Apprentice Estates Officer - West Hospital

About

13th February 2026

The West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds provides acute and secondary care services (emergency department, maternity and neonatal services, day surgery unit, eye treatment centre, Macmillan unit and children's ward). It has 500+ beds and is a partner teaching hospital of the University of Cambridge.

We are a busy, friendly, rural NHS Trust providing high-quality care and compassion to more than a quarter of a million people across west Suffolk. We care for, treat and support people in hospital, at home and in various community settings.

An exciting opportunity has arisen within the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust with this role; we are seeking a patient and quality-focused Apprentice Estates Officer to assure high quality services are at the core of what we do here at WSFT.

As an apprentice, you will come to us with the drive to lead on high-quality work. You will ensure engineering compliance gets the right drive and support to develop this further.

You will be based at West Suffolk Hospital but will be required to visit other sites across the West Suffolk area. You will be required to undertake an apprenticeship in Building Services Engineering Technician Level 4 (circa 27 months) and once completed progressing onto and completing Building Services Site Management Apprenticeship Level 6 (circa 3 years)

Main duties of the job

Apprentice will be working towards these whilst undertaking training

• Act as Project Manager for minor engineering works.
• Provide technical support to the Estates and Facilities Team, the wider organisation and contractors.
• Contribute to the planning, implementation and documentation of the Trusts estate strategy, site development plan and site master plan.
• Contribute to the maintenance and updating of the master estate record drawing.
• Contribute to the maintenance and regular updates of the standard specification.
• Responsible for the management of contractors on site in line with on-going projects.
• Responsible for the system of managing estates records and accurate filing for the projects under your control and responsibility.
• Work outside normal office hours to achieve project goals.
• Responsible for managing service shut-downs, (heating, water, electrics, cranes lifts etc.) safely whilst minimising the operational impact, both in and out of hours.
• Manage conflict and emotional situations with stakeholders whilst being clear on the direction required to achieve overall projects goals defined within the business case.
• Provide support and guidance to project managers within the development team.
• To be conversant with design drawings, specifications, schedules and other relevant documents on engineering design for new and existing buildings and all works are completed by the contractor in accordance with the contract documents

• 5 GCSE's grade A-C or 4-9 which must include English and Maths or equivalent
• A - level grade EEE or BTEC National Diploma MPP (these must include either maths or physics)
• Working towards Degree Building Services Engineering
• Working towards - City and Guilds AutoCAD or Asbestos P405

• Effective organisation skills and interpersonal skills between all staff and external consultants, contractors and general public
• Ability to work on own initiative and within a team
• Respond to the needs of the Trust to meet the estate investment plan
• Discharge and demonstrate obligations to a multidisciplinary team in a sound and appropriate manner
• Ability to understand and resolve problems and implement solutions
• Excellent attention to detail.

• Can demonstrate relevant work experience in the construction industry
• Computer literate, to include project management associated software
• A sound knowledge of building design principles for all forms of construction, maintenance, and maintenance needs, environment conditions and finishes within health care buildings
• Understanding of the relevant codes of practice and legislation in the building Industry. With a sound understanding of the
• Construction Design & Management Regulations (CDM)
• A sound knowledge of Building Regulations, Local Planning procedures and the needs/ requirements to meet any environmental conditions.
• Management of backlog maintenance
• Operational management of building services.
• Understanding of building management systems.
• Be conversant with relevant Health Technical Memorandums (HTM's) / Health Building Notes (HBN's)
• Previous experience of providing professional advice to a range of colleagues and senior managers; ability to adapt communication style in line with audience
• Experience of working within an NHS acute hospital environment. Desirable Sound understanding of buildings and building services in a Hospital environment Understanding of the different forms of contract in the building Industry and how these should be implemented Working knowledge of current Health Building Notes and Health Technical Memorandums Trusts financial standing orders and financial management of…