Head of Design

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 226534**Salary**:

- £57,114 - £71,019- National £57,114 - £65,740, London £61,707 - £71,019 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’**Grade**:

- Grade 6**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- DEFRA - COO - Property & Corporate Strategy**Type of role**:

- Engineering
- Property
- Science**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share**Number of posts**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- Science Centre for Animal Health, Weybridge, New Haw, Surrey, KT15 3NB, occasional national travel may be required. Weybridge to be main site with on-site attendance required minimum 2-3 days a weekAbout the job

**Summary**:
Defra Group Property (DgP) is part of Defra Group Corporate Services and leads significant transformational change across the corporate estate. DgP has been rated the best out of all government property functions in the 2021 Annual Functions Quality Survey run by Cabinet Office. There’s never been a more exciting time to join DgP.

The below areas are led by Deputy Directors reporting to the Group Director of Property and working together as a Senior Leadership Team.
Property Strategy - strategic planning for property including capacity planning, workspace design and estates management services. Leads on the allocation of the Capital Estates budget.

Property Programmes - leads and manages the delivery of all DgP programmes and projects including strategic relocations, refurbishments, infrastructure replacements and upgrades to ensure our properties are safe and compliant and other programmes including Smarter Ways of Working, welfare, depot strategy and sustainability projects.

Facilities Management - manages the delivery of compliant properties and delivers services to end users. Works with a wide range of delivery partners to achieve this.

Science Estate - this team principally manages the Weybridge Science estate which is home to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the administrative centre for the APHA Regional Laboratories.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the development of a world class Science Estate facility delivering infrastructure critical to animal health and farming in the UK at the heart of Defra’s agenda. The Critical Works Programme is a major investment to maintain and extend the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) science laboratories at Weybridge. The site has a wide range of specialist and complex scientific facilities and laboratories and is one of only 30 such sites across the world. The Weybridge site is the largest facility in terms of size and complexity across the Defra network.

The vision of the SCAH (Science Capability in Animal Health) Programme is to bring all facilities, laboratories and associated functions together into new and fit for purpose facilities, and to restore an ordered layout and infrastructure framework to the Weybridge science estate. This is a 10 year, £1bn+ Programme in Weybridge which will oversee the re-development of this large site and is critical to the success of APHA’s science programme. The new build will take place on a live operational site which gives the added complication of a complex construction process alongside the need to keep the science capability fully operational, which is where DgP Critical Works and DgP Operations are focused.

The role of DgP Critical Works is to work closely with DgP Operations and SCAH programme. The aim of Critical Works is to deliver a portfolio of capital investment to maintain scientific capability and extend the life of research facilities to allow APHA to undertake a statutory role for the Government for disease identification and management. This is a large programme circa £50m a year which has been underway some years. There is a need to continue to build a professional, highly skilled and dedicated team. Our values are under pinned by sharing knowledge; learning; working in partnership with colleagues and commercial partners and embracing new technology. We want our workforce to be diverse, talented, engaged and inspired towards our common purpose.

If you share our vision, are excited by the prospect of the challenges and opportunities it will bring and want to make your mark in building the UK’s scientific capability, we want to hear from you. Join us, and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.

Defra group’s mission is to protect and enhance the environment - with policies and actions that are also key to sustainable national growth. Defra group is responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we d