Head of Estate & Development

A Farm Shaped Over Time

At Boschendal, work follows the rhythm of the farm - shaped by seasons, people, produce, and care.

Set in the heart of the Cape Winelands, Boschendal is a living farm where hospitality, retail, food, wine, craft, and land come together in experiences that feel warm, generous, and grounded.

Every detail matters: what we grow, make, stock, sell, and share with our guests.

Our Purpose: Regenerating our Future through People & Soil

At Boschendal, regeneration begins with the land and is carried forward by our people. We are a farm with purpose, caring for our soil, nurturing our teams, strengthening our community, and creating meaningful guest experiences through genuine hospitality - all rooted in the future we are shaping together.

Head of Estate & Development

The Head of Estate & Development is Boschendal's senior estate stewardship and governance leader, responsible for protecting the long-term value, resilience and integrity of Boschendal's land, infrastructure, village interfaces, utilities, associations and shared estate assets.

The role provides senior oversight across estate governance, association management, infrastructure planning, utilities strategy, commercial and residential property interfaces, risk, compliance, insurance, professional services and village operating-model design. It works through and with delivery teams, including the Boschendal Estate Operations Lead, to ensure that strategy is converted into disciplined execution.

A key expectation of the role is to balance legacy and growth: protecting Boschendal's heritage, land and long-term asset base while enabling faster decisions, clearer accountability, operational efficiency and measurable progress

Estate Stewardship, Strategy & Governance

• Translate Boschendal's estate vision into annual operating plans, governance calendars, estate standards, resource plans, KPIs and decision forums.
• Create one integrated estate logic across land, buildings, roads, water, electricity, sewerage, waste, dams, public realm, village interfaces and shared services.
• Ensure estate priorities are aligned with Boschendal's strategy, Day Zero, guest experience, asset preservation, conservation commitments and commercial growth.
• Clarify decision rights, escalation routes and accountability between estate operations, hospitality, farming, commercial, finance, projects, village and associations.
• Act as the senior internal custodian of the Boschendal physical environment, ensuring the estate is protected, improved and governed with discipline.

Association, Village & Owner Governance

• Lead Boschendal's interface with BEMPOA, BEFEPOA, BWMA and relevant association structures, ensuring governance obligations, levies, reporting, service expectations and owner communication are well managed.
• Design and mature the village operating model, including service allocation, cost recovery, HOA interface, facilities management standards and occupancy-linked resourcing.
• Represent Boschendal credibly with owners, trustees, regulators, tenants, village stakeholders and specialist advisors.
• Ensure the village is ring-fenced appropriately from estate operations while still aligned to Boschendal standards, shared infrastructure and brand expectations.
• Manage sensitive stakeholder matters with authority, care and clear written records.

Infrastructure, Utilities & Asset Planning

• Own the estate infrastructure roadmap across bulk services, roads, dams, water systems, electricity, sewerage, waste, fencing, buildings and civil assets.
• Ensure long-term utilities resilience, metering, allocation, billing principles, energy planning and emergency-response protocols are clear and actively governed.
• Prioritise infrastructure renewal and facilities investment based on safety, guest impact, revenue protection, compliance, asset preservation and Day Zero value.
• Maintain oversight of asset registers, certificates of compliance, maintenance standards and estate-management systems.
• Ensure the estate has clear planned-maintenance, renewal and capital-replacement logic rather than relying only on reactive repairs.

Budget, Risk, Compliance & Insurance

• Prepare, own and defend annual Opex and Capex budgets for the estate governance and infrastructure portfolio.
• Monitor spend, variances, capital priorities and value-for-money decisions with Finance and the COO.
• Own the estate-level risk register, ensuring safety, environmental, insurance, fire, water, utilities, property, regulatory and reputational risks are visible and actively managed.
• Oversee estate-wide insurance relationships, claims, inspections, business-continuity plans and emergency-response planning.
• Ensure relevant OHS, environmental, property, NPC, association and regulatory obligations are understood, allocated and reported on.

Professional Services, Projects & Stakeholder Alignment

• Appoint and manage specialist professionals including engineers, architects, surveyors, fire, heritage, environmental, land-use, legal and technical consultants.
• Ensure professional scopes, deliverables, costs, approvals and certifications are clearly defined and controlled.
• Set governance standards for estate-related projects, ensuring small works, CapEx and specialist interventions move through the right decision forums.
• Work closely with Hospitality, Farming, Commercial, Finance, People, Land Regeneration and Estate Operations to remove silos and improve speed of execution.
• Produce clear executive reporting on estate performance, risk, compliance, capital priorities, association matters and delivery progress.

People, Capability & Boschendal Standards

• Build the estate leadership bench through coaching, succession planning, clear standards and deliberate capability development.
• Hold leaders accountable for performance, follow-through, communication, asset care and disciplined decision-making.
• Model The Bosch Way: People & Soil First; Discipline Over Drama; Story-Led, Numbers Backed; Pride in the Detail.
• Create a culture where estate teams are visible, service-minded, commercially aware and clear on what matters most.

CRITICAL / CORE COMPETENCIES

Strategic & Governance

• Strong strategic judgement with the ability to translate vision into practical operating models, governance rhythms and measurable outcomes.
• Deep understanding of estate, property, infrastructure, facilities, utilities, land, associations and mixed-use operating environments.
• Able to engage credibly at Board, owner, regulator, professional-advisor and senior leadership level.
• Comfortable balancing heritage, conservation, guest experience, operational practicality and commercial discipline.

Commercial & Financial

• Strong financial literacy including budgeting, CapEx planning, variance management, business cases and executive reporting.
• Commercially disciplined and able to make trade-offs aligned to Day Zero, asset preservation and long-term value.
• Confident managing consultants, contractors, service providers, leases, levies, utilities cost allocation and procurement principles.

Leadership & Behavioural

• Calm, authoritative and structured leader who can create clarity in a complex and high-pressure environment.
• Strong stakeholder-management capability, including the ability to handle difficult owners, service failures, association tensions and competing priorities.
• Clear communicator who prepares well, writes well and enables others to execute with confidence.
• Practical and visible, but able to stay at the right level of seniority rather than becoming absorbed in daily maintenance noise.

Technical Literacy

• Strong enough technical literacy to challenge and coordinate experts across civil, electrical, water, environmental, building, fire, heritage and facilities disciplines.
• Working knowledge of estate-management systems, asset registers, planned-maintenance systems, compliance records and operational dashboards.