liaise closely with the University’s Safety Office and lead on health and safety activities across the library. This will include the organisation and supervision of appropriate alarm tests and drills, maintenance of vehicles, machinery and equipment, monitoring the implementation of risk assessments, overseeing incident reporting, managing building access systems, (such as CHUBB), coordinating Health & Safety induction and training procedures for all members of Library staff
• Support the Head of Business and Management Services by working with library Service Managers to review and update the library’s business continuity and local incident recovery plans
• Contribute to the collation, analysis and reporting on data and management information relating to space usage used to review and inform service development
• Manage, monitor and maintain information relating to the use of customer-facing spaces to meet internal and external reporting requirements e.g. SCONUL, Customer Service Excellence
• Work collaboratively with the Assistant Librarians (Customer Services) to ensure that frontline services are delivered to an excellent and consistent standard across the 24/7 period, and across all library sites
• Jointly lead and manage a large team of Library Attendants and Library Coordinators covering a range of frontline duties throughout the 24/7 period
• Line manage a team of staff including recruitment, selection and induction; providing coaching and guidance; staff development and training; undertaking performance reviews; dealing with discipline and grievances; sickness absence management
• Contribute to regular reviews of frontline staffing to ensure the effective deployment of staff across library’s extensive opening hours and the annual academic cycle
• Take responsibility for the operational management, safety and security of the library building and its services as the senior member of staff on duty, as required
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required

The Person

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Significant experience of facilities management
• Experience of managing teams delivering high quality frontline and front-of-house customer services
• Strong organisation and time management skills with a proven record of delivering to deadlines
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities within a demanding workload
• Ability to work accurately with meticulous attention to detail
• Proven project management skills, with experience of successfully implementing change
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Experience of coaching and/or mentoring
• Experience of measuring and evaluating service effectiveness within a culture of continual service improvement
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant statutory requirements and legislation in relation to health and safety in the workplace, data protection and the Equality Act
• Highly developed IT skills, including experience of using MS Office applications

Attributes and Behaviour

Planning and Organising

• Effective at organising and managing heavy and complex workload
• Uses own and others’ time effectively
• Works in a planned and structured way

Finding Solutions

• Sees and/or develops a range of options to deal with problems and uses skill, knowledge and experience to decide how to proceed
• Uses initiative to resolve issues, is enterprising in effective use of material, financial and human resources
• Recognises urgency and takes decisive action when required
• Encourages creative and innovative thinking in self and others
• Makes decisions based on understanding wider organisational needs and having considered a range of possible options

Delivering Services

• Knows and understands customer/stakeholder needs in terms of dept. /area outputs
• Continually seeks feedback on service performance and looks at ways of improving service levels based on feedback
• Takes responsibility for achieving own targets
• Strives to deliver high quality result
• Is enthusiastic in getting the job done on time

Team Working

• Constantly looks at building alliances and relationships
• Shares relevant and useful information with others
• Operates effectively in a number of different teams and groups
  

Communicating

• Understands how best to appeal to the other person/group, correctly interpreting the right way to approach a situation
• Can put forward their own view whilst listening and respecting the views and opinions of others
• Clear and concise; gets the message across to others
• Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective use of emails and other channels of communication
• Encourages and supports a free flow of communication and information across the library service and to a wider audience where appropriate
• Understands how best to communicate with the other person/group, correctly interpreting the right way to approach a situation

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent or has substantial relevant experience of working in a library or service delivery environment

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.