Start with the week you actually want
A school pickup, a regular golf game, study or time with family can be a perfectly sensible reason to work fewer days. You do not need to explain away wanting time outside the office. The useful question is what arrangement would give you that time consistently.
Write down the days you want to work, the latest you can finish and whether evening meetings are possible. Be specific about the difference between preferences and firm limits. A three-day role with two meeting nights may suit someone very well and be completely wrong for someone else.
Look past the job title
Ask what will change in the workload when the hours change. A full portfolio squeezed into a shorter week is unlikely to deliver the flexibility you had in mind. Discuss the number and complexity of schemes, upcoming meetings, current disputes and the level of administrative support.
Portfolio size alone is not enough. A smaller group of schemes with major projects can require more attention than a larger, settled portfolio. Ask the business to describe a typical week and a difficult one.
Find out who owns your days off
A workable arrangement needs a clear contact for urgent matters when you are not working. Owners and committees should know who to contact, and colleagues should understand which issues need immediate attention and which can wait.
Agree how handovers happen and whether you are expected to monitor messages. If availability outside agreed hours is part of the role, discuss it before accepting. Flexibility works better when it is planned into the service, rather than left to goodwill.
Make your preferences part of the match
Tell us what your ideal week looks like, including travel time and meeting availability. We can consider part-time appointments, temporary assignments and defined support roles against those preferences. There may not be a suitable opportunity immediately, but a clear brief helps us recognise one when it appears.
You can register while employed and remain open to a conversation. There is no obligation to accept an introduction simply because the hours look right.
A three-day role needs a three-day plan
As an example, a manager working Monday to Wednesday needs a named contact for urgent matters on Thursday and Friday. The business also needs a process for recording what happened during those days. Otherwise, Monday begins with a second handover and an avoidable backlog.
Discuss where evening meetings fit, whether they fall on working days and how the agreed hours are managed. Confirm which administrative tasks are covered by the team and which remain with the manager. A shorter week works best when the service has been designed around it.
Put the arrangement in writing
Before accepting, confirm the working days, expected hours, portfolio scope, meeting commitments and escalation arrangements. Agree when the workload will be reviewed, particularly if new schemes join. A growing portfolio should prompt a conversation about capacity, not an assumption that the original hours will absorb it.
Use our questions to ask before accepting a strata role and portfolio workload guide to prepare for that conversation.