Job vacancy details

Frontier Learning Trust is a small Academy Trust comprising of Woodhouse College and The Imperial Maths School. Woodhouse College is a popular and oversubscribed 16-19 academy of around 1500 full-time students, all on A level courses, on a vibrant campus in north London. The Imperial Maths School opened in September 2023. This school is a specialist sixth form based on the Woodhouse College site. It currently has 126 students and is based in temporary classrooms.

 

The Trust is proud of its strong community spirit and friendly supportive atmosphere. Our success rates and A*-B pass rates for both institutions are among the best in the country. Our students are ambitious, lively and committed to doing well. Staff work hard and morale is high; this is a great place to work.

 

 

This is a wonderful opportunity for an enthusiastic and reliable person to join our friendly and thriving community. We are looking for a committed individual, who combines hands-on maintenance skills with the ability to lead and manage the caretaking team effectively. The successful candidate will work alongside the team on a day to day basis, resolving a wide range of planned and reactive maintenance issues, while also providing clear supervision, guidance and support to the team. You will be well organised, an effective communicator, and able to remain calm and efficient under pressure. A polite and approachable manner, a good understanding of health and safety requirements, and a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and to safeguarding young people are essential to this role.

 

Working hours are 36 hours per week and will be based on shifts that change on a weekly basis, these shifts cover the period between 6.00am and 8.00pm.

 

The salary will be on the sixth form college support staff scale between the range of points 23 and 25, plus London Weighting. This currently works out between £41,019 and £43,143 plus £3,382 London Weighting, gross per annum, depending on experience.

 

The closing date for applications is 9am on Thursday 14 May. Interviews are anticipated to take place on Thursday 21 May.

 

When joining the Frontier Learning Trust, the Deputy Estates Manager will form part of a close-knit working community and will be responsible for supporting the Trust’s aims and ethos.

 

The Deputy Estates Manager supports the Estates Manager in ensuring the Trust’s sites are safe, compliant, welcoming, and well maintained. The post holder will provide day-to-day leadership of the caretaking team and play a key operational role in planned and reactive maintenance, compliance activity, and event and exam set-ups.

 

Reporting to the Estates Manager, the Deputy Estates Manager will ensure caretaking duties and contractor works are delivered efficiently, to a high standard, and in line with statutory requirements. The role has a strong “hands-on” element and requires flexibility to work alongside the team to support the Trust’s educational provision, lettings programme, and wider community use of the site.

 

The working hours are 36 hours per week. The actual starting and finishing times will vary from time-to-time to facilitate staff cover within the team. This will require the post holder to work on a shift rota incorporating early mornings, day shifts and evening work. These shifts cover the period between 6.00 am and 8.00 pm. The Deputy Estates Manager will also be required to work on one Saturday per year for the Woodhouse College Open Day, for which TOIL will be provided.

 

Frontier Learning Trust is a small Academy Trust comprising of two 16-19 academies, Woodhouse College and Imperial Maths School. Woodhouse College is a well-established high performing sixth form with 1500 students. The Imperial Maths School, a specialist sixth form, opened in September 2023. The Maths school currently has 126 students and is based in temporary classrooms on the Woodhouse College site. Woodhouse College is based on a large site, with a mixture of historic and more modern buildings. The Trust is about to enter an exciting period of new building and improvement across the site; the DfE are building a new building for the Maths school on the back of the College site, the College is expected to start building a new student study centre on the site of the old caretakers house and the College has two large CIF projects which will start in 2026 to improve the current infrastructure across the site.

 

 

• Manage the caretaking team to ensure that day-to-day operations run smoothly ensuring effective deployment of staff and resources.

• Conduct annual appraisals, identify training and development needs, and support the team to deliver a high-quality service.

• Oversee work completed by caretakers.

 

• Coordinate and respond to soft services and maintenance requests, ensuring issues are investigated and resolved promptly.

• Undertake and oversee an efficient programme of planned and reactive repairs across the campus, escalating matters to the Estates Manager where works cannot be resolved in-house.

• Support the monitoring of contractor performance and quality of works, reporting defects or deviations from specification.

• Oversee campus cleaning services, including reporting service issues and completing periodic audits of cleaning standards.

• Ensure the effective distribution of deliveries across the site.

• Champion effective waste management, recycling, and environmentally responsible disposal practices.

• Monitor, maintain, and record hard services and external areas, including grounds and the 3G pitch.

• Monitor and adjust heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems to maintain comfortable working environments.

• Plan and respond proactively to environmental conditions (e.g. seasonal weather impacts).

• Act as the main operational lead for room setup for teaching, exams, meetings, and Trust events.

• Where necessary undertake periods of cleaning of internal and external areas.

• Act as Chief Fire Marshal, supporting emergency evacuations and the Trust’s ‘Stay in Place’ procedures.

• Serve as a key holder, including opening and closing the site and responding to out-of-hours callouts where appropriate (flat fee payable for callouts).

• Set and disarm alarm systems and respond to alarm activations when required.

• Monitor site security systems, including alarms, CCTV, and security lighting.

• Act as a First Aider and ensure first aid provision is maintained and fit for purpose.

• Support health and safety compliance by undertaking risk assessments, participating in inspections and audits, and assisting with statutory checks (e.g. PAT testing).

• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of health and safety legislation relating to public buildings and educational environments.

 

• Act as a front-line representative for Trust lettings, ensuring a safe and positive experience for all users.

• Support the setup and breakdown of facilities and monitor appropriate use of spaces.

• Liaise with the Community Lettings Manager to coordinate arrivals, departures, and availability, particularly during holiday periods.

• Provide evening or weekend lettings cover by mutual agreement, if offered, with flat rate overtime paid in line with Trust arrangements.

 

• Deputise for the Estates Manager during periods of absence, working with the Assistant Principal (Finance) as required.

• Liaise with internal stakeholders to ensure effective coordination between curriculum, events, and lettings use of the site.

• Undertake training and professional development relevant to the role.

• Carry out any other duties reasonably directed by the Estates Manager or Senior Leadership Team.

 

• A positive and enthusiastic manner.

• The ability to meet the physical demands of the job.

• Experience of managing a team.

• Good communication and interpersonal skills.

• Effective handyperson skills.

• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and independently able to use own initiative.

• Experience effectively resolving a wide range of both planned and reactive maintenance issues.

• Good understanding of health & safety requirements.

• Good IT skills. (Outlook/Word/Excel and CAFM).

• A polite, courteous and helpful manner.

• The ability to work flexibly and to changing priorities.

• Must be able to reach the Trust site easily to respond to out-of-hours emergencies.

• Willingness to work out of hours where appropriate including lone-working.

• Willingness to undertake training including first aid, fire marshal and health & safety.

• Ability to deal with the general public confidently and positively.

• An understanding of and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in practice.

• A commitment to safeguarding the interests and needs of young people.

 

 

• Qualifications in Facilities Management

• Trade qualifications

• Health & Safety qualifications

• Experience of working in education or a similar setting.

For further information about the Trust and for downloadable documents, please go to the following links. Please note, the links will no longer be accessible following the vacancy deadline.