James & Partners
Rural Building Surveyor
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Rural Building Surveyor
Associate / Associate Director / Senior Associate Director
Location: Inverness, Perth or Edinburgh
Salary: Up to £50,000, dependent on experience
Package: Company car or car allowance + discretionary bonus + extensive benefits
Employment: Permanent, Full-Time
The Opportunity
An exceptional opportunity has arisen for an accomplished Building Surveyor to join the Scottish Rural division of one of the UK's most distinguished property consultancies.
With a heritage stretching back more than 140 years, our client occupies a rather unique position within the property profession. Its roots lie firmly in the stewardship of land, farms and traditional estates, yet today it combines those values with the scale, resources and specialist expertise of a major international real estate organisation.
Land and estate management has sat at the heart of the business since its formation in the late nineteenth century. Today, its rural specialists advise on and manage an extraordinary portfolio of land and property across Britain, including some of the country's most prestigious privately owned estates, institutional portfolios, farms, forests and diversified rural businesses. Its national land management operation alone is responsible for more than 1.5 million acres.
In Scotland, the business has an established presence across Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness, combining deep local knowledge with national expertise and a genuinely multidisciplinary rural offering. Its Scottish rural teams have advised significant private, institutional and public-sector landowners across the country.
This appointment sits at the intersection of building surveying, rural property and estate stewardship. It is therefore very different from a conventional commercial building surveying position.
You might find yourself advising on the repair of a listed country house; considering the long-term maintenance strategy for buildings across a traditional Scottish estate; inspecting cottages, farmhouses and agricultural buildings; overseeing the sensitive refurbishment of a historic property; managing contractors; or advising an estate owner on where capital should be deployed across a diverse property portfolio.
For somebody who enjoys buildings with history, character and purpose, it offers an unusually varied surveying career.
The Role
Joining at Associate, Associate Director or Senior Associate Director level, you will play a leading role in the provision and continued development of Building Consultancy services across the firm's Scottish rural portfolio.
The position combines hands-on technical surveying with strategic estate advice, project delivery, client management and, importantly, the opportunity to help shape and grow the service.
Working alongside established specialists in rural estate management, farming, forestry, natural capital, renewables and wider property consultancy, you will become the principal building surveying adviser to a varied portfolio of rural clients.
There is considerable scope for the successful individual to make the position their own.
Your work will include:
- Advising owners and managers of rural estates, country houses, farms and diversified property portfolios on the maintenance, improvement and long-term stewardship of their buildings.
- Undertaking building surveys, condition surveys and technical inspections across an exceptionally varied property portfolio.
- Working with historic, traditional and listed buildings, where sensitivity to original fabric, character and appropriate repair techniques is essential.
- Developing planned and preventative maintenance programmes across substantial estates and multi-property portfolios.
- Preparing long-term capital expenditure strategies, maintenance budgets and recommendations for investment.
- Delivering refurbishment, repair and improvement projects from initial concept through to completion.
- Preparing feasibility studies, schedules of work, specifications, tender documentation and professional reports.
- Procuring works and advising clients on contractor selection, tender returns, quality and value.
- Undertaking contract administration and project management responsibilities.
- Inspecting works in progress and maintaining appropriate standards of workmanship, cost control and programme management.
- Advising on the performance, condition and future resilience of existing buildings.
- Supporting clients with energy efficiency and sustainability considerations, while recognising the particular challenges associated with traditional and historic buildings.
- Obtaining and coordinating statutory approvals including Planning Permission, Listed Building Consent and Building Regulations approvals.
- Undertaking insurance reinstatement cost assessments.
- Advising on the appropriate apportionment of building expenditure between revenue and capital for taxation purposes.
- Managing and supervising contractors and ensuring appropriate compliance with CDM Regulations and wider Health & Safety requirements.
- Building trusted, long-standing relationships with estate owners, trustees, estate managers, tenants, contractors and professional advisers.
- Working collaboratively with colleagues throughout the firm's rural business to identify opportunities where specialist building consultancy can add value.
- Contributing to the growth of the Building Consultancy offering in Scotland, with the opportunity to develop and mentor junior colleagues as the service expands.
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The Property
Perhaps the greatest attraction of the position is the sheer variety of the buildings involved.
The firm's rural work extends far beyond conventional residential or commercial property. Its teams work with estates and landowners whose assets can encompass principal country houses, listed and historic buildings, estate cottages, traditional steadings, farmhouses, agricultural buildings, offices, workshops, commercial premises and buildings which have evolved through generations of ownership.
