Portfolio Manager

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

Portfolio Manager (Global Estates)

Pay Band: 8

Salary: Starting £38,820 (+ £3,300 market allowance if based in London)
Contract Type: Indefinite

Location: UK; London, Edinburgh, Cardiff

Role Type: Advisory, Policy and Expertise

Requirements: Candidates must have the pre-existing (permanent) right to work in location.
Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. 

Benefits include, but are not limited to:

• 32 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays
• 3 days volunteering leave
• Career average defined benefit pension scheme
• An unrivalled opportunity for you to get to use all the experience you've built up working in and / or leading global organisations to support us in building trust across the world!

Closing date: Sunday 17th May, 11:59pm UK time.

Context

An experienced and driven Real Estate professional is required. This is a challenging but rewarding role which requires excellent quality management skills as well as experience of leading the negotiation of Real Estate contracts both in-house and with outsourced suppliers.

There is a huge opportunity to deliver a more fit for purpose and affordable future estate for the British Council.  The British Council operates within a complex mix of cultural activities, grant-funded programmes, and commercial business operations.  Underpinning all of this is the need for our estate to be functional, efficient and have high impact. Our estate strategy and asset management plans need to take account of these requirements, while reflecting the unique contextual issues and constraints operating in each geographical region and country, whether these are legal, commercial, climatic, or cultural. 

The post-holder will also play a role working alongside regional leadership teams to understand and influence their business cases and strategies at preliminary stages, as well as ensuring that the British Council remains compliant with local legislation.

Role Purpose

The Portfolio Manager is a specialist Real Estate role that has a responsibility to support strategic planning and delivery for the Global Estates (GE) portfolio.  The post-holder will have responsibility delivering improvements to the efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of the GE portfolio. 

The post-holder will also have responsibility for key leasehold dates, for instructing Agents/Brokers and leading commercial negotiations, and for reporting regularly to the Head of Portfolio Management.

The Portfolio Manager will represent the GE Team with the Regional Directors and their senior regional leadership team.

This role will be managed by the Head of Portfolio Management. The estate is British Council’s second highest spend category, spending over £100m per annum on c.380 property interests and c£12m pa on property projects.  The role of the GE function is to ensure that the British Council estate properly projects the British Council brand and values, works hard for the business, and provides a modern, welcoming, and functional place in which to work and do business.

Main Accountabilities

• Principal representative of the GE Team, responsible for liaising and influencing local stakeholders, and for passing this information to the GE Leadership team, in a timely manner.
• Responsible for delivering regional and country rationalisation strategies in accordance with priorities identified.
• Responsibility for advance planning and management of all lease events (rent reviews, break options, expiries and re-gears) to ensure that the organisation is positioned to achieve maximum flexibility on competitive terms.
• Responsibility for instructing and leading property transactions, and to drive forward on value and efficiency, including the provision of programme budget plans and forecasts for income and expenditure, and managing prioritisation.
• Responsibility for Stakeholder engagement and liaison across the regional GE supply chain, and the development of relationships and communications, including the management and delivery of regular reviews and surveys of GE services.
• Responsibility for providing Real Estate expertise in relation to service development, delivering demonstrable improvements in value, performance, and sustainability of the portfolio, working collaboratively with the Enterprise Risk Management team and the Environmental Management team.

Role specific skills

• Quality management skills.
• Ability to ensure value for money.
• Ability to communicate effectively with all stakeholders in a complex environment.
• Ability to plan and prioritise.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to introduce robust control measures in line with best industry practice.

Role specific knowledge and experience

• Experience of leading occupational property transactions.
• Knowledge of Real Estate service lines and to be able to deliver multiple transactions at any time.
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary estates team.
• Experience of managing service provision through both in-house staff and outsourced suppliers, consultants and contractors.
• Sound understanding of real estate legislation and lease events.
• Experience in meeting regular and ad hoc reporting deadlines.

Professional Qualification and Certification

• Relevant Professional qualification E.g., RICS / local equivalent

Closing date: Sunday 17th May, 11:59pm UK time.

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment.  We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability.  All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.