Estates Surveyor

Job summary

Defra group Property (DgP) is part of Defra Group Corporate Services and provides accommodation services to the Defra Group. It also leads significant workplace transformation programme across the corporate property portfolio focused on creating great places to work for Defra Group staff.

Our ambition and goals for the Defra Group estate is to:

• Create sustainable property and workplaces that enhance wellbeing, engagement, and productivity.
• Put people in the places they need to be to do their best work and among the communities they serve.
• Give choice over where and how people work so that they are empowered to work in the smartest ways.

We’ll do this by:

• Creating working environments and collaboration spaces that people want to use and that make them more productive.
• Keeping people safe and enhance their wellbeing.
• Connecting people from across the Defra Group.
• Attracting a diverse and talented workforce.
• Achieving sustainable, aspiring to the highest environmental standards.
• Meeting the needs of the business and customers it serves now and in the future.

To achieve this, we deliver a range of property services and projects on behalf of Defra Group and its partner organisations. These activities range in scale and complexity across circa 300 property holdings, from offices to laboratories, and projects encompass new builds, refurbishments, refits, life cycle replacement works and everything else in between. We have a strategic workplace and property plan with our key projects and works now agreed, so there’s never been a more exciting time to join DgP.

The Corporate Property Team provide commercial property management services, transactional services and property advice to support DgP delivery.

Job description

The successful candidate will provide professional property advice, undertake, commission and oversee transactions and estate management issues to ensure the Defra Group can deliver its services effectively. You will have experience working in commercial property and a sound knowledge of leases and tenancies.

Working in the Corporate Property Team you will manage your own portfolio of property matters and take responsibility for the administration of the Group’s obligations as an owner and occupier of property, working alongside the Group facilities management function.

You will have involvement with and be expected to advise organisations within the Group on property matters impacting their business area as well as supporting a Group wide estate transformation programme through the delivery of property transactions and disposals.

The role is central to ensure DgP manages it’s portfolio effectively and efficiently, and meets our aims of maximising the business benefits of our property network.

As this is a true corporate real estate role you will also learn about the business and the part property plays in making things happen on the ground. DgP has a diverse portfolio and this is an excellent opportunity to become involved in an organisation which exercises significant influence over the world we live in and make the UK a great place to live.

General Responsibilities

• Supporting the Principal Corporate Property Surveyors
• Managing a defined portfolio of work
• Delivering property advice, guidance and transactions in support of the property strategy and good estate management.
• Providing advice and professional support to the Defra Group businesses.
• Assisting in the provision of specialist advice, guidance and assurance in line with relevant legislation and best practice.
• Sharing technical expertise to improve knowledge, capability and competence.
• Collaborating and partnering with colleagues across the Defra Group and other government bodies.
• Commissioning, supervising and delivering through external property advisors.

Role Specific

• Take full day to day estate management responsibilities for your allocated portfolio.
• Provide property advice and recommendations.
• To deliver property transactions within your portfolio.

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Demonstrate significant relevant commercial property and estate management experience.
• Hold a recognised degree level qualification in a relevant subject.

Licences

The candidate will need a driving licence to undertake inspections and attend meeting in locations inaccessible by public transport.

Qualifications

A degree qualification in a relevant property related subject.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Property management practice, land law, tenancies and professional conduct.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,665, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Infobite: Benefits of the alpha pension scheme (youtube.com)

Flexi Time Policy - Our Flexi-time policy allows you to vary your hours from day to day, within the requirements of your role, to suit your needs and to offer a better work/life balance.

Leave - If you work full time at Defra you are entitled to 25 days’ leave (rising, over 5 years, to 30 days’). If you work part time it will be pro-rated.

Privilege day - You are also entitled to a privilege day off in May to mark the King’s birthday (date varies), plus time off for the 8 public holidays a year.

Career breaks - We recognise that your work-life balance can extend beyond the short-term to the longer-term, and to support this you are able to apply for career breaks. These are unpaid extended breaks from work, granted at the discretion of the department.

Volunteering leave - 3 days paid volunteering leave every year (pro-rata). Once you have passed probation.

Season ticket loan – for an interest free season ticket loan, if you have worked within the Defra for more than three months. This can be used to purchase train and bus season tickets, as well as station car parking.

Tenancy deposit loan – for an interest free loan, to assist you in meeting the deposit costs for your privately rented home.

Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme – Since the closure to new entrants of the employer childcare voucher scheme, the government introduced the Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) scheme. In this scheme, working parents open an online childcare account and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2, up to a maximum of £2,000 a year for each child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents then use the funds to pay for registered childcare.

Support to buy a bicycle – we run two schemes that can help you buy a bicycle for your commute:

1. The Cycle to Work Scheme –you can apply for a bicycle for your commute, up to the value of £6,000, which is recovered from you through salary sacrifice, as a tax-free benefit. At the end of the repayment period, you have the option to buy the bike if you wish, saving around 30% of the original cost.
2. Bike loan – if you are not eligible to apply for the Cycle to Work Scheme, you can apply for a loan of up to £1,000 towards the cost of a bike using the Bike loan Scheme. This however is not a salary sacrifice scheme.

High-street and online discounts - Offers through SmartSpending™ which is accessed through the STaR platform. Accessible 24/7, you can save at hundreds of top retailers.

Maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave - We offer generous maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave. You are entitled to up to 39 weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), if you meet the qualifying conditions. You are entitled to 26 weeks at full pay, with up to 13 weeks at reduced pay (statutory rate). Most partners are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave. Shared parental leave arrangements are in place, allowing parents to divide their leave with each other.

Professional Membership - Defra Group will fund one professional membership for each permanent employee which is relevant to their role.

Eye care scheme - If you use a computer screen in connection with your job, we will pay for a regular eyesight test, and you may also be entitled to help towards purchasing new glasses, if they are needed for computer use.

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a free 24/7 confidential telephone advice service, available to all of our staff throughout the year.

Civil Service Sports Council - The opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application Process

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. In your personal statement please detail your experience in commercial property management and transactions, and why you wish to pursue a career in Property within the Civil Service, in a maximum of 500 words.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

Should a large number of applications be received, the initial sift may be conducted using your personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Sifting will take place during the week commencing 2 March 2026.

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview where you will be assessed on experience, behaviours and a technical skill (Property management practice, land law, tenancies and professional conduct).

Interviews will be conducted by video on MS Teams.

Interviews are scheduled to take place during the week commencing 16 March 2026 but may be subject to change.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’.

Near Miss Candidates

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Core Defra which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Location

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Travel to other sites and overnight stays may be required for meetings or training events.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Merit Lists

Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to state your location preference on your application.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Eva Martin
• Email : Eva.Martin@defra.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: here