Health & Safety Officer - Abdulla Bin Otaiba Charter School - Immediate Start

Role Overview

Health & Safety Officer at Abdulla Bin Otaiba Charter School, part of Aldar Education, in Abu Dhabi. Immediate start.

Company Overview

Abdulla Bin Otaiba (ABO) is a large and thriving charter school following the US Curriculum with over 1,500 students from KG2 to Grade 5. The school is student-centered, committed to staff development, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement. ABO is part of Aldar Education, Abu Dhabi's leading school group. Core values are Respect, Collaboration, Passion, Integrity, and Excellence. The school ethos is "Aspire, Believe, Achieve."

Role Purpose

To deliver and oversee facilities and general services across the school, ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness, maintenance, and safety. To build and lead a high-performance facilities team, manage external service providers, oversee budgets and procurement, and maintain a positive health and safety culture in full compliance with legislation and Aldar Education policy.

Key Responsibilities

General Operations

• Ensure all repairs and maintenance at the school, including inspection of required repairs and appointment of external service providers in line with Aldar Education HQ guidance and Aldar Education Procurement framework.
• Ensure agreed works by staff or contractors have been completed satisfactorily and follow up on any deficiencies to the initial scope of works.
• Ensure the security and efficient operation of the school site, buildings, and grounds at all times in accordance with current Health & Safety guidance.
• Oversee daily checks of the site by the site services team for vandalism and ensure cleaning standards are acceptable.
• Implement issued policies, systems, processes, and student safeguarding measures in conjunction with Aldar Education HQ.
• Ensure school-based events and activities are effectively planned and resourced in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Ensure essential central services such as catering, security, maintenance, cleaning, transport, waste disposal, and recycling are effectively planned and resourced throughout the year.
• Act as the point of contact for external services management.
• Support the Operations & Services Manager (OSM) in utilization of space and resources for buildings or reorganization of current premises.
• Ensure daily monitoring of the BMS (Building Management System) and BMS alert systems (where installed) are carried out amongst the site services team.
• Support the OSM and Group Housing Manager in procuring and maintaining Aldar Education standards of staff accommodation (where required).
• Act as the designated school Incident Commander and be contactable outside normal school hours, available to attend site when required in line with Aldar Education Critical Incident Response Protocols.

Leadership & Management

• Ensure external support service teams are performing in line with school expectations, fully resourced, and delivering on their contractual obligations.
• Deliver best value for the school and high standards of service for the school community.
• Manage the facilities and general services teams to ensure high standards of service are maintained throughout the school.
• Ensure the teams provide an effective service culture.
• Ensure each member of the Facilities & General Services team participates in professional development, appraisal, and training.
• Develop individual development plans for team members to help the school build a high-performance team.

Finance, Commercial & Procurement

• Oversee relevant budgets and expenditure and effectively manage costs.
• Ensure the school receives best value and service at all times in relation to facilities and building standards.
• Support opportunities for shared resources, costs, and services across partner schools.
• Ensure partner schools benefit from improved access to service teams and physical resources (such as support staff and transport).
• Ensure purchasing policy and the Delegation of Authority (DOA) processes and procedures are followed at all times.

Relationship & Stakeholder Management

• Ensure schools are fully compliant with local government authority regulations to safeguard against fines resulting from non-renewal of contracts at school level.
• Ensure all internal and external audit actions are completed in a timely and appropriate manner.

Health, Safety & Environment

• Promote a positive and proactive health and safety culture throughout the teams.
• Ensure the school complies with current Health & Safety legislation and guidelines as issued by Aldar Education HQ.
• Review and monitor the health and safety performance of contractors and suppliers within the school.
• Support the OSM with environmental-related aims and objectives and ensure they are delivered within required timelines.
• Ensure all internal and external health, safety, and environmental-related audits are effectively completed in a timely and appropriate manner.

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum diploma or degree of higher education, or related industry qualification of graduate level for the assigned functional area(s).
• Certificate of Facilities Management, NEBOSH, or IOSH preferable.
• At least 3 years' experience in a mid-level position within an education or facilities service-oriented industry.

Skills & Competencies

• Fluent English communication skills, written and oral.
• Attention to detail with diligent follow-up and ability to execute in a timely manner.
• Skilled in multi-tasking and handling pressure.
• Strong organizational ability, of self and others.
• Forethought and forward planning, particularly as it relates to local government compliance matters.
• Capable of influencing people and talented in networking with cultural sensitivity.
• Good interpersonal skills.
• Strong and consistent supervisory skills.
• Commercial acumen.
• Ability to initiate effort and energy beyond the typical work day where tasks require additional commitment.