Senior Real Estate Manager

Natural Environment Research Council; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 51,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Defined benefit pension

30 days annual leave + 10.5 days

Employee discounts and offers

Employee assistance programme

Flexible working options

Job summary

Natural Environment Research Council in Swindon is seeking a Senior Real Estate Manager to lead a complex property portfolio, overseeing leases, renewals, business rates and licences, while ensuring compliance with government standards.

Reporting to the Head of Real Estate, you will coordinate cross-functional work across NERC and UKRI, lead property data collection and reporting, and build strong relationships with Centre & contractor stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in property real estate management.
• Professionally recognised real estate qualification(s) relevant for the role (e.g. commercial property management, valuation, surveyor, legal qualifications).
• Experience of working on real estate projects.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to independently plan, prioritise and progress multiple workstreams.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with ability to influence partners at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead task management for the property portfolio, defining deadlines and resourcing activities.
• Identify and escalate risks and opportunities arising from the property function.
• Develop and manage cross-cutting processes for commercial property real estate.
• Lead on data and information management for real estate and ensure effective databases.
• Lead annual data reporting to UKRI including data collection, curation and verification.
• Maintain relationships with service providers and colleagues across NERC and delivery partners.
• Collaborate with programme leads to ensure alignment across programmes.
• Act as subject matter expert for property real estate and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
• Lead on procurement of legal and professional services.
• Manage local project budgets with cost controls for professional services and reporting.
• Prepare briefing documents for committees and external queries; update on progress, risks and dependencies.
• Deputise for Head of Real Estate at meetings.

Skills

Property management

Stakeholder management

Data reporting

Risk management

Project delivery

Education

Commercial property management qualification

Valuation qualification

Surveyor qualification

Legal qualifications

Job description

Senior Real Estate Manager

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Salary: £46,743 per annum Band: UKRI E NERC Transformation: Senior Real Estate Manager Contract Type: Open Ended Hours: Full-time Location: Swindon - Hybrid working available Closing Date: Sunday 20th September 2026 Interview Date: TBC

About the role

The Senior Real Estate Manager provides high level organisation and coordination of complex real estate matters. They act as a subject matter expert for real estate and commercial property law and ensure NERC / BBSRC real estate liabilities are managed well in line with published best practice.

Reporting to the NERC Head of Real Estate, this role will suit an experienced surveyor, legal or property professional with an interest in enabling globally leading research.

You will work within a well-regarded team and input into several high-profile projects under across NERC and BBSRC. There are also opportunities to collaborate /work on projects across the wider UKRI portfolio.

You will oversee the NERC property portfolio including managing lease and licence renewals, business rate payments and licence to alter processes.

You will lead for property data collection, curation, verification and reporting including to UKRI and central government via the State of the Estate (SOFTE) return.

You will work closely with the NERC Head of Real Estate to build and maintain strong Centre & contractor relationships and to ensure executive level reporting.

You will work closely with other estates and sustainability professionals within the team and may line manage some staff members in future.

Your responsibilities

• Leading task management for the property portfolio, defining deadlines and resourcing activities and managing stakeholder requirements & expectations.
• Identifying, managing and escalating risks and opportunities arising from the property function. Taking a solutions approach to risk management.
• Developing and managing cut crossing processes and policies for commercial property real estate that translate government and UKRI requirements into NERC activities, including for document retention and document approvals.
• Leading on data and information management for real estate. Working with the Senior Estate Information Manager & Real Estate Manager to ensure database systems are effective and efficient.
• Leading on real estate annual data reporting to UKRI including data collection, curation and verification.
• Maintaining strong proactive working relationships with professional service providers and colleagues across NERC and its operational delivery partners, proactively managing communications and project updates.
• Working closely with other key programme leads, e.g. FDRI & AIMP, to identify areas of crossover, ensuring alignment and efficiency across programmes.
• Acting as a subject matter expert for property real estate including for assurance and project development processes. Ensuring NERC works within legal and contractual property requirements.
• Leading on procurement of legal and real professional services.
• Managing local project budgets including ensuring effective cost controls for professional services, financial assurance and reporting.
• Assisting senior colleagues with the preparation of briefing documents and other materials for committees & responses to external and internal queries, ensuring accurate reporting on work progress, risks and dependencies.
• Deputising for the Head of Real Estate as required at internal and external meetings.

Personal Specification

• Relevant experience in property real estate management (minimum 5 years).
• Professionally real estate recognised qualification(s) relevant for the role e.g. commercial property management, valuation, surveyor, legal qualifications.
• Experience of working on real estate projects.
• Excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to independently plan, prioritise and progress multiple workstreams.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage a varied and changing workload.
• Sound understanding of UK government property standards and UK legal property frameworks.
• Understands the importance of managing and mitigating risks and issues and escalating where required.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills. Ability to effectively negotiate with and influence partners at all levels.
• Excellent numeracy skills, with experience of managing large datasets.
• Effective collaborator and team member.
• A desire to progress professionally in a property-based project and programme management role.
• A willingness to travel for work – to attend project meetings at sites. [Senior Rea...cil (NERC) | PDF]

Benefits

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.