Head of Estates and Workplace

Head of Estates and Workplace

• locations
• Wallingford
• Lancaster

• time type
• Full time

• posted on
• Posted Yesterday

• time left to apply
• End Date: May 2, 2026 (28 days left to apply)

• job requisition id
• JR1548

Fully onsite in Wallingford with occasional homeworking

Permanent, full-time (37 hours per week)

Closing date for applications, Friday 1 May 2026. We reserve the right to close this advert early if we find the right candidate, so we encourage you to apply early.

UKCEH is looking for an experienced Head of Estates and Workplace to join our team of talented individuals, contributing to scientific discovery and generating the data, insights and solutions that researchers, businesses and governments need to solve complex environmental challenges.

Joining our lively Workplace Team, you’ll lead the development and delivery of all estates and facilities services across UKCEH’s four sites. You’ll work closely with internal and external stakeholders to ensure all estate and facilities matters are considered as part of any business/services reconfiguration and in the development of any new services.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for someone with experience in estate strategy, management and planning, hard and soft facilities compliance, commercial awareness, project management, stakeholder engagement and be a strong and confident people leader.

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Working with the Executive Director for People and Operations on the Future Estates Strategy
• Contributing to the development of the strategic direction of UKCEH and the annual planning cycles
• Attending and contributing to Board committees and subcommittees, deputising on behalf of the director at senior leadership meetings when required.
• Integrating a number of related activity streams, with a requirement to co-ordinate and work collaboratively across the whole of UKCEH
• Working with leadership team colleagues to continuously improve our workplace experience for all our people
• Proactively leading a diverse team over four UK sites
• Leading on preparing, tendering and managing capital program budgets and delivering schemes to deadlines
• Managing and delivering proposals, costings and business cases for all new estates and facilities development schemes
• Developing, managing and evaluating operational plans to support the achievement of strategic goals and team objectives
• Leading our pre acquisition due diligence (reviewing building and M&E surveys)
• Proactively leading the estates and facilities service to ensure the delivery of a high-quality service in line with relevant policies, procedures and practices
• Ensuring contractors are managed appropriately so they adhere to all relevant policies, procedures and practices
• Leading on appropriate ISO and other standards, providing assurance to the Board and the estates and facilities services
• Liaising with key stakeholders across the organisation, providing advice and guidance within area of expertise
• Having oversight and responsibility for mitigation of significant risk areas
• Keeping up to date with external developments in the field

For the role of Head of Estates and Workplace, we’re looking for somebody who has:

• Proven success in leading estates strategy
• Experience leading an estates and workplace team, understanding the needs of both estates planning and hard and soft facilities management
• Working collaboratively with experienced and expert colleagues to deliver an excellent service
• A track record of successfully influencing organisation strategy and of developing and leading the implementation of strategies, policies and processes across complex organisations
• A clear understanding of service delivery and collaborative working with a continuous improvement mindset
• Excellent stakeholder management skills
• Demonstrable people leadership skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience at presenting and contributing at senior level
• A membership with the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (https://www.iwfm.org.uk/)
• Must be able to travel regularly to all four UK sites

You’ll be joining a leading independent, not-for-profit research institute that’s committed to recruiting talented people like you, progressing your career and giving you the support you need to thrive at UKCEH. Our science makes a real difference, enabling people and the environment to prosper, and enriching society. We are the custodians of a wealth of environmental data, collected by UKCEH and its predecessors over the course of more than 60 years.

Working for UKCEH is rewarding 

We appreciate the continuous dedication and contributions of our staff, which is why we provide a comprehensive benefits package that includes financial incentives and wellbeing-oriented perks, such as:

• 27 days annual leave (rising to 29 days after 5 years’ service) plus 3 days for Christmas closure
• 10% employer pension contribution
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements (role dependant)
• Peer reward and recognition scheme
• Dental insurance, gym/fitness discounts, retail discount portal
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• 24-hour, 365-day support with physical, mental, social, health or financial issues and much more...

Apply today! 

If this opportunity resonates with you and aligns with your personal career goals, the team would love to receive your application. Please apply by submitting your CV along with a supporting letter that highlights how you meet the expectations of the role and you would deliver an excellent service at UKCEH.   

Our Commitment to Inclusion 

At UKCEH, we are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities, abilities, and circumstances. As a Disability Confident employer, we actively encourage applications from neurodivergent candidates and people with disabilities, and we’re happy to provide adjustments or support at any stage of the recruitment process - just let us know. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we’d love to hear from you anyway. You may be just the right fit for this role or another within our wider team.

Please note: Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role and this does not qualify for endorsement to support a Global Talent Visa application. If you are considering pursuing self-sponsorship, please indicate this in your application so we can take it into account during the recruitment process. 

About Us

Here you can explore the kind of roles we recruit for, search our latest vacancies, learn more about what it's like to work at UKCEH, and find out about the many benefits of joining our team.

Every one of our 600+ staff and 50+ postgraduate students plays a vital role in delivering our ambition to understand the environment and the human impact on it, so that together people and nature can prosper.

How we work is just as important as what we achieve. We want UKCEH to be a welcoming, inclusive, engaging and collaborative place to work. We embed our values - excellence, integrity and teamwork - into everything we do.

For further information, please visit the UKCEH Website.