Job Description

Ref Number

B28-00163

Professional Expertise

Estates, Facilities, Accommodation and Safety

Department

Finance, Commercial and Estates (B28)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

68,284-76,244

Contract Type

Permanent

Working Type

Hybrid

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

08-Feb-2026

About us

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The UCL Estate comprises over 240 buildings, more than 6.5 million square feet of academic accommodation and around 4500 owned student bedrooms. The location, scale, variety and complexity of the estate are unparalleled in the Higher Education sector, including world-leading research, teaching, offices and student accommodation within our Bloomsbury and UCL East campus, at Stratford.



Together, Campus Experience and Infrastructure and Estates Development (CE&I and ED) is responsible for managing all aspects of the UCL Estate from the strategic to the operational, including property asset management, master-planning, capital projects and seamless end to end operational support. The function comprises approximately 350 FM and property professionals, project managers and customer facing operational colleagues. From providing student accommodation, security and catering, to delivering an estates masterplan and all forms of capital projects in a sustainable manner. We are a collective of technical professionals who work together to deliver a resilient, functional, and vibrant estate.

About the role

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We require a dynamic Head of Planning to play an pivotal part in managing the Capital Projects Programme team in a key leadership role. Reporting to the Director of Estates Development, Capital Programme, the Head of Planning will lead the planning (programme/schedule) function for the Capital Works Programme and broader Estates Development work across the Estates function.



The Capital Programme team manages the delivery of all capital works across the UCL Estate from inception through to operational phases including refurbishment, adaptation and new build as well as infrastructure and public realm works. Our projects are all bespoke facilities designed and built to industry leading standards. The Capital Programme team also lead the development of Built Environment Opportunities, analysing and developing property opportunities to deliver incredible buildings and places for UCL.



This role will be responsible for establishing and leading the planning function across the portfolio through planning and delivery and requires working with PMO, Project Officers and Managers to plan ahead for stage gate reviews, facilitating the engagement of other teams across Estates with forward plans.



You will also be responsible for capturing and maintaining an accurate programme overview across all works within the portfolio; setting the programme wide planning reporting model and then working with project teams and programme leadership to challenge and draw out enhanced performance, whilst also working with the Estates leadership team to manage the estates pipeline programme.

About you

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Things you'll need in order to do this job include:


Demonstratable experience of delivering the planning function across a large portfolio of development and construction projects - working through development and delivery stages HNC/Degree qualification in a construction related subject or trade qualifications Ability to work both at strategic level and down to detailed project level Ability to work in an environment where there is ambiguity and complex dependencies Demonstrable experience of different forms of contract including JCT, NEC etc. Understanding of RIBA process Experience of reporting to Executive level and Board level governance Excellent working knowledge of Planning Software (Asta Powerproject and/or Primavera) Ability to communicate effectively in writing and verbally to a wide range of people at all levels including complex and/or technical issues to non-specialists.

The following experience, although not essential would be highly advantageous:


Experience of working within Higher Education and infrastructure environment

Please review the JD, paying particular attention to the Essential and Desirable criteria, and ensure these are addressed in your application.

What we offer

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As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:


41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan Immigration loan Relocation scheme for certain posts On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/rewards-and-benefits to find out more

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.