Student placement - Programme support officer – Real Estate development - Property Services department 2024 2025

The Met employs more than 44,000 officers and staff, plus thousands of volunteers. It provides policing to one of the most diverse capital cities in the world.

The service provides policing to the 32 London boroughs as well as a number of other local, national and international functions such as counter terrorism and organised crime prevention.

As the country’s largest police service, we are recognised internationally as a leader in fighting crime and many other policing organisations look to the Met for best practice and guidance.

We are looking to recruit for a 52 week student placement.  All roles will give students valuable insight and experience of working for one of the largest public organisations in the UK and the largest single employer in London. We seek to provide valuable practical experience wherever our students work. 

Background

The role will give the successful student valuable insight and experience of working for one of the largest public organisations in the UK and the largest single employer in London. The role is a substantive post and we seek to provide valuable practical experience wherever our students work.

The Met occupies an extensive and diverse range of properties across London both freehold and leasehold. Our Property Services department manages, maintains and develops the portfolio ensuring that they efficiently support operational policing and they are compliant with regulation. Since 2013 we have implemented a radical change programme to transform our estate, disposing of under-utilised buildings, refurbishing key HQ buildings such as the Hendon estate, the sale of New Scotland Yard and the move to an iconic new HQ on the river.

Degree type

Must be an undergraduate student in a sandwich year course returning to study in Autumn 2025.

An opportunity now exists to work with our Property Services department and its outsourced service providers to deliver the on-going Estates strategy. Ideally you should be studying a Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited degree or module related to estate management, surveying, property investment or finance. Desirable experience of studying or interested in surveying, estate and asset management,

The role:

• assisting the programme office and finance manager in achieving the objectives of the programme office and take direct responsibility for the data requirements of an identified portfolio of projects. Utilisation of the Artemis and Asta and responding to and assisting stakeholders involved in projects
• liaise with and attend periodic meetings with project leaders in relation to development sites and contractors meetings
• liaise with project managers over orders and payment matters
• coordinate the updating of project programmes on a regular basis by the external programming specialist including any necessary liaison with the project managers
• regular updating of information in disparate systems, Artemis and Asta, on a routine and regular basis to enable the production of comparable reports
• update Asta with relevant information
• create projects on Artemis database
• create projects in our police standard operating platform (PSOP)
• raise purchase orders through the PSOP as necessary and processing interim payment requests
• liaise with project leaders on forecasts and budgets in Artemis

Required skills

You should be able to demonstrate the following skills:

• effective communication skills. Ability to explain technical issues and calculations in plain English
• good interpersonal skills and a team player
• flexible when meeting demand
• take responsibility to meet deadlines and for the quality of outputs
• an excellent level of both written and verbal communication skills. An ability to present information appropriately to a wide variety of clients in a clear, concise and non-technical manner. Written communications will need to be well prepared and logically structured
• plan and organise your own work. The ability to liaise with dependent areas to ensure collaborative working and adapt your actions to changing priorities
• prioritises tasks and keep to deadlines. A flexible and self-motivated approach to work, being able to work unsupervised if required
• can identify and solve problems in a logical manner using an evidenced based approach. Ability to translate theory into practice to provide pragmatic solutions
• work with a diverse group of colleagues, suppliers and contractors at all levels. Be an active team player and show willingness to help support others
• a proactive approach, take ownership of your actions and responsibilities, with the confidence to take initiative and develop ideas further
• support an inclusive culture and environment, showing consideration and respect for others. Integrity and professional behaviour in line with our Met standards

Technical skills

• competent in Office 365. IT skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and an aptitude and willingness to learn new software packages. Good numerical and statistical analysis skills and be able to make sense of and interpret qualitative and quantitative data