Overview
Blue Garage is a 38,000 sq ft hardware innovation hub in Lewisham. Around 60 member companies work here, from early-stage hardware startups to makers, freelancers, and production clients using our ground floor manufacturing facility, Blue Factory. We have a plan to operate a campus model across multiple sites.
The Role
As Campus Manager, you will run day-to-day operations across Blue Garage. You will fill the space with the right members, look after them once they are in, keep the building running smoothly, and help us build the systems that will allow us to replicate this across multiple sites as we grow. You will work closely with and report to the Head of Lewisham and CEO.
Responsibilities
* Run tours and convert them into signed licences. This is the single most important commercial skill in this role.
* Qualify enquiries. Not every business belongs at Blue Garage, and saying no to the wrong ones protects our community.
* Own the sales pipeline from first enquiry to move-in, hitting occupancy and revenue targets each month.
* Be the face of Blue Garage. Members should know who you are within a week of joining.
* Onboard people properly, introduce them to the right people, and make sure they know how to use the workshops and how to engage with Blue Factory.
* Notice things. Who is thriving, who is struggling, who should be talking to whom. This is the quiet work that makes the difference and keeps building our supportive culture.
* Day-to-day operations across the site or sites.
* Keep things clean, safe, functional, and presentable. Manage suppliers and contractors.
* Lead on health and safety, fire safety, and workshop access protocols. In a semi-industrial building with forklifts, a goods lift, machine rooms, and a working factory, this is crucial.
* Manage bookings, licences, invoicing, and access. Fix the admin that is not working.
* We run specialist labs on revenue-share terms with partners. You will be the main contact for these partners, keeping relationships healthy and tracking revenue share accurately.
* Blue Garage runs a regular programme of industry events, member showcases, workshops, and partnerships with universities, government bodies, and corporate sponsors. The Campus Manager plays an active role in making these happen: coordinating logistics, hosting on the day, and helping each event serve both the pipeline and the community.
Event and Partnerships
* Host and coordinate events in the building, both ours and those run by members and partners.
* Use events as a pipeline. A good tour during an event should convert.
* Brief and coordinate speakers, sponsors, and partners in the lead-up to each event.
* Occasional evenings and weekends come with the role when we are running events. This is expected, not an extra.
Build systems that scale
* Document core workflows (sales, onboarding, retention, operations) so they can be handed to someone new at a second site.
* Introduce simple reporting so occupancy, revenue, pipeline, and retention are visible without needing to ask.
* We are not looking for admin improvements. We are building a model that works at one site and can be replicated at five.
What we are looking for
* You have run a co-working space, members club, studio complex, or something similar. You know how these buildings actually work.
* You are commercially proactive. You take ownership of filling the space and closing deals.
* You are mission-aligned. Blue Garage exists to support small creative and hardware businesses through the hardest part of their journey. That matters to you.
* You get things done. We have plenty of ideas. We need someone who can make them real.
* You are comfortable with ambiguity and a fast pace. Blue Garage is growing quickly and the role will grow with it.
The Practical Bits
* Title: Campus Manager, Blue Garage Lewisham
* Reports to: Head of Lewisham and CEO
* Based at: 30 Engate Street, Lewisham, SE13 7HA. On-site, five days a week
Benefits
* Full access to the building: workshops, Blue Factory, event spaces
* Training and development budget, agreed annually
How to apply
Send a CV and a short note to hello@bluegarage.org explaining why this role and why Blue Garage. An email is fine. We would rather read something honest and brief than something polished and long. Interviews in May 2026. Start date: early June.
Come and see us first
If you would like to get a feel for the space and the culture before you apply, you are very welcome to come to one of our upcoming events. On 1 May we are hosting an event with Goldsmiths University, and on 14 May we are running Scaling Hardware Innovation Companies with the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Innovate UK, and Made Smarter London. Both are at 30 Engate Street. Details and tickets at bluegarage.org. Turning up is optional but encouraged.
A note on who we want to hear from
Blue Garage is rooted in Lewisham, and we want our team to reflect the community we sit in. We actively welcome applications from people who are underrepresented in co-working, hardware, and the creative industries. If you are on the fence, apply anyway.
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