London Early Years Foundation (LEYF)
Head of Property & Estates
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As LEYF continues to grow, we're entering a pivotal new chapter. With a diverse multi-site estate across London, ambitious sustainability goals and plans for future expansion, we're looking for an experienced Head of Property & Estates to shape and deliver the property strategy that will support the organisation over the next five years and beyond.
This is a rare opportunity to lead property and estates for one of London's largest social enterprises. Our nurseries operate across communities with very different needs, including some of the most disadvantaged areas of London. Through our social enterprise model, we reinvest surpluses and use cross-subsidy to ensure more children can access quality early years education, regardless of their background. The spaces we create and maintain play a vital role in that mission.
Reporting to the Director of Operations, you'll provide strategic advice, present recommendations, influence investment decisions and ensure our property and estates approach enables both operational excellence and long-term growth.
We're looking for a commercially astute property leader with experience leading estates functions across a large, multi-site organisation. You'll combine strategic vision with strong operational delivery, bringing the credibility, judgement and influencing skills needed to operate confidently at executive level while leading a high-performing team. If you're excited by the challenge while contributing to a mission that changes lives, we'd love to hear from you.
What You'll Be Doing
Leading our Estates & Facilities team, you'll be responsible for the strategic and operational management of LEYF's multi-site commercial property portfolio.
You'll
- Develop and deliver a five-year property and estates strategy that supports business growth, sustainability, operational excellence and long-term financial resilience.
- Lead, coach and develop a team of five, including the Facilities Manager, Health & Safety Manager and Sustainability Manager, creating a high-performing, collaborative and accountable culture.
- Act as the organisation's senior property expert, providing strategic advice and recommendations to the Executive Management Team and influencing key investment and estate decisions.
- Present property, estates, compliance and sustainability updates, business cases and strategic proposals to senior leaders and executive stakeholders.
- Lead estate portfolio planning, identifying opportunities for optimisation, efficiency, growth and value creation across the estate.
- Take overall responsibility for estate compliance, health & safety, statutory obligations and risk management, ensuring our environments remain safe, well maintained and fit for purpose.
- Lead the planning and delivery of capital projects, maintenance programmes and estate improvement initiatives across the portfolio.
- Build and manage strategic partnerships with contractors and suppliers, ensuring strong commercial outcomes and service delivery.
- Lead property activity relating to acquisitions, new nursery developments, relocations, closures and wider estate optimisation projects.
- Establish and chair a Property Steering Group, aligning stakeholders around priorities, risk management and delivery plans.
- Lead and further develop LEYF's ESG and sustainability agenda, develop reporting frameworks and embed sustainable practices across the estate.
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About You
You'll bring:
- Significant senior leadership experience within a multi-site commercial property, estates or facilities environment.
- A proven track record of developing and delivering property strategies that support organisational growth, transformation and long-term business objectives.
- A collaborative leadership style that brings people together and gets the best from an experienced team of specialists.
- A detailed understanding of estate compliance, health & safety, risk management and governance requirements.
- Experience shaping strategy, setting priorities and turning plans into action.
- The ability to build strong relationships and influence at every level, from operational teams to senior leaders.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, with experience managing budgets, suppliers and capital projects.
- Sound judgement, with the confidence and finesse to challenge constructively.
- Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to adapt your approach to different audiences.
- A forward-thinking approach, balancing immediate priorities with longer-term estate planning and future business needs.
- Fresh thinking and professional expertise, regardless of sector background.
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Most importantly, you'll be a strategic leader who enjoys shaping the future, bringing people together around a shared vision, and ensuring property and estates actively contribute to organisational success.
Why join LEYF?
This role offers the opportunity to make a visible impact across a growing organisation. You'll help define our property strategy, shape how we develop and optimise our estate, and play a key role in supporting our growth and sustainability ambitions.
You'll join an organisation with a strong social purpose, ambitious plans for the future, and a genuine belief that the environments we create matter. For children, families and colleagues alike.
Sound like you?
If you're already leading a significant property portfolio and looking to bring your expertise to an organisation where you can see the direct impact of your work, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply online, upload your CV and tell us why you'd like to join LEYF. We're reviewing applications as they arrive and will begin interviewing shortly, so we encourage early applications.
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