Role Profile & Person Specification
Established in 1952, HorseWorld Trust is a registered charity based in Whitchurch, near Bristol, committed to rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing horses, ponies and donkeys in need. Our Welfare department provides a home to all our new arrivals, including sick, neglected and traumatised horses and ponies. We have a team of trained staff committed to their care and rehabilitation and eventual re-homing. HorseWorld also runs a ground-breaking educational programme called Discovery which supports emotional growth and learning in young people through hands-on experience with our rescued horses, ponies and donkeys.
Our Vision: A world where horses and people help each other to live and work in harmony.
Our Mission: To create a safe community where horses and people connect together and enjoy
lifelong learning.
Our Values: Caring . Collaborative . Proactive . Adaptable . Inclusive
Job title: Estates Manager
Job overview:
HorseWorld’s home at Keynes Farm is approx. 150 acres of outstanding land. Home to 100+ horses and a learning centre that helps thousands of children through Equine Assisted Learning. Critical to the health & happiness of the herd & the young people who visit us is the land and facilities here.
As Estates Manager you will work with our Welfare & Discovery Teams to ensure the site and land are kept at their best at all times so we can all be proud to host guests and work here. Work with our Fundraising and Engagement teams to assist and prepare for onsite events. And as we look to the future, the Estates Manager will also be critical in helping to identify opportunities for expansion or development.
As Estates Manager, you'll be concerned with our site’s preservation. You'll solve problems and maximise financial returns through careful management and coordination to ensure the estate runs as effectively as possible. An important part of your work will be to ensure that longer-term issues are planned for.
Day to day you will assist in the smooth operation of HorseWorld by leading a small team to ensure the efficient management of premises, pasture, vehicles, equipment and matters of associated Health and Safety.
This will include; care of approx 150 acres of pasture with associated agricultural requirements, grounds keeping, routine maintenance of a small fleet of vehicles, maintenance of properties including offices, barns and equestrian buildings, compliance with legal and health and safety requirements.
You'll work out on the estate and in an office, balancing numerous, and sometimes contradictory issues, such as increasing the profitability of an estate without spending any money is one of the challenges of the role. The work involves planning to meet both short-term and longer-term needs. You will need to be practically minded and able to work in a strategic way to see the overall picture of a project. Our larger projects are sometimes linked to grant funding so meticulous budget costing, planning and keeping to targets is vital.
Salary: £38,000 - £40,000 p.a. plus benefits package
Reports to: Deputy CEO
Hours: Permanent, an average of 35 hours per week. Working 8am to 4pm with a half hour unpaid rest break each day. Days to be worked on a rota determined by the requirements of the team, working one weekend in four whilst ensuring appropriate supervision is always available. Additional out of hours work may also be required for which lieu will be given. We would consider part time working for the right candidate.
Location: HorseWorld Trust; Keynes Farm, Staunton Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol, BS14 0QL
Key Tasks:
- Manage department staff, any apprentices and volunteers
- Foster a collaborative working approach, with internal staff and external collaborations
- Organise land, field, hedgerow and field management with specific use in mind for our equines
- Manage contractors employed for a specific purpose, such as tree surgeons or building services engineers and various aspects of the estate
- Organise repairs and maintenance
- Project-manage buildings and renovations
- Plan, commission and manage the work of contractors
- Carry out financial planning for a project and control the budget
- Redevelopment of the site, possibly for preparation for a different use
- Oversee the development of the estate, to make sure it's being effectively run to meet the Charities objectives
- Work with the Deputy CEO/senior leadership of the Charity to keep them up to date on developments or potential issues
- Keep up to date with legislation and regulations that affect the estate
Land Management:
This will involve;
- Helping to maintain a site we are proud to host guests and work in
- Work closely with the Equine Welfare department to create and implement pasture management for approx 150 acres of varied terrain. To include seasonal activities such as topping, harrowing, clearing ditches, muck spreading etc. and researching best practice ways of environmental land management.
- Research, preparation and submission of all applicable Land Grant Applications such as RPA/Countryside Stewardship.
- Maintain extensive network of farm tracks and pathways to allow vehicle, pedestrian and equine access. To include repair works and management of established hedgerows and trees.
- Develop a proactive approach to land and field management in conjunction with the Welfare team.
- Ensure areas where visitors have access are maintained to a professional standard with routine grass cutting, strimming and hedge trimming.
- Manage ongoing repairs and replacement to an extensive number of fences and gates, with an understanding of requirements for the safe housing of equines.
- Assist with the management, storage and moving of feed, forage and bedding materials.
- Ensure surfaced areas such as riding arenas and round pens receive routine maintenance to include clearing weeds and harrowing.
- Annual weed spraying programme together with site tree management.
- Overseeing external visits regarding land management and development, site surveys and potential future requirements of the Charity, keeping CEO/Deputy CEO appraised at all times.
Building Management:
This will involve;
- Working closely with the Deputy CEO to ensure all our buildings are fit for purpose and identifying potential for improvement / reuse / development
- Management of the day to day responsibility for general maintenance and routine checks for internal and external areas. Liaising with and supervising contractors as required.
- Develop a planned maintenance schedule
- Escalating matters to line manager as appropriate and keeping relevant Heads of Department informed of any issues.
Vehicle Management:
This will involve;
- Management of a small fleet of vehicles to include; Tractors, all terrain tele handler (Merlo), UTVs, Horse box, Trailer and road vehicles.
- Management of associated attachments and equipment required for a large and active equestrian site.
