Job overview

The Head of Operational Estates is a senior leadership role within Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust’s Facilities Management team, accountable for the strategic and operational delivery of estates services across the Trust’s property portfolio. Reporting directly to the Associate Director of Estates, the postholder will lead multidisciplinary teams and oversee the performance of both in-house and contracted services to ensure a safe, compliant, and resilient built environment.
This role requires a high level of technical and managerial expertise, with responsibility for the Trust’s engineering infrastructure, statutory compliance, and lifecycle planning. The Head of Operational Estates will drive the development and implementation of robust maintenance strategies, ensuring alignment with NHS HTMs, Trust policies, and evolving regulatory frameworks.

Main duties of the job

•    Support operational delivery under the direction of senior leadership for the delivery of all hard FM services across the Trust’s estate, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and regulatory frameworks.
•    Lead and develop a multidisciplinary engineering and estates team, fostering a high-performance culture focused on safety, compliance, and service excellence.
•    Provide technical advice and support to senior leadership on estates operations, advising the Associate Director of Estates, Trust Board, and external stakeholders on engineering risk, infrastructure resilience, and statutory compliance.
•    Oversee the implementation and continuous improvement of compliance strategies, ensuring full adherence to NHS HTMs, HBNs, and all statutory and regulatory requirements.
•    Direct the Trust-wide audit and assurance programme for estates operations, ensuring robust quality management systems are in place to identify, report, and resolve non-compliance.
•    Lead on the development and delivery of the Estates Risk Register, ensuring proactive identification, mitigation, and escalation of operational risks.
•    Support innovation initiatives in asset management and lifecycle planning, and sustainability, ensuring the estate is maintained to support clinical priorities and long-term strategic goals.
•    Oversee the performance and governance of all estates-related contracts, ensuring value for money, service quality, and contractual compliance.

Working for our organisation

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—along with award-winning clinics across North West London.

Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children’s services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.

We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.

We welcome applications for flexible working arrangements, accommodating requests where possible to support our staff and patient needs.

The Trust is committed to equality and welcomes applications from all, regardless of background. Adjustments can be made for disabled candidates. Early application is advised as vacancies may close once sufficient applications are received. If you haven’t heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful. Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

 Some roles may require weekend shifts at multiple sites.