Principal Estate Surveyor

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. Our teams use their experience to enable and challenge the Council to deliver improved efficiency and effectiveness. The management of the Council's property estate plays a significant part in the delivery of its services and is vital to the operation of the Council. The delivery of income and capital receipts from property assets also plays an important role. About the job The Valuation and Estates Team within the Property and Assets Directorate provides a value for money, high quality and professional service delivering all West Sussex County Council's property needs. The team manages the complete life cycle of property ownership of the County Council, this ranges from the acquisition of land and buildings and their subsequent management, through to disposal, and involves liaison with other teams, the counties operational services, estate agents, tenants, lessees and property owners., As the Lead Valuation Professional, you will be the leading principal specialist in the valuation and estates professional field, offering advice and acting as the principal an "expert" in all matters relating to property, including property disposals and acquisitions, development projects, overseeing asset valuations, the granting of leases, licenses, easements and other property transactions. You'll be responsible for managing and delivering an estate and valuation service across a broad range of property assets. The County Council portfolio comprises over 300 schools and leased academies, 35 libraries, 28 fire stations, 8 highway depots, and over 250,000 sq. ft of office space together with 1,100 acres of agricultural land and smallholdings. With over 900 property locations, the total asset value is in excess of £1.6 billion. As a technical specialist, you will be instrumental in managing the most complex property projects, either working alongside internal service teams, senior management of partner organisations or through direct project management of externally appointed consultants. You'll need to build and maintain positive, effective relationships and influence activities including working across and outside of the organisation, meeting with senior officers from other organisations, County Council elected Members, school management teams, developers, property owners, external consultants or estate agents, tenants legal colleagues and other Council teams. The role will lead on delivering significant capital receipts and income generation for the County Council. You will be required to supervise staff, and to advise and train other team members on aspects of the Role and their professional development as a surveyor. The postholder supports the Head of Service in relation to team management and deputises for all team and staffing matters when the Head of Service is absent. You may be required to support and mentor junior members of the team to secure RICS qualification.

1. Ability to make sound pragmatic problem-solving decisions, which will have a wider service impact. Ability to analyse and make judgements based on principles to tackle difficult problems of a technical, professional, resource or people related nature. 2. Sound partnership working skills including the successful co-ordination of partners to deliver objectives. 3. Ability to challenge existing practices and identify innovative solutions with a good understanding of investment option appraisal, and financial and budget management skills. 4. Ability to undertake effective research, based on previous valuation experience, and evaluate and interpret relevant property issues to derive conclusions and plan over the short to medium term. 5. Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to successfully influence and persuade others and negotiate effective business solutions. Sensitivity and political awareness are important. 6. Effective people management and performance management skills with the ability to provide direction, leadership and support to individuals and teams. Qualifications and/or experience:

• Qualified member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) with significant post qualification experience.
• Post-graduate professional qualification relevant to Property, Surveying, Estates and Valuation, or equivalent level of significant experience demonstrating comprehensive application of the above levels of knowledge in a relevant setting across a number of specialist fields.
• Extensive expert level experience in surveying, property and estate management including landlord and tenant and planning law, property acquisitions and disposals, land transactions and property development (preferably with experience of a County Council or Unitary Authority in the public sector)
• Extensive experience of negotiations to secure rent reviews, lease acquisitions or renewals of high value commercial property with high value rent rolls (e.g. in excess of £1m).
• Extensive experience as Client lead in development or construction projects with multiple commercial tenants and or building contractors, specialist technical advisors for multi million pound projects.
• Expert specialist, theoretical knowledge relating to property and planning procedures and sound practical and theoretical knowledge of the political environment of local government and partner organisations.
  
  Access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance.
• You will benefit from a generous amount of annual leave, plus the opportunity to buy additional leave, an excellent
local government pension scheme as well as a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers.