MEZ Construction – North Division
Location: North London / North-West London and surrounding project locations
Job Type: Permanent, Full-time
Start: As soon as possible
Salary: Competitive, dependent on experience and proven track record
The Role
MEZ Construction is looking for an experienced Senior Site Manager to take responsibility for a portfolio of live construction projects across our North Division.
We are not looking for somebody who needs to be taught how to run a site.
We need an experienced construction professional who understands buildings, understands people and understands the commercial realities of delivering projects properly.
The right person will be capable of taking control of a project, getting underneath the drawings and programme, managing subcontractors firmly but fairly, negotiating packages and rates, solving technical problems and keeping several live sites moving at the same time.
Our workload includes new-build developments, residential projects, commercial projects, substantial refurbishments, structural alterations, extensions, conversions, loft conversions and high-quality internal fit-outs.
You must have enough breadth of experience to move confidently between different types and stages of construction and be equally comfortable dealing with residential and commercial environments.
This is a senior position with real responsibility.
You will be expected to know what is happening across your projects, what should be happening next, what information is missing, which trades are underperforming, what materials need ordering, where the commercial risks sit and what needs to be done to keep each project on programme.
What You Will Be Responsible For
You will have overall day-to-day responsibility for the delivery of your allocated projects, from mobilisation through construction, finishing, commissioning and handover.
Depending on the size and stage of the projects, you will be expected to manage and oversee multiple live sites simultaneously.
That means being able to prioritise properly.
Some projects will require more attention at particular stages than others. You must be capable of moving between sites, identifying the critical issues quickly, giving clear direction to site teams and subcontractors and then following those actions through to completion.
You will be responsible for:
- Managing several residential and commercial construction projects and site teams at the same time.
- Taking ownership of programme, quality, health and safety, logistics and day-to-day site delivery.
- Producing and managing short-term programmes and look-ahead schedules.
- Understanding the master programme and ensuring each site is properly resourced to achieve it.
- Planning labour, subcontractors, materials, plant, access and deliveries in advance.
- Managing site managers, foremen, subcontractors and direct labour where applicable.
- Setting clear expectations and holding people accountable for what they have agreed to deliver.
- Identifying problems early rather than waiting for them to affect programme or cost.
- Reporting accurately to the directors on progress, programme, commercial issues, risks and outstanding decisions.
Subcontractor Procurement & Negotiation
A major part of this position is the ability to deal confidently and commercially with subcontractors.
You must be comfortable sitting across the table from an experienced subcontractor and understanding exactly what you are buying.
You will be expected to:
- Assist with identifying and appointing suitable subcontractors.
- Review subcontractor quotations critically rather than accepting the headline price.
- Understand scope, exclusions, qualifications and potential gaps in quotations.
- Compare quotations on a like-for-like basis.
- Negotiate rates, package values and commercial terms where required.
- Challenge inflated pricing and unnecessary extras.
- Agree clear scopes of work before subcontractors start.
- Ensure subcontractors understand programme dates, specifications, drawings and quality expectations.
- Monitor subcontractor labour and productivity once works commence.
- Challenge poor performance immediately.
- Negotiate variations and additional works where appropriate, in conjunction with the commercial team and directors.
- Maintain records to support variations, delays and commercial discussions.
- Protect MEZ Construction against unnecessary cost, duplication and rework.
- Build strong relationships with good subcontractors without allowing commercial standards to slip.
We want somebody who understands the difference between obtaining the cheapest price and obtaining the right price from the right contractor for the right scope.
Technical Construction Knowledge
You must have strong practical construction knowledge.
You do not need to have personally worked in every trade, but you must understand construction well enough to know whether something has been built correctly and whether the proposed sequence makes sense.
Your experience should include a strong working knowledge of:
- Site establishment and logistics.
- Demolition and strip-out.
- Groundworks and drainage.
- Foundations and substructures.
- Reinforced concrete.
- Structural steelwork.
- Load-bearing alterations.
