Head of Safety, Fire and Environmental Management

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than 2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the governments office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK His Majestys Government we are leading significant transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme. We are also delivering cost effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplace services.

Innovation and progress underpin our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. Our four core values are at the heart of everything we do. They shape our culture and guide how we work, lead and grow together:

• Striving for excellence - We always aim to deliver great results
• Empowering through respect - We insist on fair treatment for all, always
• Acting with integrity - We consistently do the right thing
• Succeeding together - We rely on each other to achieve success

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The Government Property Agency is changing the way the Civil Service works and is at the forefront of the Government's transformation agenda; reshaping the relationship civil servants have with their place of work. The Agency is central to the delivery of key Government policies including moving 22,000 Civil Service roles out of London by 2030 and tackling climate change by contributing to the Net Zero agenda. To do this we are delivering a major change programme across the UK and consolidating our portfolio in order to save 1.4 Bn over 10 years.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, the GPA is about providing great workplaces for our people. Through programmes like Hubs, Whitehall Campus and Smart Working you will be in the vanguard of creating model working environments and promoting flexible working practices.

This is an ambitious and exciting task, for which we need innovative people, with strong commercial acumen, who are passionate about visualising and implementing customer needs. Launched as an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office in 2018, were a relatively new department and we are growing fast so we also need people who thrive in ambiguity, can adapt quickly to change and are comfortable stepping outside of their remit to drive outcomes.

Job description:

The key purpose of the Safety, Fire and Environmental Management role is to ensure effective management arrangements for GPA clients in respect of Health & Safety, Sustainability, Risk, Compliance, Security and Equality. The post holder will lead a team of discipline specific managers.

Key Responsibilities

1. Assurance and Compliance

• Develop robust, safe systems of work across all GPA activities.
• Delegate action and ownership of all audit and accreditation activities across the Workplace Service (WS) team, including ensuring suppliers maintain appropriate accreditations.
• Develop and deploy risk reporting and mitigation policy and processes to underpin and de-risk Workplace Services (WS) activities.
• Discharge GPA Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) client duties for Workplace Services.
• Provide competent advice to the Workplace Services Director and GPA Senior Leadership Team and their team members on H&S, fire and sustainability matters.
• Where identified in the relevant GPA Policy documents, carry out Duty Holder and Responsible Person roles for GPA

2. Multi-discipline Leadership

• Lead a National Team delivering effective SME expertise in H&S, Fire, Sustainability, and GPA corporate H&S activity such as reasonable adjustments.
• Design, implement, manage and continuously review the Health and Safety Management System for GPA including developing Health & Safety Policy both corporately and operationally for GPA sites.
• Develop and implement effective H&S and Environmental processes, preferably to ISO 45000 AND 14001 standards.
• Ensure effective H&S training arrangements are in place for the WS Assurance team and WS Delivery teams.
• Lead continuous Improvement across, H&S, fire and sustainability.
• Contribute to full team activities such as development days, team meetings etc.
• Lead relevant team training sessions.

3. Stakeholder and Risk Management

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with key supplier contacts, managing the relationship at a tactical and operational level.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with departmental partners across all relevant clusters.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships across all GPAs directorates ensuring safety is embedded at the heart of what we do.
• Support workplace services leads, project directors and project managers to resolve key risks, taking ownership for mitigation where appropriate.
• Ensure discipline-specific risk registers are maintained and contribute to the WS and Contract Risk Registers where appropriate.
• Represent the GPA at relevant external pan-Government groups and liaise with Statutory Authorities and Enforcement Officers as required.
• Lead a team of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to provide guidance and support to workplace service leads with technical challenges.
• Attend, lead and present where applicable to relevant GPA Health and Safety Committees and boards, compiling data sets as requested by the secretariat.

Reports to:

• Deputy Director Workplace Service Assurance

Authority

• Decision making: Yes
• Budgetary responsibility: Yes

Experience & Technical Skills

Essential criteria:

• Substantive experience of leading large and diverse functional teams.
• A dynamic individual who can switch tasks and focus with the ability to react to an ever-changing environment.
• Extensive of experience in a senior Health & Safety role.
• Experience working in a multi-client service organisation in a relevant field.
• Proven ability in line management and team working.
• Strong Communication & Influence skills to gain support for initiatives and implement solutions. ...