Estate Manager — Country House, Oxfordshire

A magnificent 800-acre country estate in the heart of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds requires an experienced Estate Manager to take full operational ownership of the property and its extensive grounds. The estate comprises a Grade II* listed Jacobean manor house of 14 bedrooms, a converted stable block with four guest cottages, formal gardens designed by a Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist, a productive kitchen garden, a lake, mixed woodland, and tenant farmland.

The principals are a British family who are in residence year-round and take an active interest in the estate. Their three adult children and seven grandchildren visit frequently. The household employs a team of twelve including a housekeeper, cook, two gardeners, a groom, a gamekeeper, and various part-time support staff. As Estate Manager, you will be the single point of accountability for all estate operations.

Your remit spans property maintenance and capital improvement projects for the manor and all outbuildings, management of the grounds team, oversight of tenant farming arrangements, budget management and financial reporting to the family office, coordination of all external contractors, management of compliance obligations including listed building consents, and planning of the family's entertaining programme — typically six to eight large events per year.

This is an estate manager country house role of real substance, requiring someone who can negotiate a roofing contractor's quote with the same confidence they bring to discussing a planting scheme or reviewing a farm tenancy agreement. You are practical, commercially astute, and possess the leadership qualities to manage a diverse team with authority and fairness.