- Temporary works.
- Masonry and brickwork.
- Timber construction and carpentry.
- Roofing.
- Waterproofing.
- Building envelopes.
- Windows and external doors.
- Internal partitions and ceilings.
- Drylining and plastering.
- Screeds and floor build-ups.
- Joinery.
- Kitchens and bathrooms.
- Tiling and stone.
- High-quality internal finishes.
- Commercial fit-out works.
- Mechanical installations.
- Electrical installations.
- Plumbing and drainage.
- Testing and commissioning.
- External works and landscaping.
When work is wrong, you should recognise it.
When a detail cannot be built as drawn, you should recognise it.
When one trade is about to create a problem for another trade three weeks later, you should recognise it.
That level of construction awareness is essential for this role.
Residential Developments
You must be confident managing new-build and development work through the principal stages of construction.
You should understand the sequencing and coordination required from groundworks and structure through envelope, first fix, second fix, finishes and final handover.
You must be capable of controlling the programme, coordinating multiple trades and ensuring work is inspected before critical elements are covered.
Experience delivering residential developments or multiple-unit schemes will be highly regarded.
Commercial Projects
Commercial construction experience is also important to us.
Our Senior Site Manager must be comfortable working on commercial projects where programme, coordination, access, logistics, client requirements and quality expectations can differ significantly from residential work.
You should be able to manage:
- Commercial refurbishments.
- Commercial fit-outs.
- Internal alterations.
- Structural modifications.
- M&E-heavy environments.
- Phased works.
- Restricted-access projects.
- Live or partially occupied environments where applicable.
- Tight completion programmes.
- Specialist subcontractors.
- Client and consultant inspections.
- Testing and commissioning.
- Handover documentation.
- Defect and close-out periods.
You must understand the importance of sequencing building works around mechanical and electrical installations, specialist systems, ceilings, finishes and commissioning.
Commercial projects often involve tighter programmes, greater coordination requirements and more formal reporting. You must be comfortable operating in that environment.
Refurbishments, Extensions & Structural Alterations
Strong refurbishment experience is essential.
Existing buildings bring different challenges to new construction, and the successful candidate must be comfortable dealing with them.
You should understand:
- Structural alterations to existing buildings.
- Temporary support and temporary works.
- Steel installations.
- Formation of structural openings.
- Working around existing services.
- Unforeseen existing conditions.
- Restricted-access sites.
- Working close to neighbouring properties.
- Extensions connecting into existing structures.
- Roof alterations and loft conversions.
- Waterproofing existing and new interfaces.
- Making good.
- Protecting retained finishes.
- Maintaining weather protection.
- Sequencing works in occupied or sensitive environments.
- Managing refurbishment quality to a high standard.
When an existing building presents something unexpected, we expect our Site Manager to investigate it properly, understand the implications, involve the correct consultant where necessary and drive the matter to a solution.
Programme & Planning
We expect our Senior Site Manager to think ahead.
Running a construction project by dealing only with today's problems is not enough.
You will be expected to know what needs to happen today, next week and several weeks ahead.
You will:
- Work from the main construction programme.
- Produce realistic short-term programmes.
- Track progress against planned dates.
- Identify slippage immediately.
- Put recovery measures in place where necessary.
- Coordinate trades so that one subcontractor does not prevent another from progressing.
- Ensure drawings, technical information and approvals are available before they are needed.
- Forecast labour requirements.
- Forecast material requirements.
- Coordinate long-lead items.
- Plan plant, scaffolding, access and lifting requirements.
- Ensure subcontractors are properly prepared before arriving on site.
- Coordinate activities across multiple live sites where necessary.
A strong programme is not something that sits in an office folder. It should drive what happens on site every day.
Quality
MEZ Construction expects a high standard of finished work.
Quality control must happen throughout the build, not during a panic two weeks before handover.
You will be responsible for:
- Reading and understanding drawings and specifications.
- Checking workmanship as it progresses.
