Principal Surveyor

£56,375 to £69,105 per year, National: £56,375 - £62,830 London: £62,000 - £69,105 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’.

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hours:

Full time

Disability Confident:

Yes

Closing Date:

07/03/2026

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 provides property management services, transactional services and property advice to the Defra Group organisations Your role will be to support the efficient and effective management of property interests, and central to that will be the opportunity to use your skills and experience to protect the interests of the Defra group as an owner and occupier of property.

The Corporate Property function is both a supervisory and transactional business which combines in-house knowledge and experience with out-sourced market expertise.

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

The primary purpose of a Principal Corporate Property Surveyor role is to provide technical leadership, provide clear consistent and reasoned advice on property matters to all parts of the Defra Group as required; commission, manage and assure professional services and facilitate and support the delivery of strategy designed to make workplaces more efficient and to minimise costs.

A value-added service, the post holder will be a technical expert and possess the professional knowledge, skills and experience required to manage the property portfolio and deliver commercial transactions that provide value for money.

The post holder may also provide advice to support the delivery of the Strategic Workplace and Property Plan, Capital Investment plan, disposals and acquisitions as well as advising on ownership issues connected with the delivery of FMR (forward maintenance for asset management). This role will work closely with each team within group property to provide specialist strategic asset management advice, give recommendations and inform decision making to ensure the operational estates is operationally effective, sustainable and efficient.

The Principal Property Surveyors may also be required to mentor, coach and challenge colleagues in order to build wider capability over time.

High quality, transparent outputs will be a key deliverable for the Principal Corporate Property Surveyor role.

Key Responsibilities:

Provide expert property advice across the diverse property…