View Vacancy – SRR – Technical Works Officer (AO)

The British Embassy Riyadh has a vacancy for a Technical Works Officer, job grade Administrative Officer (AO), on a fixed-term contract of two (2) years.

The Technical Works Officer (TWO) will have overall supervision and planning responsibilities for the Technical Works Group (TWG), ensuring that the British Embassy Riyadh estate is fit-for-purpose for staff to work and live in. They will rely on a team of artisans within the Estates team to deliver a safe and compliant estate in a timely fashion. The jobholder will bring together relevant experts in construction and maintenance to ensure that there is a programme of works in place to keep the British Embassy, its offices, and Residential Estate maintained to high health and safety standards (both UK and local regulations). They will deliver high standards of customer service and be responsive to staff and customer needs and requests.

The jobholder will have financial management responsibilities as the lead payment authority for TWG, ensuring timely remittance of invoices for payment and supplier reconciliation. They will uphold internal compliance to set purchase-to-pay processes, keeping an audit trail of all purchases and payments. They will oversee stock control measures with the team. The jobholder will also have responsibility for the effective and successful contract management, on behalf of TWG, for goods and services, ensuring that value for money is achieved and is in full compliance to procurement purchase-to-pay policies.

This role will report to the Estates Manager. The Technical Works Officer will line manage the Technical Works Group (TWG) comprising of painters, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and masons. 

Duties and responsibilities:

– Supervision of TWG Works

• Oversee workload and coordinate with the TWG Administrative Officer on job allocations and management of workloads.
• Provide day-to-day oversight of work taking place across the estate. Work with TWG colleagues on scheduling and inspection of works.
• Provide clear guidance and demonstrate best practice in work.
• Prioritise work with the TWG Administrative Officer and Team Leaders to ensure equitable assignment of work in priority ranking. Act as first point of contact for complaint resolution and updating with the customer through the process.
• Identify needs for additional staff coverage during long periods of absence and movement of staff between projects.

– Property survey

• Conduct proactive surveys of properties anticipated to be vacated with a projected outlook of at least 12 months.
• Detailed surveys identifying scope of works required, estimated time frames and scheduling, staffing requirements, and bill of materials.
• Escalating larger works identified during surveys to the Estates Manager and Technical Works Supervisor for placement on the Forward Maintenance Register (FMR) for funding.
• Project manage maintenance projects, ensuring sequencing and scheduling of works are planned well in advance.
• Along with the Estates Manager, be responsible for the regular review of FMR, ensuring all works requiring funding from Headquarters are updated onto the register via the Regional Technical Lead (RTL).
• Proactively review current processes and put in place any process improvements that would lead to efficiencies in how the team works and delivers its objectives.

– Contractor supervision

• Set out the programme of works and oversight of contractors hired to complete technical works on behalf of the Embassy.
• Monitor progress through a schedule of works and address non-compliance.
• Spot-check quality of work with contractors and ensure they are in compliance with Embassy requirements.
• Host quarterly Key Performance Indicator (KPI) review meetings with all suppliers under their contract management.
• Initiate all tendering process within set timelines (currently 9 months in advance for regional tenders).
• Spot-check contractors and establish milestones for contract delivery, ensuring corrective steps are taken where required.
• Hold and use Government Procurement Card (GPC) for the settlement of small purchases where required and in line with policy.

– Financial management

• Support the Estates Manager to forecast and profile spends on budget lines, monitor expenditure, and ensure compliance with procurement audit procedures, with a focus on material and service contracts.
• Ensure timely reconciliations, receipts, and payment for supplier purchases.
• Review purchases to ensure they are aligned to contract pricing, are operationally required, and funding reflects expenditure that is value for money to the UK taxpayer.

– Line management

• Directly line manage 9 x Artisans (Plumber, Electrician, Mason, Painter, Carpenter, Handyman)
• Ensure the Technical Works Group (TWG) is supported and challenged to deliver a quality service and successfully meet their objectives.
• Support the team in setting operational and learning & development goals annually and provide a regular (at least monthly) forum for checking on progress against these goals.
• Provide timely and relevant constructive feedback to see a high performance standard in their team.
• Set overall leadership goals and tone for all of TWG and act as Quality Assurer.
• Ensure that the team’s annual leave schedules are reviewed regularly to ensure cover in times of absences.

The above list is not exhaustive, and the jobholder will be required to be flexible as specific responsibilities could change in the future, and this would be at the discretion of the line manager and Senior Management. The job description may be reviewed to meet changes in business needs. The jobholder may also take on other ad hoc tasks as and when required, including participating in the Embassy’s emergency planning and any response to a crisis.

Key behaviours required:

• Managing a Quality Service – Delivering service objectives with professional excellence, expertise, and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
• Delivering at Pace – Take responsibility for delivering timely and quality results with focus and drive.
• Developing Self and Others – Focus on continuous learning and development for self, others and the organisation as a whole.
• Working Together – Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources, and support.

Eligibility:

• The successful candidate must be able to secure a local residence and work permit in Saudi (iqama) OR already have the right to work and reside in Saudi.
• The British Embassy provides visa sponsorship. The successful candidate will be required to transfer their visa under the Embassy’s sponsorship.

This is a rewarding role for a candidate interested in customer service and operational delivery and will require teamwork and resilience.

This is a busy role that calls for an experienced, well-organised self-starter with drive, initiative, and good technical skills. We are looking for a confident self-starter with proven initiative in overcoming obstacles, and someone who can handle multiple tasks and prioritise with minimal supervision.

Excellent interpersonal skills are essential, and you will be comfortable dealing with staff at all levels and be able build co-operative and productive working relationships with everyone that you meet.

Essential

• Relevant experience in a similar estates/ trades management customer-facing role, ideally for at least five (5) years.
• Proven experience with relevant certification in one or more of the following areas: health and safety compliance, maintenance works, refurbishment projects, building works [first and second fix], or facilities management.
• General Knowledge of Works/ Construction. Project management experience.
• Line management experience and ability to work with and motivate operational delivery teams.
• Highly organised and able to deal with challenging situations, confident in scheduling day-to-day tasks and making decisions on triaged, ad-hoc, or emergency requests.
• Excellent team working skills including evidence of working collaboratively with multicultural colleagues.
• Good working level communication skills in English, both oral and written. Able to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely, both verbally and in written communication.
• Holds at least a recognised Skilled Trade advanced qualification in a relevant field: mechanical, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC systems/ air conditioning preferred.
• IT skills and literacy in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams).