Maintenance Manager

Overview

Lead maintenance teams to deliver safe, compliant and welcoming homes for students. As a Maintenance Manager, you will play a key role in ensuring our properties are safe, well-maintained, and ready for our residents every day of the year. Working closely with the General Manager and the Central Estates team, you will lead the delivery of both planned and reactive maintenance across five properties comprising 3,100 beds.

You will also be responsible for supporting and developing a skilled maintenance team. From overseeing Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) programmes to ensuring compliance with safety regulations, you will combine technical expertise, operational leadership and a strong customer focus to keep our buildings running smoothly and our students feeling at home.

Whilst no two days are ever the same at Unite Students, here is a flavour of what you will be responsible for:

• Lead and develop the maintenance team; recruit, coach and support your team to deliver high standards of maintenance, safety and service across the property.
• Deliver safe and compliant buildings; ensure all statutory testing, safety checks and compliance activities are completed on time and recorded accurately, maintaining full compliance across your buildings.
• Drive effective maintenance operations; oversee the delivery of reactive maintenance and repairs, ensuring issues are resolved quickly while identifying root causes to prevent recurrence.
• Manage planned preventive maintenance; plan and deliver an effective PPM programme that reduces reactive maintenance and protects the long-term condition of the property.
• Support property readiness year-round; work with operational teams to plan and deliver property readiness activities, ensuring buildings are prepared for student arrivals, departures and seasonal maintenance requirements.
• Work collaboratively across teams; partner with housekeeping, resident experience and night teams to ensure maintenance requests are triaged effectively and residents receive a responsive and high-quality service.
• Manage contractors and suppliers; build strong working relationships with contractors and suppliers, ensuring quality workmanship, cost control and adherence to safety standards.
• Contribute to capital projects and improvements; support the delivery of property upgrades and improvement projects in collaboration with central estates teams, ensuring minimal disruption to residents.
• Promote a proactive maintenance culture; identify opportunities to reduce recurring maintenance issues and improve building performance through proactive inspection and preventative action.

We are looking for curiosity, openness to learning, and the drive to make a difference. Whether you are solving technical challenges, leading teams, or improving processes, your attitude and approach will help shape something bigger.

• Experience in maintenance or estates management within a multi-site or complex property environment
• Strategic, self-motivated, proactive in managing PPMs, and confident in using data to inform decisions.
• Strong knowledge of building maintenance systems such as HVAC, electrical and mechanical systems
• Experience delivering planned preventative maintenance programmes
• Good understanding of health, safety and statutory compliance requirements
• Experience managing contractors and coordinating repair work
• Proven ability to lead and develop operational teams
• Strong organisational and problem-solving skills
• Full UK driving licence essential for travel between sites.
• Professional qualifications such as IOSH or NEBOSH are desirable, with facilities or maintenance-related qualifications advantageous.

• We believe that everyone thrives when they are able to bring the best version of themselves to work. So, alongside a competitive salary, we will build a culture and a reward package to support you in bringing your full, authentic self to work, including:
• A performance-related bonus paid twice a year
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to buy up to 5 extra days and earn up to 5 additional days for long service (FTE equivalent)
• A…