Service Lead - Commercial, QSJobsGoPublic

Service Lead – Commercial, Quantity Surveying

Ref: 197144

Salary: £56,293 p.a. plus benefits

37 hours per week (WFH Mon, Office Days Tue-Fri)

Swindon Borough Council are on an exciting journey to transform service delivery. We want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision in the new Swindon Plan is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that’s who we’re doing it for – the communities and businesses that make our town great. As part of the Council, you’ll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It’s all for better public services. Better processes. And a better quality of life, for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.

Your next role

Housing and Corporate Repairs sit at the heart of people’s everyday lives, and we’re on an improvement journey to transform how we deliver for our residents. Our ambition is clear: to provide outstanding customer service, deliver value for money, and build modern, responsive services centred around residents’ needs.

It’s an exciting time to join us. We’re investing heavily, embracing innovation, and empowering our teams to make a real difference.

This role plays a vital part in ensuring strong commercial control and value for money across the Council’s planned maintenance, improvement and capital investment programmes. Reporting to the Service Manager – Planned Maintenance, you will act as the service’s principal Quantity Surveyor, taking responsibility for commercial oversight, cost control and contractual assurance across a range of housing and corporate property projects.

You will lead on commercial and cost management activities throughout the lifecycle of works, including cost planning, tender preparation and evaluation, valuations, variations and final accounts. Working closely with surveyors, internal colleagues, contractors and consultants, you will provide clear advice and challenge to ensure projects are delivered within agreed budgets and contractual frameworks. Your role will involve overseeing contractor performance from a commercial perspective, managing risk and resolving issues to maintain financial control, transparency and compliance.

With responsibility for leading a small professional team and overseeing significant budgets, you will take ownership of governance, performance reporting and continuous improvement in commercial practice. You will contribute to procurement strategies, support strategic decision‑making and help embed a strong culture of accountability and best practice in contract administration, ensuring the Council achieves sustainable, cost‑effective outcomes while maintaining quality and safety.

What You'll Bring

We are looking for someone who has:

Strong experience in quantity surveying or commercial management within a local authority or social housing environment.

Solid understanding of contract administration, cost control and public sector procurement, along with experience managing contractors, budgets and professional teams.

A confident, methodical approach

Strong commercial judgement

The ability to work collaboratively to deliver value‑driven outcomes.

Degree or professional qualification in Quantity Surveying (desirable)

Membership of a recognised professional body, such as RICS (desirable)

Relevant health and safety qualification (desirable

You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act “for the effective performance of a customer-facing role”).

This role working pattern is 4 days a week in the office and 1 day working from home, currently Mondays.

Your next package

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change. With your contributions, we’ll achieve our vision of a prosperous, re-vitalised Swindon together. And you’ll be proud to say it was made better with you.

Please see our Vision and Values page for more details and our new Swindon Plan.

Potential applicants are sometimes put off if they don’t meet 100% of the requirements. We think individual experience, skills and passion make all the difference, so if you meet the majority of the criteria, we’d love to hear from you.

Your next steps

Please read the role profile, which is available in the documents section to the righthand side of the page. To submit an application for this role, select Quick Apply.

For further information about the role please contact Andrea Lomax, Service Manager – Planned Maintenance, at [email protected] or Michael Whelan, Service Lead at [email protected]

As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from a diverse range of communities, and in particular disabled people and people from ethnic minorities. Read our statement of commitment to equality & inclusion.

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application, please email [email protected]

Closing date: 12 November 2026

Interview date: 18 November 2026

Documents:

Role Profile - SBC_12467 - Service Lead - Commercial - QS.pdf