- Establishing benchmark standards where appropriate.
- Checking critical details before work is covered.
- Maintaining photographic records of concealed works.
- Ensuring appropriate inspections take place.
- Rejecting unacceptable workmanship.
- Ensuring defects are corrected properly, not disguised.
- Protecting completed work.
- Managing progressive snagging.
- Driving final snagging to completion.
- Ensuring the project is genuinely ready before it is presented for handover.
We want Site Managers who walk into a room and notice the things other people miss.
Drawings, Design & Coordination
You must be comfortable working with architectural, structural and M&E information.
You will be expected to:
- Read construction drawings confidently.
- Understand specifications and schedules.
- Cross-reference architectural and structural information.
- Coordinate M&E requirements with the building works.
- Identify drawing discrepancies and missing information.
- Raise clear RFIs.
- Follow outstanding information through until it is resolved.
- Check revised drawings before issuing them to the site team.
- Prevent superseded information from remaining in use.
- Identify buildability concerns before they become site problems.
- Coordinate specialist subcontractor information and shop drawings where required.
We do not expect a Site Manager to redesign a project.
We do expect them to know when something requires clarification.
Commercial Awareness
Every construction decision has a cost attached to it.
Although this is not a Quantity Surveyor position, you must be commercially aware.
You should understand:
- Subcontract package values.
- Labour productivity.
- Material wastage.
- Plant costs.
- Variations.
- Additional works.
- Abortive works.
- Rework.
- Delay.
- Scope gaps.
- Procurement.
- The importance of accurate site records.
You must be able to recognise when something happening on site could cost the company money and raise it immediately.
You should be capable of challenging subcontractors commercially, negotiating firmly and protecting MEZ Construction's position without damaging the working relationships required to deliver the project.
Health & Safety
There is no compromise on health and safety.
You will be expected to maintain proper control of every site under your responsibility and ensure that subcontractors and operatives follow the required standards in practice, not simply on paper.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Site inductions.
- RAMS reviews.
- Toolbox talks.
- Site inspections.
- Permits where required.
- Welfare.
- Housekeeping.
- PPE.
- Work at height.
- Scaffold safety.
- Excavations.
- Lifting operations.
- Temporary works.
- Fire safety.
- Site security.
- Public and neighbour protection.
- Maintaining the required health and safety records.
- Ensuring subcontractors have the appropriate competence and certification.
If something is unsafe, work stops until it is safe.
Programme pressure is not an excuse.
M&E Coordination
You must have sufficient understanding of building services to manage M&E subcontractors effectively.
This is particularly important across both our commercial projects and larger residential developments.
You must be able to coordinate:
- Service routes.
- First fix.
- Second fix.
- Drainage.
- Plant.
- Builder's work.
- Penetrations.
- Ceiling coordination.
- Electrical and mechanical interfaces.
- Testing.
- Commissioning.
- Certification.
- Handover information.
You are not expected to be an M&E designer.
You are expected to know enough to ask the right questions, identify coordination problems early and make sure the installation works with the rest of the building.
Site Records & Reporting
Good Site Managers keep good records.
You will be expected to maintain clear and accurate:
- Daily site records.
- Progress photographs.
- Labour records.
- Delivery records.
- Inspection records.
- Health and safety documentation.
- Programme updates.
- RFI schedules.
- Delay records.
- Site instructions.
- Variation records.
- Quality records.
- Snagging schedules.
- Weekly progress reports.
You should be able to give the directors a clear position on every project you are responsible for without having to spend two days working it out first.
Clients, Consultants & Professional Teams
You will represent MEZ Construction in front of clients and professional teams.
You must therefore be confident dealing with:
- Residential clients.
- Commercial clients.
- Developers.
- Architects.
- Structural engineers.
- M&E consultants.
- Quantity surveyors.
- Building Control.
- Warranty inspectors.
- Designers.
- Contract administrators.
- Neighbours.
- Subcontractors.
