Maintenance Controller

Do you have practical building knowledge and the organisational skills to keep repairs moving across a busy pub estate? Black Country Ales is an independent brewery and pub company based in the West Midlands. We brew our own cask ales and operate an estate of 57 traditional pubs across the West Midlands and surrounding counties. We are looking for a proactive Maintenance Controller to organise maintenance across our estate of 57 pubs and brewery, including many older and historic buildings. You'll be responsible for getting repairs assessed, assigning the right contractors, checking quotes and following jobs through to completion. We're looking for someone who understands building maintenance, can ask the right technical questions and takes a commercial approach to costs and quality. About the role Your responsibilities will include:

• Coordinating day-to-day reactive maintenance, prioritising urgent repairs and tracking outstanding work.
• Speaking with pub teams to understand reported faults and identify appropriate next steps, resolving straightforward issues over the phone where safe and practical.
• Appointing and coordinating contractors, agreeing timescales and following up on progress.
• Reviewing and negotiating quotes, checking the proposed scope of work and challenging costs where appropriate.
• Checking invoices against agreed quotes and completed work, resolving discrepancies.
• Keeping accurate records of maintenance requests, quotes, expenditure and completed repairs.
• Building a reliable approved contractor network across the areas our pubs operate in.
• Attending sites when needed to assess proposed work and discuss larger quotes.
• Keeping senior management informed about significant issues, costs and outstanding repairs. Essential experience and skills Relevant experience in building maintenance, property maintenance, facilities management or a building trade is essential. Your application should demonstrate:
• Practical knowledge of building repairs, common faults and the trades needed to address them.
• The ability to understand contractor quotes, question proposed work and assess value for money.
• Experience organising repairs or building works and seeing them through to completion.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage several jobs and changing priorities.
• Clear, confident communication with contractors, pub teams and senior management.
• Confidence using email, spreadsheets and digital records to track work and costs.
• Sound judgement about when a problem requires a specialist contractor or site inspection. Experience working with pubs, hospitality premises, historic buildings or a multi-site estate would be an advantage, but is not essential. What we offer
• £32,000 to £38,000 per year, depending on experience.
• Company pension.
• Private medical insurance.
• Free parking.
• A varied role with responsibility for helping maintain an established pub estate and brewery. Location and working hours Pensnett Trading Estate, Kingswinford. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. This is an in-person role, with visits to our pubs as required. How to apply Please email your CV to tom@blackcountryales.co.uk and answer the following two questions in the body of your email:

1. Practical building knowledge Tell us about a building maintenance problem you personally assessed and helped resolve. What was initially reported, what checks or questions helped you understand the cause, and how did you decide what work or trade was needed? How did you confirm the repair was successful?
2. Commercial judgement Give an example of a building repair quote or invoice you assessed, challenged or negotiated. How did you check that the scope of work and costs were reasonable? Explain anything you queried or changed, and the outcome. Please also confirm that you can work in person at Pensnett Trading Estate, Kingswinford, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with pub site visits as required.