Senior Estates Manager

Northumbrian Water; North East; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 83,000; Full time

Job summary

An established water company is seeking a Senior Estates Manager to lead and transform their Estates function in North East England. The role entails defining a long-term Estates strategy, budget oversight, and managing internal and external stakeholder relations. Candidates should have extensive leadership experience in estates management and hold Chartered RICS Membership. This pivotal position involves strategic planning, risk management, and the ability to drive efficiency while adhering to statutory requirements.

Benefits

Generous holiday entitlement

Company pension scheme

Free access to local attractions

Financial wellbeing support

Qualifications

• Extensive senior leadership experience in estates management.
• Proven ability in estate resource planning and budget setting.
• Deep understanding of the English planning system, especially for infrastructure projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead and transform the Estates function at NWG.
• Define and deliver the long-term Estates strategy.
• Ensure statutory and environmental compliance for the land and property interests.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Budget oversight

Risk management

Education

Chartered RICS Membership

Job description

Senior Estates Manager

Salary up to £83,000 depending on experience + car allowance

Location – Pity Me, Durham, County Durham

About the role

Senior Estates Manager

Working hours37 Hours (flexible working arrangements including part time working to be considered)

Permanent

Salary up to £83,000 depending on experience + car allowance

LocationPity Me, Durham

We’re open to discussing flexible working

Our benefits

We’re a Great Place to Work because of the amazing people who work for us, and to say thank you we offer a range of benefits to colleagues. Our ‘Tap Into’ benefits include:

• Generous holiday entitlement starting at 28 days, plus bank holidays and additional time off on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. There’s also the option to buy or sell holidays.
• Company pension scheme, where we’ll double match your contributions up to an employer contribution of 11%.
• Free access to local attractions.
• A fantastic discount scheme, with savings on days out, shopping, travel and more.
• Award winning ‘Living Well’ wellbeing support, including access to a digital GP service for you and your family members.
• Support with sustainable travel – through salary sacrifice cars and a cycle to work scheme.
• Financial wellbeing support – access our community savings scheme, financial education and low cost loans through Salary Finance. We also provide 4 x Life Assurance and an Income Protection Scheme.
• Support with your development – we offer a range of development opportunities, can support you through an interest free qualification loan and we’ll even pay for any relevant professional body subscription.

About the role

We have an exceptional opportunity for a senior professional to lead and transform our Estates function at NWG.

This pivotal role will define and deliver the long-term Estates strategy, fully aligned with NWL’s corporate, regulatory, and financial goals. It encompasses strategic resource planning, budget oversight, governance assurance, and the intelligent balance of in-house capability versus supply chain engagement.

You’ll lead a skilled team responsible for the stewardship of NWG’s extensive land and property interests—securing land rights, resolving legal and access challenges, and ensuring statutory and environmental compliance. As the senior figurehead for Estates, you will act as the visible and trusted partner to internal stakeholders and external customers alike.

The role also provides strategic oversight of our non-operational estate—driving value, managing risk, and unlocking new opportunities across commercial, residential, leisure, and legacy assets.

This is a high-impact leadership post, essential to embedding best practice, promoting innovation, and ensuring Estates plays a proactive, business-critical role in the successful delivery of NWG’s AMP8 ambitions and beyond.

About you

If you are a Chartered RICS Member with extensive senior leadership experience in estates management.

You’ll use your strategic leadership experience to influence executive level across NWG and industry bodies. This means you’ll be experienced in executive-level stakeholder engagement, including regulators, developers, and policymakers.

You’ll demonstrate experience in estate transformation, driving efficiency and financial value. This includes using data-driven decision-making and performance reporting.

A proven ability in estate resource planning, budget setting, and cost control will be demonstrated. Strong skills in strategic planning, risk management, and governance are key too.

You’ll demonstrate a deep understanding of the English planning system, especially for infrastructure projects.

Interviews will take place in person w/c 1st September.

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work.

Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

Please note this role will require a DBS to be completed prior to employment

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.