Estate managers are responsible for managing lands and properties on behalf of organizations in the private, public, and historical sectors.
As an estates manager, your first focus will be the protection of a location's historical or cultural significance, and your primary objective will be to ensure that an estate functions as efficiently as is humanly feasible. You will try to find solutions to issues and maximize the estate's financial returns via diligent administration and coordination of the estate's affairs. You'll also seek to enhance other areas, such as the results of health care or the level of social integration that people have.
The specifics of this job might change significantly depending on the kind of estate and organization that you work for. For instance, the responsibilities of an estates manager for the National Trust will be quite unlike to those of an estate and facilities manager for the NHS.
Making ensuring that preparations are made for longer-term concerns will be a significant element of the task that falls within your purview. For instance, if an estate wants to increase the number of people who use a house and gardens, there may be a need for improved access, parking, and restroom facilities. Alternatively, you may be required to facilitate an additional service within a hospital estate without adding additional buildings.
Various forms of estate administration
agricultural/rural/forestry estates
properties of historical significance, such as those held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Facilities and hospitals run by the NHS
private estates
property management, including both commercial and residential properties.
Responsibilities
As a manager of estates, you'll be expected to do the following:
manage an estate, which may consist of a combination of urban or suburban property, agricultural land, commercial or residential structures, and healthcare or hospital facilities.
staff management, including any volunteers
encourage a way of working that is collaborative, whether it's with employees within or outside the company.
Manage independent professionals hired for a particular job, such as arborists and building services engineers, among other examples.
Make arrangements for maintenance and repairs.
Manage construction projects and home improvements.
prepare, oversee, and direct the work performed by outside contractors.
Preparing the finances of a project and keeping it within budget are both important tasks.
remodel a place, maybe in preparation for it to be used for something else.
dealing with contracts pertaining to different components of the estate
monitor the progression of the estate and make certain that it is being managed efficiently in order to accomplish the goals of the estate
conduct out work aimed at community involvement; educate and involve the local community in order to guarantee favorable visitor numbers and that facilities are used to the fullest extent feasible.
Coordinate your efforts with the top leadership of the company and landowners to keep them apprised of any new information or prospective problems.
maintain a level of familiarity with the most recent laws and regulations that pertain to the estate.
carry out marketing initiatives, which will often involve communicating through social media in an effort to create a favorable image, improve public perception, and encourage community participation.
Salary
Your first wage will be somewhere in the region of £21,000 and $25,000.
When you have a few years of experience under your belt, you may anticipate earning between £27,000 and £35,000.
The average annual salary for a highly experienced estates manager is around £55,000.
The nature of the employer might have an impact on how much an employee is paid. Some companies provide their employees with benefits such as health insurance, a subsidized gym membership, a bonus program, or even a corporate car.
The monetary amounts listed are just meant to serve as a reference point.
Time spent working
Although the hours you put in at work could vary depending on the industry you're employed in, the typical work week runs from Monday to Friday. In the case that an open event is being hosted on the estate or if a contractor wants to finish any work on a weekend, there may be some work that needs to be done over the weekend.
Some part-time employment are available. There is also the option of working on a short-term contract, which may often be discovered via employment agencies.
What may be anticipated
You'll split your time between an office and working outside on the property.
You will be tasked with striking a balance between a multitude of concerns, some of which may be in direct opposition to one another. For example, enhancing the profitability of an estate without incurring any more costs.
The process entails planning in order to address demands both in the immediate term and in the longer future.
In order to understand the bigger picture of a project, you will need to have a practical mindset while still having a strategic outlook.
There is a need for estate managers across the board, both domestically and internationally. The location of a rural or urban setting will be determined, in part, by the sort of estate that is being discussed.
Qualifications
There are no predetermined qualifications to fulfill in order to qualify for this profession. Although it is possible to work in estates management without having a degree, most estate managers have either a relevant degree, an HND or foundation degree, or a significant amount of experience working as a technician before moving into this profession.
Because of the diversity of the position, a degree in any one of the following fields may pave the way for a range of estates management positions:
agriculture
horticulture
estate or land management
surveying
administration of real estate or physical facilities
construction management.
