Christ Church, Oxford Job Description: Clerk of Works Department: Treasury College Officer: The Treasurer Reports to: The House Surveyor Background Christ Church ( the House ), established by Henry VIII in 1546, is a unique joint foundation of a college in the University of Oxford and the Cathedral of the Diocese. During term time it is home to some 600 undergraduate and postgraduate students and over 100 senior members. Thousands of visitors are welcomed in the course of a year: tourists, worshippers at the Cathedral, conference guests and other visitors in vacations, former members of the College and many others. The Treasurer is the College Officer responsible for the finances, buildings and grounds. The Clerk of Works department falls within the remit of the Treasury and is responsible for the repair and maintenance of: the curtilage comprising College and Cathedral Buildings additional undergraduate and graduate accommodation at St Aldates Quad Liddell buildings and a newly refurbished building at 117 St Aldates the Sports Pavilion and ancillary buildings the Boathouse that part of the Oxford Urban estate comprising College and Cathedral occupied residential accommodation the Hart-Synot and shared equity housing. The Clerk of Works is the person responsible for the day to day management of the Clerk of Works Department reporting to the House Surveyor. Christ Church possesses a large number of Grade 1 and Grade 2 listed buildings dating from the 12 th century Cathedral to the 20 th century Picture Gallery and Blue Boar Quad. The maintenance of the fabric of these historic buildings is a major responsibility for the institution. Images of the buildings and more information on the House can be found at http://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/. Christ Church now invites applications for the position of Clerk of Works from suitably experienced people. The Treasury Christ Church is one of the larger colleges in Oxford. The Treasury takes overall responsibility for the finances of the House and the management of its assets, which
comprise both a major endowment (of investment securities and of urban and agricultural properties) as well as the buildings. The Treasury is also involved, in collaboration with the other key departments, in many administrative activities. In addition to the Clerk of Works Department, the Treasurer's Office staff comprises the House Surveyor, the College Accountant and six other members of staff. Other teams directly within the Treasurer's department are the Meadow Keepers, the Gardeners, the Sports Ground Administrator and the boatman. The Christ Church Sports Ground is currently managed in a partnership with Magdalen College School. The Architect to the Foundation, Jane Kennedy, a partner of Purcell, is responsible for the overall conservation strategy for the buildings at St Aldates including the Cathedral. The House Surveyor reports to the Treasurer and is responsible for the implementation of the 10 year plan for maintaining and enhancing the fabric of the buildings which make up the Christ Church site and elsewhere in Oxford, through the Buildings Subcommittee, Finance Committee and Governing Body. The House Surveyor is also responsible, with the House s Land Agent for the maintenance and implementation of a programme of works on the Christ Church endowment portfolio. The overall management of the activities and budget of the Clerk of Works department falls within the House Surveyor s remit. The Clerk of Works is head of the Clerk of Works department, which comprises two office staff and a direct labour force of eight plus two Meadow Keepers. The Clerk of Works will work closely with and report to the House Surveyor. Christ Church places a high value on encouraging and preserving co-operative and flexible working relationships between its various departments and also with the many external organisations and individuals with which it works. The Treasury liaises with the Steward's Office (responsible for most of the domestic arrangements of the College and for conference business), the Censors' Office (responsible as the office of the Senior Tutor for the academic side of the House), the Dean's Office (the Dean is the Head of House), the Cathedral Chapter, the Development Office and other administrative functions within Christ Church. Additionally, the Treasury has day-to-day working relationships with suppliers, professional advisers and those who may want to use facilities at Christ Church. Principal responsibilities To be responsible for: 1. Day to day management and line manager for the Clerk of Works team including the Meadow Keepers. This will include managing an annual appraisal process and identifying training and development needs and dealing with and assisting in personnel processes in accordance with the House s established procedures. 2. Organising, overseeing and monitoring the reactive and planned maintenance on College and Cathedral Buildings and the part of the Urban Estate comprising College and Cathedral occupied residential accommodation utilising the direct 2
