Team Manager (Infrastructure and Systems)

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Job Details

We’re looking for a dynamic and forward-thinking leader to join our Education Directorate as a Team Manager - Infrastructure & Systems within our Directorate Operations Team.

This is a unique opportunity to lead high-impact work that directly supports all our Fife school settings, staff and, most importantly, every young person and learner. The post strives to improve our buildings and systems, ensuring our services are modern, efficient and fit for the future.

Whether your background is in Property; Education; local government; public sector; Project Delivery; Estates; systems; teaching or operational leadership, this role offers the chance to apply your expertise at scale and make a real difference.

As Team Manager, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio, ensuring services are well-designed, compliant and continuously improving.

The Team Manager is one of three Team Managers within the Directorate Operations Team. The team goal is ‘Delivering Opportunities for young people to Thrive’. Each Team Manager holds a strategic and operational lead role, within the defined areas of responsibility: managing, developing, implementing and monitoring the range of services, supporting the Primary, Early Years, Special, Secondary, Central Support sectors and teams within the Education Directorate.

You will lead a well-established and motivated team delivering key functions such as:

• School estate and infrastructure (supporting new builds, closures, capacity and catchment planning).
• Education systems and digital services (including enrolment, data and SharePoint systems).
• Statutory processes and consultations linked to education provision.
• Carbon reduction and sustainability initiatives across the service.
• Major programmes and change delivery, embedding new ways of working across services.
• You’ll also play a key role in driving transformation and continuous improvement, managing complex programmes and ensuring that change delivers measurable benefits for schools and communities.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Driving continuous improvement and service/process redesign.
• Working with and building on strong relationships with senior leaders, partners, and stakeholders across Fife and beyond.
• Leading and developing a multi-disciplinary team.
• Managing projects, policies, and statutory processes.
• Supporting the Quality Improvement Officer on major building projects.
• Ensuring effective use of resources, data and systems to support decision-making.
• Supporting delivery of the Directorate Improvement Plan, Council Plan, Children’s Services Plan and national priorities.
• Acting as a key link between strategy and operational delivery.

Why join us?

• Impact at scale - your work will support every young person in Fife.
• Varied and meaningful portfolio - from capital projects to digital transformation.
• Leadership opportunity - shape services, influence strategy and lead change.
• Collaborative environment - working across Education, council services, and partners.

The Team Manager for this post will lead on Systems and Infrastructure.

The Team Manager will:

• manage specialist officers responsible for the delivery of Systems and Infrastructure, Estates and School Management, Early Years Administration and Systems and Office Management within the Education Directorate.
• lead on a geographical area, with direct line management of a number of Primary Business Managers.
• link with Property Services in relation to suitability surveys and to support the capital programme for the Directorate.
• manage and lead on the operational aspects of statutory consultations, in partnership with the Quality Improvement Officer School Estate Development and Change.
• manage pupil roll projections for all education settings, linking to both building capacity and the management of school buildings and developer contributions from planning applications.
• liaise with internal Council services in relation to school estates, including fleet management, carbon reduction, waste management, building repairs and maintenance and capital projects.
• lead on the implementation and development of new systems, such as SEEMIS Early Years.
• lead on elections, specifically the use of Education settings, and VIP protocols within the directorate.
• identify, and analyse the impact of, developments in legislation, codes of practice and industry best practise in relation to and initiate the development of new or amended strategies, policies, procedures, training programmes and actions, as necessary. Advise, and persuade senior managers, Headteachers and all school and operational staff of the need to take actions in relation to areas within the Team Manager remit in the best interests of the organisation, its employee, pupils and stakeholders.
• monitor service quality and performance in relation to risk, compliance, health and safety, financial and data management, ensuring compliance to relevant legislation, standards and specifications, and Fife Council and the Education Directorate policies.
• liaise with external agencies, including the Scottish Government, Scottish Futures Trust, sharing best practise and ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.
• Lead on Education excursions - Evolve.

The Person

We welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds. You may be:

• Someone who has current or previous experience within local authority or public sector as a professional in Estates, Policy, HR, Finance, Education, or Programme Management.
• A school leader with experience of systems, planning or operational leadership.
• An operations, infrastructure or project delivery specialist from outside Education.
• A systems, data or digital lead with experience delivering organisational change.

What matters most is your ability to:

• Lead people and build high-performing teams.
• Deliver change and improvement programmes.
• Work strategically while managing operational delivery.
• Build strong relationships and influence across organisations.
• Analyse complex issues and develop practical, innovative solutions.
• Be flexible and have ability react to directorate and team demands.

You must be:

• Educated to SCQF level 9, which includes a Degree or equivalent.
• Have experience of operational delivery within public sector, successful business change, resource management, performance management and quality management,
• Have experience of driving, managing and supporting organisational change and service improvement.
• Have Consultancy, facilitation and influencing skills.

You will be able to:

• work with the Head of Service, Service Manager, the Directorate Operations Team, Education Managers, Quality Improvement Officers, School Leaders and practitioners to develop, plan and take forward the Directorate’s strategies relating to Systems and Infrastructure.
• identify, plan and assess progress of projects and manage their interdependencies in support of specific outcomes.
• report on progress to various Education forums, Councillors, Fife Council Committees, and to Scottish Government as required.
• Chair meetings/represent the service in cross-service working groups and projects.
• consistently model positive behaviours in dealings with others.
• undertake research/benchmarking.
• analyse complex issues and determine creative and practical solutions.
• reconcile competing priorities and deal with ambiguity and complexity.
• respond to customer needs, aligned with strong organisational and business awareness and provide constructive challenge where appropriate.
• manage performance.

As a progressive employer, we offer the opportunity to work in this role as a “blended working” arrangement with home-working opportunities and occasional office-working as required. While the significant part of the role can and will be carried out remotely, candidates should be able to travel to and attend office locations in Fife as required.

For further information please contact: Kevin Funnell - Kevin.Funnell-ed@fife.gov.uk