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About the Role

As an M&E Maintenance Supervisor, you will be a qualified tradesperson who will lead and supervise a team of fourteen M&E Maintenance staff situated in four workshops, receiving prioritizing, organising and allocating planned and reactive work orders within service level agreements to maintain operation of the University’s infrastructure, buildings and assets.

You will conduct on‑the‑job inspections to ensure safety, compliance, quality, and timely completion of work, while maintaining safe systems of work and well‑organised workshop and plant areas. You will also plan and coordinate out‑of‑hours work for the team and contractors, support with recruitment and training, monitoring attendance, and leading the team by promoting professionalism, strong engineering practice, and effective cross‑team collaboration within Estates.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Daily Supervision: Oversee the day to day supervision of the multi discipline M&E Maintenance Team, including planning, prioritising and allocating work to ensure all planned and reactive tasks are completed within SLAs.
• Active Participation in Maintenance Work: Support the team by personally completing a proportion of planned and reactive maintenance tasks as required by the M&E Maintenance Manager.
• Emergency Response & On Call Duties: Coordinate emergency responses, participate in the fire incident team, and provide out of hours call out and holiday/emergency cover for the maintenance team.
• Staff Management, Welfare & Development: Manage attendance, approve leave, conduct return to work discussions, carry out staff appraisals and career development reviews, identify training needs, and monitor ongoing competency and compliance. Organise and lead weekly team meetings and toolbox talks to communicate safety updates and operational priorities.
• Safety Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure safe systems of work (working at height, confined spaces, permits to work, equipment use) are followed, conduct routine safety inspections, carry out M&E risk assessments, and ensure all corrective actions are completed. Ensure compliance with Legionella Control requirements and water safety procedures.
• PPE, Equipment & Asset Management: Ensure PPE and access equipment are available, maintained and used correctly. Develop strong knowledge of M&E assets and lead on asset tagging, condition surveys, and updates to the CAFM (Planon) system.
• Quality Assurance & Standards: Maintain and improve standards of workmanship and campus appearance; carry out quality checks of team tasks and identify areas for improvement. Adapt and implement maintenance schedules in line with SFG20 guidance.
• Communication & Stakeholder Engagement: Communicate effectively with University staff, contractors, suppliers, visitors and all Estates colleagues to support smooth operational delivery.
• Materials, Procurement & Budget Support: Make daily decisions on material requirements, source best value options, negotiate with suppliers, and support the M&E Manager with value for money and budget control.
• Maintenance Scheduling & CAFM Management: Contribute to planned maintenance schedules, update plant history and asset registers, implement SFG20 aligned schedules, and use the CAFM system (Planon) to manage work.
• Contract & Multi Trade Coordination: Supervise contract labour when required, coordinate with other maintenance trades, conduct toolbox talks and weekly team meetings, and carry out any additional duties assigned by the Director of Estates.
• Environmental & Building Management System Monitoring: Monitor plant performance and environmental conditions using the BMS to ensure efficient and sustainable building operation.
• Occasional visits to off-campus premises at Wellingborough Warehouse & Dane Road. A current driving license is essential.
• Undertake any other duties and responsibilities as requested by Director of Estates.

About You

• City & Guilds or Advanced Modern Apprenticeship NVQ level 3 in a relevant maintenance discipline or equivalent.
• Substantial post qualification experience in a similar maintenance environment in mechanical and/or electrical disciplines.
• Hands on experience working with Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.
• Understanding of health and safety legislation pertaining to construction and maintenance.
• Knowledge and experience of how to complete Risk Assessment Method Statement (RAMS) documentation and manual handling safely.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, supervisor, managers, and customers at all levels.
• Positive approach to customer care within a demand driven service.
• Experience of using a range of IT systems such as Google applications, Microsoft Word and Excel, email, electronic calendars & Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) systems.
• Ability to work safely on roofs, from ladders, scaffolds and in confined spaces such as inspection chambers and roof voids.
• Ability to participate in the emergency, call out rota and be able to respond to additional out of hours emergencies when called to assist others. Response time for attendance on site is within 45 minutes.
• Full and current UK driving license.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

This role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office however it is expected that when necessary and in response to business needs, you will also need to travel to our Wellingborough warehouse. We’d expect this to be once per month.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

We anticipate that interviews for this role will be taking place on-site at our Milton Keynes campus during the week commencing 1 June 2026. 

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications has been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented. If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following documents:

• CV
• A personal statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the criteria for this role as detailed above within the job description.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.