Project Director (Estates) Full-time

Project Director (Estates)

The UCL Estate comprises over 240 buildings, more than 6.5 million square feet of academic accommodation and around 4500 owned student bedrooms. The location, scale, variety and complexity of the estate are unparalleled in the Higher Education sector, including world-leading research, teaching, offices and student accommodation within our Bloomsbury and UCL East campus, at Stratford.

Together, Campus Experience and Infrastructure and Estates Development (CE&I and ED) is responsible for managing all aspects of the UCL Estate from the strategic to the operational, including property asset management, master-planning, capital projects and seamless end to end operational support. The function comprises approximately 350 FM and property professionals, project managers and customer facing operational colleagues. From providing student accommodation, security and catering, to delivering an estates masterplan and all forms of capital projects in a sustainable manner. We are a collective of technical professionals who work together to deliver a resilient, functional, and vibrant estate.

About the Role

We currently require a dynamic Project Director reporting into the Assistant Director Major Projects, Estates Development, who will be responsible for client-side leadership of major construction projects at UCL—initially the £400m Institute of Neurology / Dementia Research Institute (ION/DRI). The role ensures delivery on time, on budget, safely, and to the highest standards, while managing complex stakeholders and driving strategic outcomes.

The Project Director will have a refined command of Construction Management and will have extensive experience as a client lead in successfully delivering projects through the delivery phase on site. The role will require the engagement and management of a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, a focus on strategic outcomes and benefits, and the experience to manage complex problems with a high degree of tact and agility.

The post holder will lead an internal team supported by a multi-disciplinary external team whose primary responsibility is to direct complex, high-value strategic estates projects for the University, providing senior leadership within the CE&I and ED, with overall delivery accountability for these projects. The primary purpose of the role is to ensure that the project is delivered within the agreed parameters for scope, budget and programme of work, to identify and implement opportunities for the improvement of these as far as possible, and to ensure proactive stakeholder management across the University and with external partners.

About You

Things you'll need in order to do this job include:

• An appropriate qualification in Project Management meeting PAS 673:2022, or a relevant technical construction discipline.
• Experience of leading multidisciplinary project teams (internal and external) on complex, high-value capital projects.
• A practical knowledge and application of statutory regulations relating to Planning Acts, Building Regulations, Health & Safety at Work Act and Construction Design Management Regulations.
• A good knowledge of relevant standard forms of building contract including JCT, NEC and Construction Management.
• A background and track record of managing construction projects and programmes (including new build, refurbishments and improvements) within a large, complex, occupied estate involving a wide range of building types and stakeholders.
• Significant experience in the delivery of multimillion pound, new build, and refurbishment projects on busy operational sites involving a wide range of building types and stakeholders.
• Experience delivering research/labs/hospital facilities.

The following qualifications and experience, although not essential would be highly advantageous:

• Member of Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB) or Member of the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineers (MICE) or Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS)
• Experience client-side role leading delivering of Construction Management forms of contract of >£250m
• Experience of laboratory design (commercial, university or hospital)
• Understanding and experience of planning software, MS Project, Asta Powerproject, along with Excel and Word.

Please review the JD, paying particular attention to the Essential and Desirable criteria, and ensure these are addressed in your application.

What We Offer

As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

• 41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days)
• Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme
• Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE)
• Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan
• Immigration loan
• Relocation scheme for certain posts
• On-Site nursery
• On-site gym
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service
• Discounted medical insurance

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.