Job Description

Estates Business Partner x6

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

About Us

The University of Cambridge is one of the world's leading academic institutions, renowned for its excellence in education, research, and innovation. For nearly 800 years, we've been at the forefront of groundbreaking discoveries, shaping global knowledge across diverse fields. With 31 Colleges, over 150 faculties and departments, and a thriving ecosystem of museums, libraries, and research centres.

At Cambridge, our mission is to contribute to society through world-class education, learning, and research. With a deep respect for tradition and a bold vision for the future, we continue to shape the world through knowledge, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Our Estates Division is responsible for one of the largest higher education estates in the UK and supports our academic mission by developing facilities and links that better connect people across our estate, within our sites, and inside our buildings. We implement the future development of the estate, support environmental commitments, provide innovative, well-utilised spaces and help to deliver world-class teaching, research, operational and residential spaces.

We are now looking for six Estates Business Partners to join us on a full-time, permanent basis.

The Benefits

- Salary of 62,728 - 66,537 per annum (with automatic service-related pay progression and annual cost of living increases)
- Generous annual leave allowance
- Flexible and hybrid working opportunities
- Generous maternity, adoption and shared parental leave entitlement and other family-friendly schemes (e.g. workplace nurseries)
- An auto-enrolment pension scheme, with a generous employer contribution
- Travel benefits and retail discounts at over 2,000 local and national stores
- Schemes to support relocation

This is an unmissable opportunity for strategic estates professionals with technical expertise to join our world-renowned and future-focused organisation at the pinnacle of higher education.

You'll play a central role in shaping the physical environment of one of the globe's most respected universities, helping align visionary estate plans with academic excellence and supporting the infrastructure that powers cutting-edge research and learning.

In return, you'll benefit from an outstanding benefits package, generous development opportunities, and the chance to make your mark across a diverse and historic estate, supporting our mission to advance knowledge and change lives for the better.

The Role

As an Estates Business Partner, you will act as a strategic liaison between the Estates Division and our Schools and Non-School Institutions, ensuring alignment between estate strategies and academic priorities.

You'll collaborate closely with School Secretaries, senior leaders, and user groups to co-develop long-term estate strategies, prioritise projects, and champion service improvements.

By capturing and translating academic and operational requirements into feasible estate solutions, you'll guide early-stage planning and ensure projects, ranging from space planning to major capital works, are aligned with institutional goals.

Additionally, you will:

- Co-ordinate the communication of estate works
- Monitor space utilisation trends and translate data into strategic planning insights
- Oversee project progress, risks, and outcomes across multiple estate programmes
- Lead data governance, ensuring compliance, integrity, and integration of estate records

About You

To be considered as an Estates Business Partner, you will need:

- Experience in a relevant, technically focused discipline, such as Facilities Management, Surveying, Engineering, technology, or a related field
- A track record of delivering technical services across a varied and complex property portfolio
- Proven success in a client- or user-facing role
- Experience managing teams and/or external suppliers
- Change management and project delivery experience
- Strong influencing and negotiation skills

Please note, these roles will travel around the whole University Estate Portfolio for meetings.

The closing date for this role is 31st July 2025.

Other organisations may call this role Estates Strategy Business Lead, Facilities Manager, Estate Operations Manager, Facilities and Estates Manager, Capital Projects and Estates Partner, or Asset and Property Manager.

Webrecruit and the University of Cambridge are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.

So, if you're looking to take your next step as an Estates Business Partner, please apply via the button shown. This vacancy is being advertised by Webrecruit. The services advertised by Webrecruit are those of an Employment Agency.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 62,728.00-66,537.00 per year

Work Location: In person

Reference ID: XM46398