labour team and external contractors. This includes processing the College s reactive maintenance ticket system. 3. Specifying and overseeing building works using external contractors and/or the direct labour team on some smaller alteration/repair projects including where required preparation of risk assessments and method statements, ordering materials and coordinating with Christ Church and other stakeholders. 4. Working with the House Surveyor and acting as a Clerk of Works to monitor quality of workmanship by third party contractors and compliance with specifications on larger capital projects. 5. Organising, implementing and overseeing the periodic testing, servicing, routine of maintenance and improvement of service installations including, but not exhaustively, the smoke detection and alarm system, the central and domestic hot water heating systems, the automatic door locking systems, lifts and the water hygiene, fixed wiring and PAT testing regimes. 6. Organising, implementing and overseeing the regimes for provision, maintenance and servicing of firefighting equipment. 7. Organising, implementing and overseeing an emergency/out of hours call out system and monitoring and overseeing any authorised out of hours/overtime work by the Clerk of Works team 8. Organising, implementing and overseeing the Asbestos Management Plan. 9. Organising, implementing and overseeing the various permit to work/access systems. 10. Health and safety as detailed in the Health and Safety Policy and Codes of Practice including advice to other departments within Christ Church. 11. Telephone and data infrastructure in association with the Information Communications Technology Service (JICTS). 12. Expenditure control and budgetary monitoring of all activities of the Clerk of Works Department. 13. Appropriate record keeping for the Clerk of Works department including statutory compliance, buildings and infrastructure. 14. Providing input into the Institution s 5/10 year plans and annual budgets which are prepared by the House Surveyor. 15. Attending and reporting where required to the Buildings Sub-committee of the Finance Committee and the Sustainability and Health and Safety Subcommittees. 3
16. Maintaining close liaison with the principal users of the House s buildings, such as the Steward, Censors, and Cathedral and Development offices and the Library, Picture Gallery and Archive. 17. Implementing the Clerk of Works team s role in the Disaster Recovery Plan for the House. 18. Ensuring that the Clerk of Works team complies with all statutory requirements. 19. Undertaking Continued Professional Development to remain conversant with current legislation, practices and procedures. The above is not an exhaustive description of the post and other requirements may emerge as necessitated by changing roles within Christ Church and its overall objectives. The successful candidate is likely to come from a qualified trade background having progressed to a senior management role with a building contracting organisation or carried out an equivalent role in a similar environment and be able to demonstrate a sound knowledge of building construction and services together with building related legislation and statutory requirements and have experience in managing a team of tradesmen. Terms and conditions The post will be full time. Normal hours of work will be 40 hours per week from 08.00 17.00 Monday to Friday with a 60 minute unpaid lunch break each day. In addition it is expected that the post holder will administer the out of hours call out system, responding to call out requests and authorising the relevant staff to attend and monitor any out of hours/overtime working. There may be a requirement to work overtime/additional hours when authorised and as necessitated by the needs of the Department. There is an initial entitlement to five weeks paid leave per annum together with normal statutory holidays. Other benefits include free lunches (when available), car parking in working hours (not guaranteed) and eligibility to participate in a private medical scheme. At present medical cover would extend to the appointee and his/her spouse or partner. The post holder will be required to use their own vehicle to carry out duties away from the main Christ Church site at St Aldates, in which case mileage will be reimbursed at the Christ Church standard mileage rate, currently 45p per mile. You must ensure that your own vehicle insurance cover includes business use and provide documentary proof and you will need to comply with the Christ Church Driver Handbook. The post holder will be required to provide a mobile phone capable of receiving and sending Christ Church emails to allow you to administer the out of hours callout procedure and to facilitate business related communication during normal working hours. The mobile phone is to be provided at your own cost; in exchange you will 4
receive a monthly allowance of 30.00. In the event that your normal home address is in an area which does not have a reliable mobile phone coverage consideration will be given to contributing towards the cost of your home landline telephone rental. In which case, the mobile phone allowance would be reduced to 12.00 per month. Please note these allowances are subject to tax and National Insurance. Membership of a contributory pension scheme is available. During an initial six months probationary period, the appointment will be subject to one month s written notice and three months written notice thereafter. Christ Church is an equal opportunities employer. Entry into employment with the House will be determined by merit. Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant will be treated less favourably than another because of their sex, marital status, religious beliefs or racial group. All other conditions of the Contract of Employment will be in accordance with Christ Church s standard policies and practices. Please note that the above does not constitute an offer of employment, nor does it form part of any subsequent contract of employment. The Treasury August 2018 5