- Create and implement a schedule for routine checks and maintenance for all vehicles, attachments and associated equipment.
Health & Safety:
This will involve;
- Ensuring compliance with health and safety laws relating to matters of farm and vehicle maintenance and operations.
- Take an active role in promoting good health and safety standards, working closely with line manager, colleagues and health and safety advisors.
- Responsibility for management of departmental Risk Assessments, Safe Working Procedures and COSHH regulations for matters relating to site management.
- Ensuring hazards are identified and dealt with and escalated to the senior management team as appropriate.
- Attend and contribute to the monthly H&S meetings.
- Organise and maintain workshop areas, ensuring all tools, equipment and machinery are kept safely and in good working order.
Team Management:
This will involve;
- Line management duties for a small team to include; carrying out regular performance and development reviews, setting goals, objectives, training objectives and lead on improvement.
- Ensuring appropriate site cover, managing a team rota and holiday approval requests.
- Leading by example demonstrating excellent work ethic and commitment to HorseWorld’s code of conduct.
General:
This will involve;
- Department budget management and financial planning. Calculating and comparing costs for required goods or services to achieve maximum value for money.
- Project manage, supervise and coordinate the work of contractors.
- Initiate a timed repair schedule for buildings, vehicles, fencing and land.
- Liaising with Welfare and Discovery Department Heads to ensure they have the required facilities available, and in the creation and implementation of various projects.
- Completion of departmental paperwork and reports.
- Daily liaison with the security guards ensuring an efficient and thorough handover is given and they are delivering services in line with their objectives.
- Ensuring out of hours emergency contact for security issues and alerting Line Manager and SMT.
- Daily liaison with the Cleaners ensuring they are delivering services in line with their objectives and reporting any issues to Line Manager.
Ensure the effective operation of HorseWorld:
This will involve:
- Assisting and supporting with the setup of internal and external events or visitors to the yard e.g. behind the scenes tours / open day events etc., ensuring the site is clean and tidy.
- Presenting HorseWorld in a way that is consistent with its work and philosophy.
- Adhering to all statutory H&S regulations, taking responsibility for health and safety on site for yourself and those around you and ensuring any hazards or problems are reported to your Line Manager.
- Attending and contributing to meetings and training and development activities as necessary.
- Taking responsibility any for clothing, footwear and PPE issued to you.
- Behaving in a polite and acceptable manner to staff, clients and general public.
- Presenting HorseWorld in a way that is consistent with its work and philosophy.
- Performing any other duties consistent with the role and/or reasonably required.
Person Specification
Essential Knowledge and Experience
You will need to be:
- Adept at financial management and budgeting, as you'll need to calculate costs and keep track of what money is being spent on repairs, estate maintenance and building renovation, to ensure the estate stays profitable
- Be commercially aware
- Possess IOSH Managing safely certificate in Health and Safety Regulations Qualification and have demonstrable sound knowledge of health and safety, creating and implementing Risk Assessments and Safe Working Procedure, be diligent about health and safety, to ensure visitors and staff are kept safe,
- Highly organised, as you'll need to juggle multiple issues of varying levels of urgency and importance
- Creative at problem-solving, as not every problem will have a textbook answer and you may find occasions where a novel approach is required, especially if there isn't much money available
- Understanding the day-to-day workings of a large-scale equine yard/agricultural environment
- Demonstrable experience of organising daily tasks, supervising people and leading and motivating a team (minimum 3 years)
- Knowledge of land, farm and buildings management
- Demonstrable experience in the operation of various large agricultural vehicles and equipment
Essential Skills and Abilities
- Ability to oversee and manage a small fleet of on and off site vehicles, providing routine checks and maintenance
- Management of the departments Site Health and Safety regulations and have input into the whole site Health and Safety.
- Attend bi-monthly site Health and Safety meetings.
- Procurement and negotiation skills - a good negotiator, to ensure the estate gets an effective deal with contractors, or when purchasing land, equipment or property
- Ability to multitask and prioritise your workload and that of the team
- Project management skills and be efficient at managing projects, in addition to the day-to-day running of the estate
- Teamworking skills
- Able to work around large and unpredictable animals
- Clear and concise writing skills and the ability to handle long and complex documents.
- Current full, clean driving license
- Sound IT skills
Desirable Skills, Knowledge and Experience
- Experience and knowledge of caring for horses
- Confident decision making
- The ability to draw information for various sources, including people
- Relevant land management/maintenance qualification
- Up to date Safeguarding training
- Demonstrable experience of GDPR
- First Aider and Fire Warden Training
Special Conditions
- This is a physically demanding role, working predominantly outside, taking an active role and overseeing all tasks and duties.
- This role involves working on occasion in close proximity to unhandled and nervous equines.
- Working on a site with vulnerable young people - DBS check will be required.
- Must be flexible with days/hours of work and willing to assist with occasional events, which may involve working outside normal hours. E.g., Open days.
- Commitment to the Charity and its aim to provide excellent care to equines in need and promoting emotional growth and learning in children, young people and adults.
To apply for this role in the first instance please submit a full CV and covering letter. If you are shortlisted you will be required to complete an application form. We are a Safer Recruitment organisation and this is mandatory.
Applications to be sent to: liz.appleby@horseworld.org.uk
Liz Appleby, HR & Training Advisor, HorseWorld, Delmar Hall, Keynes Farm, Staunton Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol BS14 0QL
Closing date for receipt of applications is Wednesday 26th February 2025