Depending on the area of specialization you choose to pursue, a foundation degree or HND will get you started in this line of employment. If you have a degree in the appropriate field, you will have a significant advantage. Another option is to pursue more education by enrolling in a postgraduate program.
Try looking into postgraduate degrees in estate management, or check out RICS's list of available courses.
Horticulture, agriculture, and landscape design are all important fields to be familiar with if you want to work in rural or land-based estate management. It will be to your advantage to have this knowledge. A familiarity with the administration of buildings is beneficial to have if you are more interested in working in an urban environment.
Skills
You will need to be in order to:
skilled in the art of delegation, which is the ability to get one's own or another's personnel to carry out important portions of the task for one.
proficient at financial management and budgeting, since you will need to calculate expenditures and keep track of the money that is being spent on repairs, garden upkeep, and building restoration in order to guarantee that the estate continues to generate a profit.
consciousness of the market
careful with regard to health and safety, in order to guarantee the protection of both the workers and the customers.
efficient in project management because, in addition to running the day-to-day operations of the estate, it is likely that you will manage one or multiple projects with a specific aim, such as increasing visitor numbers, building and restoring new buildings, or reducing anti-social behavior. In other words, you will need to be able to multitask.
a skilled negotiator to guarantee that the estate obtains a fair price when acquiring land or property, or when negotiating contracts with outside contractors
extremely organized, since you'll need to deal with several concerns, each of which will have its own degree of priority and urgency.
Be inventive in your approach to addressing problems; not all problems will have a solution that can be found in a book, and you may encounter scenarios in which a fresh strategy is necessary, particularly if there is a limited amount of money available.
being able to drive is a necessity for a wide variety of positions.
Practice in the workplace
You'll need to exhibit great organizational skills and understanding of the relevant industry to be successful in estates management responsibilities, which may be highly demanding at times. This is particularly true for labor performed on rural or agricultural properties.
The vast majority of companies want to see some proof of work experience, and it may be especially advantageous to your application if you can show that you are aware of commercial and regulatory issues. Working on short-term contracts may be an excellent method to get more experience in a variety of fields.
You have several options available to you when it comes to gaining work experience, like working a regular summer job, participating in an internship, or observing someone else at work. It is in your best interest to submit speculative applications to companies that have estates similar to the ones you would want to work in. Not only will the job experience look good on your resume, but potential employers will often stay in touch with you if they know they could have openings in the future.
Find out more information on the many types of work experience and internships that are currently offered.
Employers
Local councils, NHS trusts, and housing associations are all examples of organizations within the public sector that provide job possibilities. In addition, there are job openings available in the nonprofit sector, particularly with organizations like English Heritage and National Trust.
Estates managers are also hired by businesses in the private sector, such as rural or farm management organizations, property investment firms, and surveyors' offices.
Some businesses will go straight to the careers offices of universities with job openings if they are aware that the institution in question offers a degree program that is relevant and whose graduates will be searching for jobs of this kind.
Try looking for employment opportunities at:
Estates Gazette (EG) Jobs
Jobs in the National Trust
Property Week 4 jobs
RICS Recruit
Improvement of one's profession
Once you have a job, you will have access to a variety of different training possibilities to choose from. Training that is especially designed for the estate that you work for is going to be a part of this. If you work on a rural estate, for instance, you could be required to earn a chainsaw license or bat survey credentials. If you work for a historic organization, on the other hand, you might get further training in issues such as maintaining listed structures.
People who work in estates management have access to a variety of possibilities for professional development and continuing professional development (CPD) via RICS; if you are employed in this field, membership in RICS may be a perk of the job.
It's possible that you may advance in your professional career by obtaining experience in a variety of positions or working for a variety of organizations.
Prospects for one's career
The sort of estates management that you are now working in or that you intend to shift into will determine how far you may take your career.
If you are working in an estates and facilities team for an organization, there are often possibilities to advance from a graduate job into managerial roles within that team.
Additionally, one can be able to specialize in a certain field if they so want. There are a variety of graduate-entry opportunities available in various organizations, such as the National Trust, which may later lead to more senior-level employment with sufficient work experience.
Although there may be fewer opportunities to advance into upper management on smaller estates, the early career responsibilities and variety of labor are sometimes much greater.