Head of Facilities Management (6 Month Contract)
Circa £63,000 + Generous Package
Essex
Maxwell Stephens is partnering with an educational establishment to appoint a Head of Facilities Management for an initial 6 Month contract, a senior leadership role within a complex, multi-campus estate.
This position leads all facilities services, including outsourced soft services, catering, porterage and front-of-house operations, ensuring high-quality, compliant, and cost-effective delivery that directly supports the student experience.
You will take full ownership of performance, budgets, service improvement and stakeholder engagement, ensuring safe, compliant and well-maintained environments for students, staff and visitors.
This role has every opportunity to progress into a long term permanent position.
Key responsibilities include:
* Providing strategic leadership for the facilities function, ensuring best practice, innovation and continuous improvement
* Leading, motivating and developing multi-disciplinary teams and senior managers
* Managing and optimising outsourced service contracts, including procurement, tendering and performance management
* Developing and controlling significant operational budgets, including identifying income-generation opportunities
* Producing robust management information, KPI reporting and service reviews to support informed decision-making
* Ensuring full compliance with health & safety, food safety, environmental and statutory legislation
* Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders across Estates and the wider University
* Deputising for the Director
* Representing on committees, working groups and professional networks
This role requires regular travel between campuses and occasional out-of-hours and weekend working in response to operational needs and emergencies.
The Person
We are seeking a confident, credible and commercially astute facilities leader with experience operating at scale.
You will ideally bring:
* Significant senior-level experience managing facilities services within a large, multi-site organisation
* Proven experience of strategic planning and service transformation
* Strong background in contract procurement and management, including frameworks
* Demonstrable experience managing and setting substantial budgets
* Experience leading and developing high-performing teams
* Strong analytical capability, with experience reporting against KPIs
* Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
Qualifications / Professional Standing:
* Degree or relevant professional qualification
* Membership of IWFM (formerly BIFM)
* NEBOSH General Certificate (or equivalent)
* MSc Facilities Management (desirable)
* Higher education sector experience (desirable, not essential)
Why This Role?
This is not a maintenance-led FM role. It is a visible, influential leadership position within a progressive educational environment, offering genuine scope to shape services, improve performance and enhance the campus experience.
If you are a strategic FM leader who thrives in complex environments and wants to operate at senior level within education, this role will stretch and reward you.
For further details or a confidential discussion, please contact Maxwell Stephens.