- Suppliers.
- MEZ Construction management.
You need to communicate clearly, remain professional when situations become difficult and avoid making promises that cannot be delivered.
Problems should never be hidden.
They should be identified early, understood properly and dealt with.
Completion & Handover
We expect the same level of control during the final stages as we do during the main construction period.
You will plan completion in advance and manage:
- Progressive snagging.
- Final finishes.
- Testing.
- Commissioning.
- Building Control close-out.
- Certificates.
- Warranties.
- As-built drawings.
- O&M information.
- Final cleaning.
- Client demonstrations.
- Practical completion.
- Defect close-out.
The last 5% of a project is often where standards fall.
That will not be acceptable on projects under your control.
What We Need From You
This is a senior appointment.
Applicants should have a strong track record as a Site Manager, Senior Site Manager, Construction Manager or No.1 Site Manager with a reputable main contractor, developer, residential contractor or commercial contractor.
You must be able to demonstrate:
- Significant construction management experience.
- Strong residential construction experience.
- Commercial construction experience.
- Proven refurbishment experience.
- Proven extension experience.
- Experience with structural alterations.
- New-build or development experience.
- Experience managing projects from commencement through to completion.
- Experience managing more than one project or site simultaneously.
- Strong subcontractor management experience.
- The ability to negotiate confidently with subcontractors and suppliers.
- Strong programme management.
- Good commercial awareness.
- Strong technical construction knowledge.
- M&E coordination experience.
- Excellent quality-control standards.
- Strong health and safety knowledge.
- Experience reading architectural, structural and M&E drawings.
- Good written records and reporting.
- Strong organisation and time management.
- Professional client-facing communication.
- A full UK driving licence.
- The right to work in the UK.
Qualifications
As a minimum, we expect:
- SMSTS
- CSCS Manager / Black Card or appropriate management-level CSCS certification
- First Aid at Work
The following would be advantageous:
- NVQ Level 6 in Construction Site Management.
- HNC, HND or degree in Construction Management or a related discipline.
- Temporary Works Coordinator or Supervisor.
- Scaffold Inspection.
- Asbestos Awareness.
- PASMA.
- IPAF.
- Fire Marshal training.
- CIOB membership or progress towards membership.
- Experience working with JCT contracts.
Relevant experience and a proven delivery record will carry significant weight.
The Type of Person Who Will Succeed Here
We are looking for someone who takes ownership.
Someone who can manage a residential development one day, walk onto a commercial refurbishment the next and understand immediately what needs attention.
Someone who walks onto a project and knows whether it is under control.
Someone who checks the drawings before asking the trades to build from them.
Someone who knows the programme without having to be reminded of it.
Someone who knows which subcontractor is due next week and whether the site will actually be ready for them.
Someone who can have a difficult conversation with a subcontractor when performance is poor, but can also build relationships with good people and keep them wanting to work with us.
Someone who can negotiate properly.
Someone who respects company money as though it were their own.
Someone who does not walk past poor workmanship.
Someone who does not hide problems.
Someone who does not wait until Friday to raise an issue that was obvious on Monday.
And, above all, someone who takes pride in delivering a building properly.
You do not need to know every answer immediately.
You do need to take responsibility for finding the answer and closing the issue.
About MEZ Construction
MEZ Construction is an established London construction company delivering residential and commercial construction projects across the capital.
Our work includes new developments, commercial projects, major refurbishments, extensions, structural works, conversions, loft conversions and high-quality fit-outs.
Our North Division has a growing portfolio of live projects across North and North-West London.
We are building a management team capable of supporting the next stage of the company's growth, and this appointment will be an important part of that team.
For the right individual, this is not simply another Site Manager position.
It is an opportunity to take genuine responsibility within a growing construction business and to progress as the company continues to expand.
Applying
Please send an up-to-date CV.
We are particularly interested in what you personally delivered, not simply the names of contractors you have worked for.
Pay: £30,216.93-£64,625.48 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
