Newport, Wales
Senior conservation architect and associate
at Caroe and Partners
Caroe and Partners is seeking a senior conservation architect and associate to join its team in Newport, Wales.
Job title: senior conservation architect and associate
Reports to: Jane Chamberlain and Jonathan Saunders
Contract: permanent, full-time
Introduction
Caroe and Partners was founded in 1884 and is a leading conservation architects’ practice, with specialist skills in the conservation, repair and adaption of historic buildings and sites. We have branches in Wells, Newport and Tewkesbury.
We are passionate about the art of conserving and maintaining historic buildings, to delight and endure and to minimise intervention when repairing building fabric. We place great importance in approaching each project individually and providing an enthusiastic and personal service which involves every member of our team.
Our aim is to meet these aspirations while fulfilling our clients needs and meeting our financial goals.
Key objectives of the role
This is a key position in the practice with responsibility for project-running and assisting in the leadership and operation of the Newport office to ensure delivery of highest quality service to our clients, and managing growth whilst ensuring the smooth and efficient running of the Tewkesbury branch and the practice as a whole
This role is primarily to provide the professional, technical and interpretative skills of a qualified conservation architect and other services which we offer such as one-off residential and regeneration. As such the role will be integral in the smooth running of jobs from conception through to tendering, site operations and post contract administration. The role is highly operational, client and partner facing with account responsibility, and as a senior position within the office, the post holder will be required to manage projects and provide leadership to others.
As part of a small team the post holder has to be adaptable and able to work with and support colleagues where necessary.
Key relationships:
- partners
- colleagues in Tewkesbury and other offices
- clients
- contractors
- statutory authorities
Duties and responsibilities include but not limited to the following:
- take ownership of joint management of the Newport office with Jane Chamberlain to ensure delivery of high-quality service to our clients
- help create and manage growth in the Newport office and wider practice
- contribute to practice-wide business planning which will establish the future direction of the business
- support the practice-wide strategy for securing new business and developing existing clients by participating in and leading PQQs and bids for new commissions
- build good working relationships with current and future clients and stakeholders
- provide regular reports to partners meetings as required
- mentor other employees on projects where appropriate
- helping the partners to create and maintain a positive and successful office culture
- any other reasonable duties that arise from working within a small office and the nature and character of the post
- at all times uphold the reputation and standing of the practice
Key performance indicators
KPIs are subject to change. However, within the first twelve months it is expected that you will be measured against:
- profitability of the project management function
- conversion rate from initial lead/op to fee-earning work against that of the practice’s existing services offerings – currently around one in three
- feedback from clients and employees – this may be in the form of ‘satisfaction assessments’
- success of the integration of the service offering to the practice and its business as a whole
- demonstrate the ability to make sound commercial decisions and take more day to day responsibility of the Tewkesbury office
KPIs will be formally reviewed by the partners at three, six and twelve months from the start date.
Key challenges:
- interpreting the sensitivities of conservation work
- managing and delivering a number of time and budget sensitive projects
- assisting in the growth of the firm
Knowledge and skills:
- full qualification as an architect from a RIBA-recognised university
- relevant professional memberships, e.g. ARB, AABC or RIBA Conservation Register accreditations
- proven post-qualification performance with a sound knowledge and understanding of all UK planning and building legislation and its application
- first-rate design and technical skills and a strong knowledge and understanding of the role of working drawings (both manual and electronic)
- a demonstrable interest in the issues and challenges associated with conservation/historic buildings and new design in the historic environment
- proven ability and evidence of working with historic buildings and conservation issues
- proven direct responsibility of end-to-end job-running
- good overall knowledge of traditional construction (e.g. brickwork/lead/slate/timber)
- sound working knowledge of AutoCAD, with the ability to produce a high volume of consistently high quality and accurate work
- ability to ‘hit the ground running’ and to work with little supervision and to plan and deliver consistently high-quality work on time and to budget
- strong written and oral communication skills; able to convey messages with clarity and conviction
- able to provide guidance and support to colleagues
- ability to maintain focus on the big picture and achieve results (without losing sight of the details) through timely completion of all associated job activities e.g. site inspections details, paperwork etc.)
- good budget understanding and control
- strong problem-solving skills; able to think ahead and spot potential obstacles, work effectively when faced with ambiguity, and devise appropriate solutions and see these through to ensure that projects remain on target both in terms of timescale and fee
- engaging, cheerful and inspirational interpersonal skills
- proven team player
- well-developed influencing and negotiation skills
- able to quickly gain the confidence and support of a variety of people at all levels, and be able to deal with challenging situations in a confident, tactful and professional manner
Please submit applications using the ‘apply’ link below.