Purpose of the Role

Based in the Merrow Street office, the role is to have responsibility for overseeing Walworth Village, an 8 acre Edwardian village, containing 600 properties across 8 acres. The properties comprise cottages, maisonettes and flats, with private and communal gardens, set amongst tree lined streets. Walworth Village is home to a diverse community of over 2,000 resdients, including ASTs, protected tenancies and leaseholders.

After over 10 years of ownership and over four years of partnering with Savills, the current custodians of Walworth Village, Dorrington, are focused on the vision for the future of Walworth as an inclusive, desirable and welcoming place to live, offering best in class Edwardian housing that builds on our heritage but is fit for modern life. The recruitment of a General Manager is pivital to drive the vision, whilst ensuring Walworth Village remains an enjoyable and welcoming place to live and work.

We are looking for a leader to transform the onsite operations, driving customer and operational excellence, which will result in strong commercial performance and allow Dorrington to continue to investing in Walworth Village.

The onsite team comprise of an Estates Manager, Leasing Manager, 2 x Property Managers, Leasing Administrator, Maintenance Operative and Decorator. The role requires oversight of the on-site team, demonstrating strong leadership, integrity and a strong work ethic, creating an inclusive culture, whilst enabling the team to deliver on their objectives.

Dorrington are onsite with multi-million pound projects at Walworth Village as part of their Vison for the future. In addition to leading the onsite team you will be assisting Dorrington with managing contractors, attending design team meetings and liasing with residents at consultation events.

This is a rare opportunity to put your stamp on a significant piece of London’s rich history. With the backing and support of the wider Savills BTR team, you will be key to delivering a best in class resident experience.

Key Responsibilities

Staff

·        To set clear objectives in line with business strategy and to measure and manage performance against these

·        To conduct regular 121 meetings, hold team meetings and complete probationary, interim and annual appraisals as per company guidance

·        To provide equal opportunities to team members via allocation of opportunity (client exposure, project work, coaching and training) in line with our promotion, succession and talent process and our D&I strategy

·        To adhere to all company processes in people management and to role model professional behaviours at all times, ensuring an inclusive workplace with zero tolerance of discrimination

·        To ensure recruitment is completed professionally and in line with team / divisional / company goals, thinking strategically re future needs and in line with our D&I objectives

·        Provide induction training for all team members ensure each new team members is provided with a 3-month induction plan, training records and access to learning tools and a mentor

·        Coach, mentor, and develop staff including overseeing new employee onboarding, providing career development planning and opportunities

·        Empower employees to take responsibility for their jobs and goals. Delegate responsibility where required

·        Lead employees using a performance management and development process that provides an overall context and framework to encourage employee contribution and includes goal setting, feedback, and performance development planning

·        Provide effective performance feedback through employee recognition, rewards, and disciplinary action, with the assistance of Human Resources, when necessary

·        Lead employees to meet the organisation’s expectations for productivity, quality, continuous improvement, and goal accomplishment

Leasing

·        Support Lettings Manager with providing insight into the local market, competitors and local demographic and provide client with feedback regarding pricing strategy etc

·        Liaise with the Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Lettings to agree leasing & marketing strategy

·        Where required assist the Leasing Manager with the tenancy journey from enquiry through to move in

·        Management of rent reviews and service of S45 and S13 documents, including accurate record keeping of the same as and when required

·        Working closely with the accounts/credit control team to ensure collection of arrears, following agreed procedures and proving advice to the client. Liaising with solicitors and attending court when necessary.

Commercial

·        Ensure all purchasing levels are within authorised limits using approved suppliers only

·        Control all costs within budgeted responsibilities, maintaining records of all spend per property

·        Ensure all invoicing for your properties is correct and all financial procedures are adhered to

·        Review daily all outstanding payments and bad debtors report for your property

·        Take the lead on bad debt cases, ensuring the Savills accounts team are kept updated and legal processes are instructed as required

·        Establishing and delivering additional income streams where appropriate

·        Analyse site expenditure and look for ways to gain cost savings where appropriate

·        Hold business reviews quarterly with the team to discuss site performance and agree improvements

Property

·        Responsibility and ownership of  service delivery of comprehensive property management services to the tenants, lessees and customers. Management and oversight for the whole of Walworth Village

·        Liaising with tenants, ensuring delivery of exemplary customer experience at all stages, from check in to check out and deposit return, ensuring adherence to obligations under tenancy agreements at all times.

