Facilities, Contracts and ICT Manager for the Association of Anaesthetists

About the Association of Anaesthetists

The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland (AAGBI) is the national membership organisation for anaesthetists at every stage of their career. With more than 11,000 members and a team of 35 staff, it represents the specialty, influences health policy, supports professional development and raises public awareness of the anaesthetist's role.

Its five-year strategy set clear operational priorities: becoming fully digital, improving efficiency, taking a more commercial approach to income generation, reducing running costs, improving premises, strengthening procurement and supporting greener ways of working.

Our work with the Association of Anaesthetists

To help deliver that strategy, the Association appointed Maxwell Stephens exclusively to recruit a newly created post.

• Facilities, Contracts and ICT Manager

Facilities, Contracts and ICT Manager

The brief

One post combined responsibilities that a larger employer would split across several teams:

• Premises: building maintenance, repairs and development, with planned maintenance schedules that support budget forecasting.
• Security and front of house: building security procedures and the visitor experience.
• Hospitality: catering and conference facilities.
• Health, safety and environment: legal compliance, policy review, staff training, waste, recycling and sustainability improvements.
• Procurement and contracts: improving procurement processes, managing suppliers and service contracts, and monitoring performance and value for money.
• ICT: procuring phones, photocopiers and hardware, managing the external IT provider and supporting the move to a fully digital organisation.
• Strategy: supporting senior management and board members on long-term property strategy, in line with the five-year plan.

A degree-level education and a relevant facilities management qualification were essential, IOSH certification was highly desirable, and the role needed strong negotiation skills and a willingness to handle practical tasks on site.

The challenge

Roles that bundle facilities, contracts and ICT are common in membership bodies, but people who have genuinely run all three are rare. Most candidates have depth in one area and passing familiarity with the others, which is not enough when one person carries the whole remit. The postholder also has to be credible with the board on strategy in the morning and with a contractor on site in the afternoon. As a new role, there was no incumbent to benchmark against.

Our approach

We agreed with the Association what "good" looked like before approaching the market, then ran a focused search across our facilities management and operational support networks. Candidates were assessed on breadth of facilities experience, supplier and contract management, health and safety knowledge, ICT coordination, commercial and budget awareness and the ability to support organisational change. Communication and cultural fit were weighted as heavily as technical knowledge, because in an organisation of 35 staff the postholder is visible to everyone from the board to front of house.

The outcome

Maxwell Stephens placed a Facilities, Contracts and ICT Manager who brought facilities expertise, operational discipline, supplier management experience and hands-on practicality. The appointment gave the Association closer coordination across facilities, ICT, procurement and hospitality, more structured contract and cost management, and a dedicated owner for its digital, premises, procurement and sustainability objectives under the five-year strategy.

Candidate testimonial

In the candidate's own words:

"I've just started a new role which was offered to me via Maxwell Stephens. This was my first time working with Maxwell Stephens and I have to say it was a very good experience. From start to finish they were on the ball with everything, always making sure to follow up with me after meetings and interviews etc. The team at Maxwell Stephens are very knowledgeable and have a very good attitude. Nothing is too much trouble! I would be very happy to work with Maxwell Stephens in the future."

Why it worked

Multi-functional roles of this kind fail when they are recruited against one strand of the job, usually facilities, and the procurement, ICT and strategic elements are assumed to follow. This search was framed around the whole remit, and candidates were assessed on their ability to hold all of it together.

If you are recruiting for a facilities or corporate services role where technical knowledge, commercial judgement and communication all matter equally, talk to Maxwell Stephens about defining the brief and finding people who genuinely cover it.