Technical Officer (Surveyor Duties)

Job title: Technical Officer (Surveyor Duties)

Salary: SO2 £38,510 - £40,444 per annum

Hours: 37 Hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: LBS Depot, Limewood Approach LS14 1NZ

Would you like a role that makes a real difference to the lives of people in Leeds? Could you help us ensure that council homes are kept in the best possible condition for our tenants?

As a Technical Officer (surveyor duties) in the Asset Management service you will provide an excellent customer service to tenants and use your technical knowledge to ensure maintenance issues are promptly identified and repaired.

Your role

You will inspect and survey council properties to collect information, determine stock condition and identify, diagnose, and develop solutions to building related issues in line with internal policies and procedures.

You Will Be Responsible For

• identifying damp and mould and the causes
• undertaking inspections on tenanted properties to diagnose repair issues
• carrying out damp profiling on tenanted properties
• the use of damp equipment such as moisture meters, borescopes and hygrometers
• Identifying remedial works and producing repair orders / schedules.
• Creating comprehensive reports in line with Disrepair Legal cases and Awaabs Law.

What You Will Bring To The Role

You will have excellent communication skills and be a team player. You will be motivated and a critical thinker with the ability to understand the needs of your customers.

You Must Have

• commitment to providing a quality frontline customer service
• ability to work in a fast-paced, pressurised environment
• confidence to diagnose repairs effectively and provide solutions
• experience within the building/construction industry
• good IT skills

Benefits Of Working With Us

We pride ourselves on offering the best employee experience, with a genuine commitment to keeping our colleagues safe and well at work. We offer:

• a competitive pay progression structure
• generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holiday allowance
• flexible working options, subject to service needs, including hybrid working and flexitime
• clear career paths with tailored personal and professional development
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund

How To Apply

Before applying, please read the job description and employee specification carefully. We will only shortlist candidates who demonstrate in their application that they meet all the essential criteria for the role.

Please complete our online application form in full. You will be invited to upload your CV if you wish, which will prepopulate your contact details, employment history, qualifications and training. However, you should check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Alison Cleeve on 01133788396.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job purpose

Undertake inspections to council assets in order to collect asset related information, determine stock condition and identify, diagnose, and develop solutions to building related issues in-line with internal policies and procedures.

Raise orders & develop schedules / programmes of work appropriate to specific work streams in order to address ad-hoc problems/situations (including adaptation referrals and reports) and to deliver planned programmes of work in-line with investment needs and the council’s asset management strategy and internal policies and procedures. Ensure that work is correctly categorised and prioritised.

Provide day to day contract liaison and effective communication and correspondence between customers, council staff, external agencies and contractors / supply partners and proactively develop efficient and cost effective solutions to problems.

Monitor the delivery of work including the appropriate on-site supervision of contractors and supply partners, to ensure that delivery is achieved in a customer focused way, safely, to acceptable standards and charged accordingly in-line with the contract/supply agreement.

Provide technical advice and support to frontline delivery teams and assist in monitoring the appropriateness of works ordered.

The Post-holder Will Be Required To Work Flexibly And Could Be Deployed In a Number Of Areas Within Property And Contracts, Including:

• Responsive and Planned
• Voids
• Adaptation
• Stock Condition
• Disrepair Prevention

Responsibilities

• Frontline delivery of the service and collection of asset related information in-line with council and departmental performance standards, values, policies and priorities.
• Manage all activities in compliance with legal, regulatory, contract and internal requirements.
• Support the delivery of service plans in-line with council objectives in order to achieve excellence.
• Continually drive a value for money, customer focussed service.
• Take ownership for operational issues and manage relationships with all stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient service delivery.
• Ensure the ordering and delivery of works within individual delegated budgets and agreed budget profiles, including the prioritisation and planning of work.
• Take accountability for the outputs of all duties
• Please note this is not an exhaustive list of responsibilities.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications

HND/HNC Level qualification in Building / Construction or equivalent experience within the construction industry

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of building defects / construction techniques
• Strong knowledge of landlord’s responsibilities in relation to repairs & maintenance
• Strong knowledge safe construction Health & Safety procedures

Specific Skills And Competencies

• Able to plan and organise own workload in a busy environment
• Ability to diagnose and develop solutions to technical repair problems
• Understands modern construction techniques.
• Developing and maintaining working relationships with suppliers and staff
• Able to assess building related hazards through a standard risk assessment procedure and prioritize follow on actions accordingly
• Experience of using Microsoft packages to record and present service information.
• Produce clear and concise, basic reports in relation to the service in a timely and accurate manner.
• To contribute to delivering a team culture that is focussed both on customers and quality
• Experience of managing small to medium construction projects
• Able to develop timely and cost-effective solutions to operational problems
• Able to negotiate on day-to-day operational issues with suppliers in order to develop favourable outcomes for the council and for customers

Experience

• Experience of carrying out technical officer / surveying duties in an asset management related service area.
• Experience of day-to-day contract liaison as part of the contract management procedures of construction contracts
• Experience of working jointly with staff and contractors from different teams/organisations in order to achieve common goals.
• Experience of managing construction/repair related programmes of work within defined budgets

Essential Behavioural And Other Characteristics

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council values and behaviours and codes of conduct
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities, and a resilient sustainable city
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures
• Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
• Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills
• Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality and diversity of Leeds City Council
• Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
• Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
• The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters

Desirable requirements Candidates are not required to meet all the following desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Qualifications And Knowledge

• Up to date knowledge of social housing and issues affecting the sector
• Understand standard forms of building contracts
• Membership of a professional body i.e. RICS building surveying

Specific Skills And Competencies

• Experience of using asset management IT systems

Experience

• Experience of working within social housing
• A previous trade background