·        Instructing maintenance and refurbishment works, seeking client approval when required and following all procurement procedures.

·        To lead the preparation, implementation, monitoring and control of all service charge and building budgets and management accounts, co-ordinating the input of internal resources, ensuring occupier consultation and seeking client approvals, ensuring strict adherence to the lease obligations, internal programmes and codes of practice.

·        Ensuring at month end that relevant financial data is accurate to enable financial reporting to the client, and that year end accounts are issued to leaseholders within statutory timeframes.

·        To ensure that the production of service specifications, contracts and associated documentation properly represent the service requirement of the property, reflect the standards expected of the client and are presented and executed in accordance with Company guidelines.

·        To ensure, as far as reasonably practical, the health and safety of all occupiers, visitors, members of the public, staff and service providers when in the common parts of our properties, ensuring that emergency procedures and safe working practices are established and maintained.

·        Processing Insurance claims as and when required and acting as primary point of contact for the annual insurance renewal process with the landlords brokers.

·        Conduct weekly estate checks and manage any issue to rectification

·        Ensure all property management issues reported are dealt with in a timely fashion

·        Maintain excellent working relationships with external contractors and suppliers

·        Work with the Estates Manager to agree PPM/M&E contracts for your assets

·        Undertake legal action and progressing insurance claims where necessary

·        Liaising with Estate Managers on all external and grounds maintenance issues

·        Responsible for Health and Safety compliance coordination utilising Savills and client specific systems; liaising with the Estate managers where required

·        Meet regularly with the Estates Manager to discuss compliance measures within each property

·        Schedule and carry out where applicable all statutory training with team

·        In the event of any major incident or crisis be available to support team

·        Liaise and build a relationship with the tenants of the commercial units on site to ensure a strong relationship and to resolve any issues that may arise

Customer Service

·        Creating a community feel through communication, events and innovations

·        Coordinating social media activity

·        Be the first point of contact for the team regarding any complex resident’s complaints to ensure these are resolved within relevant time scales

·        Ensure your team is providing excellent service to residents

Client Relationship

• To develop excellent relationships with representatives of the client and their advisers, reporting to the client on all aspects of the management of the Estate through regular formal written reports and at site meetings in addition to ad-hoc communication as required.

• Weekly on site meeting with client

·        To develop continuous service improvements through the introduction of new initiatives, the use of new technology and implementation of action plans for continuous improvement.

·        Responding to queries and requests in a timely manner.

·        Providing detailed support and advice to, and developing relationships with, all representatives of the client.

• To understand and successfully implement the Company’s obligations within the Management Agreement for their portfolio.

• To understand the client’s objectives and work alongside the senior team to create property management plans to enable the Company to support those objectives.

In addition to the tasks described above, the job holder may be required to carry out other duties as may reasonably be required from time to time.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Strong customer service ethic / background

• Experience in managing a team of at least 6 people

• Experience in managing expenditure against budget

• Experience in hospitality is desirable

• Understanding H&S compliance and complex building matters is a must

• Understanding of different tenancy types, including Rent Act tenancies

• Positive, can-do attitude

• Common sense approach

• Ability to think on their feet and make considered decisions

• Outgoing, warm and friendly personality

• Organised, meticulous, tenacious

• Excellent written and spoken etiquette

• IT literate and social media savvy

• Strong financial management skills

• ARLA – Desirable

• IOSH – Desirable

• Valid CCTV SIA licence is preferred, however can be obtained once employment commences

Working Hours - 37.5 hours per week, between the hours of 9 am – 5.30pm Monday to Friday, with one hour for lunch

Salary - £55,000 Based on Experience + up to 20% bonus based on KPIs

#LI-DNI

Please see our Benefits Booklet for more information.