Regional Maintenance Technician

Waterstones; Greater London; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading bookstore is seeking a Regional Maintenance Technician to join their dynamic team in Exeter, covering 13 shops across Devon and Cornwall. The role involves overseeing maintenance, ensuring compliance, and performing general repairs. Candidates should be multi-skilled with experience in plumbing, carpentry, and have basic electrical knowledge. Strong communication and problem-solving skills are essential. This position offers a chance to work in a customer-focused environment committed to excellent service.

Benefits

Dynamic work environment

Training provided for specific skills

Qualifications

• Experience working on Facilities Management contracts.
• Previous experience in a retail environment preferred.
• Good IT knowledge, including email and word processing.

Responsibilities

• Provide general maintenance for the bookshops in Devon and Cornwall.
• Work closely with shop teams to identify and log maintenance issues.
• Complete monthly compliance Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) tasks.

Skills

Multi-skilled technician

Basic electrical knowledge

Plumbing skills

Carpentry skills

Good working knowledge of Health & Safety

Communication skills

Problem solving

Job description

Regional Maintenance Technician

Permanent

Based in Exeter covering 13 shops across Devon & Cornwall

We are looking for a Regional Maintenance Technician to join our friendly and dynamic team here at Waterstones. You will be covering our shops across Devon and Cornwall so you will ideally be based centrally in this area (Exeter or surrounding area is ideal)

You will be responsible for reporting, managing and overseeing all maintenance and compliance testing for the bookshops in your area, with the support of the Area Maintenance Manager and approved sub-contractor list and a central head office team. There may be a requirement to work away from home on occasion.

You will ideally be an experienced general builder with some basic electrical skills and good plumbing and carpentry experience. Full training will be provided on fire extinguisher testing.

What you will be doing

Provide general maintenance for the bookshops in the Devon and Cornwall area.

Work closely with shop teams to identify maintenance issues, log jobs with the Service Desk and Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system.

Complete monthly compliance Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) and reactive tasks based on competence and skillset, drawing on sub-contractor support where appropriate.

Reporting on performance of sub-contracted works.

Ensure that all instructions and records are completed and returned to the Service Desk, and all Compliance Certificates returned to AMM / Site Log Book records are updated and maintained all in accordance with standard company practices.

Manage a live reactive job list for each store, ensuring all jobs are completed within agreed timescales.

Audit the stores on a regular basis to ensure all compliance testing and Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) visits are up to date, identifying any reactive tasks that need attending to.

Ensure all maintenance consumables are available and arrange replenishment when required to ensure agreed stock levels are maintained.

Ensure that an accurate Site Logbook record of all works remains on site / CAFM System for the store / line managers information and approval.

Undertake on-site diagnostic analysis and report on what further resource may be required.

Undertake a visual condition inspection of all installed equipment / assets and building fabric and report on any items that may jeopardise reliability.

Carry out general maintenance, good housekeeping practices to ensure that the life expectancy of all installed equipment is maximised.

Participate in Health & Safety Codes of safe working and other environmental issues to ensure total compliance with Waterstones Health, Safety and Environmental Policy. Report any omissions or risks that might compromise a safe working environment.

Attend to all reasonable emergency call-out requests as speedily as possible and maintain good communications with the store and Service Desk with the progress of all outstanding works.

Make recommendations to the Area Maintenance Manager on matters concerning continuous improvement and adding value that may improve the productivity, costs, quality of service delivery etc.

Communicate with the Retail Team regularly about ongoing issues and projects.

Work on individual and company lead projects for stores in own area and teams area. (May be required to stay away on occasion).

Support the Senior Regional Maintenance Technician.

What we need from you

Multi-skilled technician with a broad skill base

including basic level of electrical knowledge.

Experience working on other Facilities Management contracts.

Previous experience working within a retail environment preferred and working around food areas.

Plumbing and Carpentry skills.

Good working knowledge of H&S.

Pasma (Not essential as training will be provided after probationary period)

Fire extinguisher servicing (Not essential as training will be provided after probationary period)

Fire alarms and emergency lighting testing / servicing.

A good understand of building maintenance and statutory testing regimes.

Reasonable level of IT knowledge, emails, excel, and word documents.

Person Profile

Comfortable working independently and as part of a team

Ability to juggle conflicting priorities

Ability to explain complex issues and technical concepts to non-technical audiences

Confident with problem solving

often thinking outside of the box to solve problems

Calm and professional approach

Friendly and approachable nature with great communication skills

Good time management skills

Ability to work from instruction and make decisions as needed with minimal supervision

Why work for Waterstones

At Waterstones, everything we do is about our customers, and we work hard to provide them with the best possible shopping experience, one that will make them want to visit time and time again. We strive to consistently deliver fantastic customer service, whether recommending a book or a gift, keeping our shops beautifully stocked, helping out in our lovely Café Ws, or keeping the wheels turning efficiently behind the scenes. Working with us, you will get to use your expertise and enthusiasm to bring to our customers the irreplaceable pleasures of a good bookshop (including a virtual one).

If you have the relevant essential experience and you are interested, we would love to hear from you.