Soft Landings Manager

Job Purpose 

To support the Director of Facilities Services and the Head of Support Services to provide leadership and direction in Soft Landings & Commissioning management with internal and external stakeholders.

To act as the interface between Construction & Project Management teams, Facilities Services staff & maintenance providers and Occupiers ensuring that expectations are met in relation to operation, maintenance and user experience of the building.

To lead and support a variety of stakeholders through activities and processes to ensure a compliant, timeous and successful migration into and opening/operation of new buildings and refurbished facilities.

Main Duties and Responsibilities 

1. Lead and be responsible for the development and implementation of the Soft Landings & Commissioning Strategy, on behalf of the Director of Facilities Services, for use across high value and multiple projects within Estates ensuring consistent application.

2. Responsible for the commissioning and soft landings activities related to complex and highly serviced major projects including the formation and management of project based working groups covering all aspects of project completion and handover.

3. Act as principle point of contact for all soft landings matters related to complex and high value major projects and provide direction to Estates Development and Project Management staff on Core and Maintenance Projects in relation to Soft Landings & Commissioning strategies.

4. Collaborate with the Head of Technical Services and Head of Operations to ensure timely input to design proposals to make sure designs are developed and implemented that are fit for purpose for the safe, efficient and effective operation and maintenance.  The postholder will be expected to challenge any aspect that does not conform to the standards and elevate concerns effectively.

5. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with senior colleagues in IT Services to ensure that new facilities are fully integrated to the University networks for data, security and comms including developing necessary protocols.

6. Make Contractors aware of their responsibilities in terms of the construction contract, for soft landings delivery and employers information requirements and work with contract commissioning leads to develop and monitor commissioning programmes.

7. Advise and lead specialist focus groups, as required, through the soft landings process: e.g. Fit-out of FF&E, IT/AV, Technical Services, Facilities Management, Security Team, Client/End User Group, H&S Compliance

8. Lead and manage the independent validation engineer, where appointed, to witness testing and commissioning on all Mechanical, Electrical and Domestic water system including complex Life Safety, Security, and specialist installations

9. Monitor to ensure that construction quality is of the highest standard and that as-built information is received and checked as technically correct and is sufficient to operate and maintain the buildings.

10 Coordinate the comprehensive and extensive client acceptance processes for physical assets, monitoring systems and as-built information including BIM models, asset registers, health and safety files and operation & maintenance manuals.

11. Manage the provision of training to Facilities Services staff, maintenance contractors and end users as part of the soft landings process. Ensure that training is provided in the most efficient way for the operation of the building.

12. Support the Head of Technical Services and Director of Construction and Programmes in the updating and dissemination of design standards. Actively contribute to a programme of continuous improvement, ensuring lessons learned flow from post project evaluations into revised standards and arrangements.

13. Deputise for the Head of Support Services or senior colleagues as necessary.

Knowledge, Qualifications, Skills and Experience 

Knowledge /Qualifications 

Essential: 

A1 Ability to demonstrate the competencies required to undertake the duties associated with this level of post having acquired the necessary knowledge and skills in a similar or number of different roles. Or, Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 9, (Ordinary Degree, Scottish Vocational Qualification level 4) in a Construction or Engineering discipline, or equivalent (including professional accreditation with relevant formal training), and experience of personal development in a similar or related management role(s) in a similar complex environment

A2 Extensive knowledge of BSRIA Soft Landings and evidence of its implementation on major projects.

A3 Good understanding of relevant health and safety policies and procedures relative to the role, and the quality outputs and standards required.

A4 Strong evidence of continuing professional development including knowledge of NEC contracts, BIM and CAFM systems.

Desirable: 

B1 Membership of a relevant professional body e.g. IET, IMechE, CIBSE, Masters Degree Qualification in Mechanical, Electrical or Services Engineering.

B2 Knowledge and understanding of the operation of a complex Estate,  ideally in higher education.

Skills 

Essential : 

C1 Excellent interpersonal skills including motivational negotiating, motivating, influencing and relationship building, with ability to work across organisational boundaries.

C2 Proven evidence of a structured approach to project management including regular and robust reporting.

C3 Skilled at setting expectations, measuring performance and communicating results.

C4 Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

C5 IT literate preferably with industry standard programme management/project controls software (MS Project/Primavera and NEC3 Management software).

Experience 

Essential: 

E1 Extensive experience of successfully managing projects that involve complex planning in a large organisation.

E2 Proven experience of managing a large number of stakeholders with highly developed strong influencing skills in a complex and timebound project.

E3 Experience of managing contractors and working with, or for, major contractors.

E4 Experience of target setting and performance management.

Terms and Conditions 

Salary will be Grade 8, £46,047 – £53,353 per annum.

This post is full time (35 hours p/w) and open ended. Relocation assistance will be provided where appropriate.

As part of Team UofG you will be a member of a world changing, inclusive community, which values ambition, excellence, integrity and curiosity.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.

2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension – pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.

3 A flexible approach to working.

4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University  https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.

We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.

We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.