Aquinas College
Nangreave Road
Stockport
Cheshire SK2 6TH
Aquinas is a thriving Catholic Sixth Form College in Stockport with around 2400 FTE students. The College wishes to appoint to the following post to start as soon as possible:
Facilities Manager (Operational & Compliance)
Salary £31,954 – £37,401 or £38,420 – £41,484 depending on skills, qualifications and experience
Employee Benefits
- Attractive salary
- Up to 35 days annual leave including Public Holidays
- Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
- Family Leave arrangements
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Cycle to Work Scheme
The college is looking to appoint a hands-on Facilities professional with a strong grasp of compliance and safety standards. To play a key role in maintaining a welcoming and safe learning environment and to lead the day-to-day operations of our college site while ensuring statutory compliance and best practice in health and safety.
This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled facilities management professional to work on the college estate with its outstanding facilities. The person appointed will report to the Assistant Principal finance, a member of SLT and work to facilitate a strategic plan for the college estates to advice the Senior Leadership/Management Team. The ideal candidate will be a qualified member of the British Institute of Facility Management. Health and Safety systems will be an essential part of the responsibility so possession of a NEBOSH or IOSH certificate would be highly desirable. The individual will be experienced in the use of a BMS system as that forms the basis of the management of the college buildings.
This is a demanding role requiring excellent communication and management skills and levels of organisation and IT literacy. Strong interpersonal skills and a calm and professional manner are also essential.
Our estate comprises the main college building completed in 2010, a second new building completed in December 24 and a sports hall completed in 1999. Both newer buildings have been completed to a high specification. The main college building is designed to be naturally ventilated and sustainable with a low carbon footprint. It has a floor area of 12,850m2. The new building, the Oscar Romero building, built to the latest DfE building specifications has a floor area of 1,188m2. This building only uses electricity, it is heated and cooled by a combination of photovoltaic cells and air source heat pumps, mechanically ventilated, with a green roof to mitigate water flow. These buildings give a total building floor space of 15,588m2 in extensive grounds with an area of 3.9 hectare. At the heart of the buildings is a comprehensive building management system. The heating and ventilation system uses a heat recovery system. There is a rainwater harvesting system.
The post
The post of facilities manager is a key role for someone who enjoys the challenge of managing this technology and getting the best out of the team of people involved in maintaining it. They will plan and oversee an annual maintenance programme and facilitate a longer- term maintenance plan working within the budget constraints of the college. Some maintenance work is carried out by external contractors.
The challenge of the post is to consider the facilities needs for the entire college estate and advise the college management on an effective way forward. Once agreed, the post holder will then implement, manage and monitor the process. We have an overall operational policy for the estate which will form the basis of estates management. Maintenance contracts and services are in place, but we expect the new post-holder to review all our processes to ensure that they remain pertinent and good value for money, in line with the Public Sector procurement processes. (Training will be provided if needed). The post holder will be expected to become familiar with the BMS package used by college to ensure that they are used in the most effective and efficient way to maintain the estate. A significant part of the role will involve organising the workload of the staff that they are line managing and ensuring that statutory Health & Safety requirements are adhered to. There will be scope for developing the role to manage the agreed services effectively to support the college’s activities and the management of its facilities. The post holder will be responsible for managing their work to agreed budgets and should be able to demonstrate sound financial knowledge.
Key Responsibilities
· Carry out or oversee routine site maintenance and minor repairs.
· Ensure security of the site including opening and locking up.
· Lead statutory compliance checks including fire safety, legionella, and asbestos monitoring.
· Maintain up-to-date compliance logs and Health & Safety records.
· Supervise caretaking and cleaning staff, ensuring tasks are completed to a high standard.
· Liaise with external contractors and manage minor refurbishment or repair work.
· Support the development of planned maintenance schedules.
· Monitor energy usage and support sustainability initiatives.
· Ensure safe working practices are followed by all site users and contractors.
· Respond to site emergencies and assist with room setups or event support when needed.
As a college committed to equal opportunities, we positively welcome applications from all sections of the community. The college and all its personnel are committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and young people. This post is subject to a Disclosure Application of the appropriate level to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Also, as part of due diligence, the college will carry out an online search on any shortlisted candidate.
Candidates must be innovative, enthusiastic and meet the appropriate person specification. The above appointment will be made on the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association support staff pay scale.
Applicants must complete the college’s application form which is available on our website https://www.aquinas.ac.uk/vacancies/ Further details about the role are also found here. Please send completed applications to recruitment@aquinas.ac.uk Enquiries about the vacancy should go to the same email address. Closing date for completed applications: midday 5th August 2025.
