Job Description

Job Category: Manager
:
Position Details
Estates
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
For a candidate with the right knowledge, skills and experience the salary could be up to 63,606
Full time starting salary is normally in the range 47,389 to 56,535 with potential progression once in post to 63,606.
Grade: 8
Full Time, Permanent
Closing date: 12th November 2025
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the
Background
The University of Birmingham Estates Division is responsible for both the master planning, operations and management of our extensive estate. Our team is made up of over 160 dedicated members of staff, including apprentices studying across a range of teams and disciplines: all striving to deliver on a 24/7 basis a world class university experience for the benefit of all students, staff, academics and visitors.
The University of Birmingham is on a journey to become a Top 50 Global University following a century of being one of the most successful and important Universities in the UK. The Estates Department has a strong focus on putting customer service at the heart of what we do, and making significant investments in maintaining our legacy buildings as well as continuing to invest in our capital programme. As a top-ranking research-intensive university with one of the largest and most internationally diverse campuses in the UK. Your role will be critical in ensuring the university is maintained to high standards for the University's staff, students and visitors across our extensive building portfolio.
After our students and staff, our physical estate is the largest single enabler for our world-class teaching and research and provides a fantastic student experience. Our estate is large and varied covering 672 acres, with over 200 buildings of different ages, complexities, physical condition and use - ranging from grade 1 and 2 listed properties to brand new state of the art learning and research spaces. It consists of two main campus sites (Edgbaston & Selly Oak) along with properties in Stratford upon Avon, Ansty (near Coventry), Coniston (in Cumbria), Ironbridge and Dubai.
Role Summary
The Principle Mechanical Services Manager will be the key strategic and technical lead for all aspects of Mechanical Services and assets within our 200+ buildings at the University of Birmingham - AHUs, boilers and heating & cooling systems, water storage and distribution, natural gas, and compressed gas and pressure systems. They will define our PPM requirements, lead on prioritising mechanical LTM investment, and provide technical input into our design guides.
Reporting to the Head of Technical Services, you will work with equivalent roles leading electrical and building fabric maintenance to deliver a comprehensive, multiyear, maintenance strategy.
As Principle Mechanical Services Manager the post holder will be a talented and experienced leader who will be able to inspire and motivate an inhouse team supported by specialist third party contractors. Somebody who understands that delivering excellence in Estates management is as much about people as it is buildings.
To support this the role requires a familiarity with the principles of life-cycle asset-management, and being an expert in statutory compliance and health and safety as well as a technical expert on all elements of mechanical services. The role requires the post holder to be able to advise on the management and maintenance of all mechanical services activities.
The post holder shall work closely with the whole of the Estates team across a number of disciplines. Leading and nurturing a 'one team' approach to maintaining and improving our campus portfolio and infrastructure for all.
The post holder should be able to confidently work autonomously with minimum supervision, but retain daily contact with the line manager. The post holder is expected to manage the sections performance against agreed objectives and provide updates via regular meetings and management information.
This is a busy, dynamic, and challenging post working at the heart of the University. The post holder should be a motivated individual with a "can-do" attitude and outstanding interpersonal and organisational skills.
Main Duties

• Provide leadership, development and operational guidance to a team of technical specialists and mechanically biased technicians and assistants
• Advise and support the creation of the university's maintenance strategy relating to mechanical services
• Advise senior management on legislative changes and their impact on mechanical services and compliance
• Act as the technical expert on all aspects of mechanical services, including contractor performance and compliance
• Ensure all mechanical services maintenance activities comply with statutory regulations and health and safety legislation
• Implement, manage and report SLA's and KPI's and ensure target response times are consistently met. Monitor and manage areas of concern if they occur and develop a strategy to improve performance
• Work with other areas and teams within the Estates department taking a 'one team' approach in service delivery and resource allocation
• Manage external service contracts relating to mechanical services maintenance including cost control and supplier review
• Provide technical support and advice on projects and initiatives both within the Estates department and wider university
• Present and manage budgets relating to mechanical services
• Participate in both internal and external meetings with stakeholders and customers across the whole university
• Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour
• Supports the University's sustainability agenda through resource efficient working
• Any other duties commensurate with the grade

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification plus substantial work experience in a relevant technical/scientific and/or management/supervisory role in a specialist area. A higher degree may also be held. Where no equivalent qualification is held a proven track record of extensive and substantial work experience in a series of progressively more demanding and relevant roles will be required
• Proven technical specialist knowledge and understanding in a relevant technical area (specialists will require advanced technical expertise)
• Demonstrable leadership skills such as motivating and developing the capability, customer service delivery, and technical skills of internal roles, creating a culture of high performance and continuous improvement
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a number of conflicting tasks
• Have significant experience in the management, planning and costing of repairs and maintenance works of all types of mechanical services across a diverse portfolio of buildings
• A proven track record in tendering, negotiating and managing maintenance contracts, ensuring contractor performance is monitored and reviewed to deliver both value for money and works to a high standard
• Outstanding communication and customer service skills, putting the customer at the forefront of every decision
• Experience of championing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in own work area
• Ability to monitor and evaluate the extent to which equality and diversity legislation, policies, procedures are applied
• Ability to identify issues with the potential to impact on protected groups and take appropriate action
• Ideally hold a membership with a relevant professional organisation, along with having a strong track record of building fabric services leadership
• Excellent communication skills and a pragmatic approach, demonstrating a practical application which takes account of organisational needs
• A consultative and facilitative style of service delivery, combined with good influencing and motivating skills and the ability to plan and manage works and workloads to deliver necessary outcomes will be essential

Informal enquiries to Lloyd Holmes, email:
View our staff values and behaviours
We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone .

Skills Required