Building Safety Advisor

Are you a versatile chartered structural or civil engineer looking for a high-profile and influential role with wide reaching impact across the education estate?  Do you have knowledge of current building standards and experience assessing existing buildings?

The Department for Education (DfE) is seeking a Building Safety Advisor to join its Technical Standards Division until the end of May 2026.  You will report to the Head of Building Safety as part of a small, well respected dynamic team of technical experts.  You’ll lead impactful projects, provide strategic guidance to senior colleagues and ministers, and influence key policy decisions for structural and other building safety matters for over 22,000 schools and colleges across England.  You will also support delivery teams with technical queries on individual projects.

We value passionate individuals who thrive in challenging environments and can manage competing and evolving priorities including delivering ministerial objectives. We are committed to helping our team grow professionally and achieve their career goals, you will have access to continuous training, exposure to cutting-edge industry practices, and the opportunity to expand your influence across the education sector. Whether through training programs, mentoring, or exposure to senior-level projects, this is a role that will help you reach your career goals.

We understand the importance of balance and strive to support our employees in maintaining it. The role offers flexible working hours and hybrid working (minimum 60% office attendance), enabling you to manage both professional and personal responsibilities.

The DfE Education Estates Directorate supports those who manage the education estate to ensure high-quality learning environments. We do this by offering technical guidance on existing buildings, setting standards for new ones, and funding both new-build and refurbishment projects. The Building Safety Advisor role is varied and includes:

• Planning and conducting research into structural safety risks.
• Writing guidance and standards on structural safety matters for existing and new buildings.
• Advising schools and colleges on building safety issues including supporting on individual cases and projects.
• Briefing ministers and senior colleagues on emerging risks.
• Contributing to cross-government initiatives on resilience and building safety issues.

Responsibilities will include:

• Researching defects in common types of construction used in school buildings. This will improve knowledge and evidence of structural safety risks in the existing estate.
• Writing guidance for school owners and occupiers. This will support them in managing buildings that may be approaching or beyond the end of the design life.
• Advising on how to identify building safety risks in existing buildings and prioritise ongoing maintenance.
• Analysing data and identifying trends to provide evidence led feedback which improves technical standards and guidance.
• Engaging with external advisors and contractors on building safety matters.
• Engaging with government departments and other stakeholders on building safety related matters.
• Input into strategies and policy for building refurbishment and retrofit based on knowledge of existing construction types, and common defects.
• Identifying opportunities to use innovation and new digital tools to address safety and condition issues in the education estate.
• Developing briefs for post-occupancy evaluations and analysing the results.
• Updating employer’s requirements for department programmes and frameworks including structural clauses and those relating to implementation of Hackitt Report, the Grenfell Inquiry, Building Safety Act and updates to Building Regulations
• Advising colleagues on the selection and prioritisation of applications for refurbishment or rebuilding funding.
• Advising colleagues on sitewide constraints (e.g. ground contamination and flooding) for existing or proposed sites.
• Responding to official government business.

The role of Building Safety Advisor is wide ranging and we ask a lot of our people. You should be flexible and adaptable, comfortable managing competing and evolving priorities, able to work to demanding deadlines to deliver ministerial objectives. In return we offer our staff excellent benefits as well as professional development opportunities and a chance to develop and make a significant positive contribution.

Essential Criteria

You will have:

• The ability to communicate complex technical matters to non-technical audiences.
• Extensive experience in assessing existing buildings, identifying defects, and recommending remediation. You should have extensive knowledge of historical construction types and practices, including post-war construction systems and components
• Extensive experience of structural design, including a detailed understanding of current design codes and commonly used design guidance. You should understand the opportunities and constraints when using modern methods of construction (MMC).
• Experience of delivering construction projects in the public sector.
• Knowledge of best practices and innovations in the construction industry, with the ability to help develop standards and specifications for school buildings and grounds that align with MMC.
• An understanding of the implications of climate change and its impact on buildings and grounds across the education estate.
• An enquiring mind and willingness to explore and learn about other building safety matters beyond structural safety.

Desirable Criteria

• Chartered membership or fellowship of the Institution of Structural Engineers (CEng MIStructE /FIStructE), Institute of Civil Engineers (CEng MICE / FICE) or another appropriate professional body.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.