Maintenance Manager

Sielo Search; Hook; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 49,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meals on site

28 days annual leave + bank holidays

Generous pension

Professional development

IOSH training support

Job summary

Lord Wandsworth College is seeking an experienced maintenance leader to head an in‑house team responsible for a varied estate, including teaching and boarding facilities, plant and infrastructure across the 1,200‑acre campus.

You’ll stay hands‑on, walking with the team to diagnose issues, plan future maintenance and run appraisals, while developing the function with forward planning and contractor management, and development opportunities such as IOSH and professional membership.

Qualifications

• Practical technical knowledge and credibility with a maintenance team.
• Proven experience in managing people and driving maintenance delivery.
• Ability to plan ahead and manage contractors effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead an in‑house maintenance team across a varied estate (teaching/boarding facilities, plant and infrastructure, 75 residences).
• Walk with the team to diagnose problems, check work quality and meet with contractors.
• Plan upcoming maintenance, carry out appraisals, and discuss refurbishment projects.

Skills

Team leadership

Maintenance management

People management

Contractor management

Problem solving

Tools

IOSH training

Job description

You moved into management. You didn’t move away from maintenance. Here, you won’t have to.

Lord Wandsworth College is investing in its estate, its team and the way its maintenance function operates.

If you’ve come up through a trade or hands‑on maintenance background, successfully moved into managing people, but still enjoy being out with your team and close to the work, this could be a very good fit.

You’ll lead an in‑house maintenance team looking after a varied estate that includes teaching and boarding facilities, plant and infrastructure and 75 residential properties, all within the College’s 1,200-acre campus.

And you won’t be managing it all from behind a desk.

You might be walking a job with your team, helping diagnose a problem, checking the standard of completed work or meeting a contractor. Later, you could be planning upcoming maintenance, carrying out an appraisal or discussing the next refurbishment project.

You won’t need to do your team’s jobs for them. But you will need enough practical experience to know what good looks like, ask the right questions and challenge people when something isn’t right.

There’s also a genuine opportunity to improve things.

The maintenance function has been reshaped over the last three years, with stronger compliance, contractor management and helpdesk processes already in place. The next step is becoming more proactive, with better forward planning and a greater focus on plant and servicing.

There’s approval to grow the team too, so you’ll have a say in who joins and how the function develops.

Alongside £45,000 to £48,500, you’ll receive complimentary restaurant‑quality meals, 28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, a generous pension, family‑friendly benefits and access to outstanding sports and leisure facilities. There’s also investment in your development, including support with IOSH, Responsible Person training, professional membership and potentially a broader FM qualification.

You’ll probably have started your career in a trade or hands‑on maintenance environment before progressing into supervision or management.

A formal mechanical or electrical qualification isn’t essential. What matters is practical technical knowledge, credibility with a maintenance team and proven experience managing people.

If you’ve already proved you can lead a team but haven’t lost the practical instincts that got you there, we’d like to hear from you.

This is a boarding school, so occasional weekend working is part of the role.