We are looking for a Surveying Technician Apprentice to join our Building Maintenance team to undertake essential tasks relating to compliance and property data collection.
This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate who is considering embarking on a career in building surveying at an entry level, or someone that is contemplating a career change. There may be further opportunities to develop your career with Portsmouth City Council following successful completion of the apprenticeship.
Candidates must be resilient, enthusiastic, good communicators, have excellent attention to detail and be keen to develop their building surveying knowledge and skills.
Who are we?
The Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services Directorate of Portsmouth City Council are responsible for maintaining and undertaking repairs and capital building projects to a stock of nearly 15,000 residential properties, 900 corporate assets as well as delivering the Housing Development pipeline of 350 new homes per year.
To support the delivery of this work we are seeking to recruit to a number of Surveying Apprentice positions. The Building Services team have a strong record in supporting the training and development of our staff having established our Building Surveyor apprenticeship programme 6 years ago. Since its inception we have grown the programme to 18 surveying apprentices and have seen 13 apprentices and graduates gaining Chartership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in recent years.
The apprentice positions offer a fantastic opportunity for those wishing to develop a career in Building Surveying through the provision of fully funded training, gaining of a diverse range of practical experience and the offer of a structured training programme supported by highly experienced Building Surveyors.
As no prior experience is required for any of our apprenticeship roles, we have recruited apprentices from a wide range of backgrounds including those leaving college taking their first steps into employment as well as more mature candidates who may be seeking the opportunity to change careers and retrain.
What is the role?
This Apprentice Surveying Technician role is a 2.5 year apprenticeship based in our day to day repairs team. Candidates will study for a BTEC Level 3 in Construction & Built Environment, via distance learning from East Surrey College. While working full time for Portsmouth City Council candidates will gain practical experience undertaking a wide range of building inspections including undertaking Energy Performance Certificates and fire safety compliance inspections. Upon completion of the apprenticeship candidates will be able to gain AssocRICS membership; and for the right individuals, further training and development opportunities may be available to gain full membership of the RICS or Chartered Institute of Building.
To learn more about our Surveying Apprentice programme and hear from existing apprentices, we have created a video with the University of Portsmouth that can be watched here.
Who is the person?
Your application needs to demonstrate that you:
- Have an ambition to work in the built environment and have a strong desire to work toward becoming a Building Surveyor.
- Can work independently, are well organised and able to prioritise and manage multiple demands as appropriate.
- Have an interest in buildings and demonstrate some knowledge or experience that can be related to the service we provide.
- You will need to have 5 GCSE Grade at A-C or higher (or 9-4 depending on your examination date) including Maths and English
- Have excellent communication skills, including.
- The ability to effectively communicate with customers to arrange appointments and site visits
- Speaking to customers and stakeholders face to face while summarising the purpose of your visit.
- Being assertive while dealing professionally with colleagues, service users, third parties and contractors.
- Be organised, methodical and have an eye for detail when undertaking detailed surveys. Have the ability to prioritise work tasks as appropriate.
- Able to work as part of a team to ensure a smooth delivery of the service and be flexible in being able to adapt to the needs of the team.
- Have a positive attitude towards work, be resilient, embrace change and actively work with your colleagues to improve the service offered to customers.
- Be able to use information to problem solve, risk assess, ensuring customers and colleagues health and safety.
- You will be inspecting a variety of buildings with different access arrangements and will need to be physically fit.
- You will need a full driving licence and use of a car as the role will cover all the PCC housing areas. You will be required to carry equipment to undertake surveys and provide proof of vehicle insurance that covers business usage.
Please also answer the following questions in your application for this apprenticeship:
- Do you have an education, health or care plan provided by the local authority or have you been in the care of the local authority?
- Are you a citizen of the United Kingdom or another country within the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA)?
- Will you have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or another country within the EU or EEA for at least 3 years from current date?
- Do you depend on a visa or other permission to reside in the United Kingdom?
- If you have answered 'Yes' to the previous question, please describe what type of visa/permission you have. You will need to bring in your passport and visa or evidence of immigration permission when you enrol so that we assess your eligibility to receive Government funding for the Apprenticeship programme.
When completing the application form, please thoroughly tailor your application to the 'Who is the Person' points with the use of examples from your experience and attach this as a cover letter in the Supporting Documents section. This is really important or you are likely not to be shortlisted. Please click here to see the full job profile!
Applications should be submitted by 12noon on Monday 13th March 2023.
There will be an initial shortlisting where if successful, you will be required to prepare and deliver a short presentation virtually, via MS Teams on either 27th or 28th March 2023.
Candidates progressing from the presentation stage will be invited to an assessment day in Portsmouth to be held on the 3rd April 2023.
The final stage of assessment will be formal interviews to be held in Portsmouth during the w/c 10th April.
When applying candidates should ensure that they are available for the dates above. Whilst some flexibility can be offered around the date and timings of the initial presentation assessment and final stage interviews, the assessment day to be held on 3rd April 2023 is fixed and can not be changed.
Should candidates like to discuss any of the roles in confidence, they should contact Stuart Lane on 07917 515071 or email stuart.lane@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
- A generous pension scheme
- Up to 31 days annual leave per year (from 2023)+ bank holidays
- Flexible / hybrid working
- A range of retail discounts via our reward portal offering discounts at retailers including IKEA, Currys, Tesco
- Free Access to Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellbeing support
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships
- Potential to purchase additional annual leave
- Business travel support and initiatives, including bike loans
Please click here for all of the benefits of working with us!
Thank you for your interest!
Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact recruit@portsmouthcc.gov.uk