External Contracts Manager
Watford, Hertfordshire
Up to £55,000
37 hours per week
At Watford Community Housing, we strive to strengthen our communities while offering much-needed affordable housing. Our success is largely associated to our Repairs and Maintenance staff, who make sure that our neighbourhoods and homes are secure, maintained, and future ready.

We are looking for a seasoned professional to manage our external maintenance arrangements and to oversee our outsourced repairs contractors. With the support of maintenance surveyors and a logistics officer you will scope and commission medium to large works. In this position, you’ll manage repairs contractors working on behalf of Watford Community Housing to provide excellent customer service and ensure that our properties and other assets comply with all our legal requirements as a landlord. Your knowledge will help us accomplish our company goals, give us strategic direction, and deliver dependable, high-quality services to our client.
What’s the role?
As External Contracts Manager, you will use your qualifications and previous experience to help us deliver high-quality repairs and maintenance services enabling us to maintain our current property stock and work towards our ambitious initiatives.
*The External Contracts Manager will be Watford Community Housing’s expert for managing resident centred repairs and maintenance service.
*You will recruit, train, develop and motivate our fantastic group of maintenance surveyors.
*You’ll have experience of overseeing complex repairs e.g. construction of damp-proof course.
*You’ll have prior experience of successfully working at a management level.
*You will oversee the procurement and management of our repairs contracts, including scheduling and planning varying sizes of outsourced repairs, keeping an eye on KPIs whilst improving performance.
*Responsible person for management and control of our external contractor budget of circa £3m.
*The successful candidate will be expected to manage our fleet costs and ensure that they remain within budget and keep accurate and detailed records of vehicle inspections and services are maintained.
*In alignment with Watford Community Housing’s customer focused complaints process, you will investigate and respond to complaints within the repairs department.
You’ll work effectively and proactively with various stakeholders across the business to ensure Watford Community Housing deliver a first-class repairs service to residents.
What are we looking for?
You will be customer-focused and a problem-solver with the ability to interact empathetically with a wide variety of people. You’ll have an excellent grasp of compliance, property services and repairs. You will have a background in building services (maintenance or property services), and knowledge of the housing or construction sectors would be a distinct advantage.
The successful candidate should be familiar with monitoring, reporting, and forecasting systems and where necessary, using such data to inform decisions and increase productivity.
Essential:
*Management experience in property or maintenance setting.
*Experience in managing budgets for responsive repairs ensuring effective use of funds.
*Ability to lead and manage a multi-disciplined workforce.
*Effective communication skills
*Experience managing responsive and emergency repairs.
*Experience managing fleet and driver conduct.
*Proven track record of service improvement
*Ability to demonstrate a sound commercial approach.
*Sound knowledge of HSE policies and compliance
*Experience managing and developing staff.
*You will need to hold a UK driving licence with access to a suitable vehicle, with insurance cover for business use.
*You will need to maintain a satisfactory basic level DBS check.
Desirable:
*Knowledge of the housing sector
*Knowledge of Microsoft Office including Excel
*IOSH Managing Safely
What can we offer you?
We know that people are our most valuable assets, so we offer a range of benefits including 28 days’ annual leave, an employer pension contribution of up to 11%, development opportunities and access to a comprehensive employee rewards scheme.
How we work
We are committed to embracing the most positive aspects of agile working. We take a blended approach to how we work, so that colleagues have the flexibility to strike the right balance between working in our communities, in our shared spaces and remotely. With digital technology at the heart of our work, teams and individuals are empowered to decide the best way to meet the needs of their role.
The closing date is Friday 10th January 2025 (but please note we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a large response). Interviews will take place week commencing 13th January 2025.