This is a business accustomed to working with rural property in its broadest sense. Its wider estate management teams advise private estates that have remained within families for generations, alongside more recently acquired rural businesses, charities, institutional investors and public-sector landowners.
The successful surveyor therefore needs to appreciate that the technically "perfect" solution is not always the appropriate one. Good rural building consultancy requires an understanding of heritage, practicality, cost, commercial priorities and long-term stewardship.
It is this combination which makes the position particularly interesting.
About the Business
Our client is one of Britain's most recognised names in land and property consultancy.
Established in 1885, the organisation began life advising landowners and managing rural estates. By 1896 it was already responsible for approximately 3,000 acres; today its land management operation extends across more than 1.5 million acres, while its broader rural teams advise across farming, forestry, estates, natural capital, renewable energy, biodiversity and property.
Despite that scale, its philosophy remains distinctly relationship-led.
The organisation describes its rural approach as combining traditional values with a modern outlook: long-term relationships, integrity and detailed knowledge of land and property, coupled with contemporary advice on sustainability, diversification, environmental markets and the changing rural economy.
Its Scottish operation has developed over decades, with established rural teams across the country and offices including Edinburgh, Perth and Inverness. The Inverness market alone encompasses everything from Victorian and Edwardian property to historic stone-built houses, substantial country estates and modern rural homes.
The wider business has more than 50 offices nationally and combines the personal service and heritage of a quintessentially British property consultancy with the resources and international reach of one of Europe's largest real estate organisations.
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For a surveyor who enjoys the rural environment but does not want to sacrifice the infrastructure, professional network and career opportunities of a major consultancy, it represents an unusual proposition.
About You
We are interested in speaking with experienced Building Surveyors who combine sound technical judgement with the confidence and interpersonal skills required to advise sophisticated rural clients.
You will ideally be:
- MRICS or MCIOB qualified, with an appropriate Building Surveying, Construction or related qualification.
- Circa three years' PQE or above, although the level of appointment can be tailored around the individual.
- Experienced in managing building projects from inception through procurement, construction and completion.
- Comfortable preparing specifications, schedules of work, tender documentation and professional reports.
- Knowledgeable in contract administration and project management.
- Confident dealing directly with clients, contractors, consultants and other professional advisers.
- Commercially aware, organised and capable of managing a varied workload.
- An excellent communicator who can explain technical matters clearly and pragmatically.
- Comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy while remaining part of a multidisciplinary team.
- Interested in helping to develop a service rather than simply inheriting a fixed caseload.
- Proficient with AutoCAD or similar software and comfortable using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Previous experience of rural estates, historic buildings, listed property, conservation work or diverse property portfolios would be particularly valuable.
However, an established rural background is not necessarily essential. A technically strong Building Surveyor from a traditional consultancy, private practice, landed estate, heritage organisation or similarly varied environment who has a genuine interest in rural and historic property could be equally compelling.
Why Consider It?
This is an opportunity to move away from repetitive, single-asset surveying and into a position where the buildings, clients and projects are genuinely varied.
It offers the chance to:
- Work with some fascinating rural, historic and heritage property across Scotland.
- Develop long-term relationships with landowners and estate clients rather than working exclusively on transactional instructions.
- Become part of a rural property business with roots stretching back to 1885.
- Work alongside specialists across estate management, farming, forestry, natural capital, planning and wider property consultancy.
- Take genuine ownership of the Building Consultancy service and influence how it develops.
- Progress at Associate, Associate Director or Senior Associate Director level, depending upon experience.
- Combine the culture and client relationships of a traditional property consultancy with the resources and security of a much larger international organisation.
Salary & Benefits
The position offers a basic salary of up to £50,000, depending upon experience and level of appointment, together with a company car or car allowance and eligibility to participate in the company's discretionary bonus scheme.
The wider benefits package is extensive and includes:
- Private medical cover
- Pension scheme
- Life assurance at 8x basic salary
- Group income protection
- Generous annual leave entitlement plus public holidays
- Option to purchase up to five additional days' holiday
- Health screening
- Wellbeing support
- Gym membership discounts
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Eye care support
- Volunteering opportunities
- Travel insurance options
- Retail and lifestyle discounts
- Concierge service
- Kids Pass
- Open Fairways golf membership
- Perks at Work
- Share incentive arrangements
- Financial wellbeing and mortgage advice
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