Background
CBRE Managed Services (CBREMS) is a leading provider of property management services, recognised for its high standards and its innovative approach to managing buildings. CBREMS works to create positive experiences for clients and tenants, to comply with regulatory and procedural requirements, and to maintain strong relationships with every stakeholder in a building. It asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Locality Facilities Manager.
The Challenge
The Locality Facilities Manager oversees operational activity for one or more properties within a defined region. It is a role with substantial supervisory responsibility, including:
- Building image. Developing and maintaining a positive image of the building.
- Financial management. Drafting, controlling and reporting on service charge budgets and expenditure.
- Contract management. Tendering and placing contracts for services.
- Operational oversight. Monitoring activity, carrying out regular building inspections and making sure maintenance and repair programmes are in place.
- Health and safety. Ensuring compliance, organising safety evacuations and maintaining records.
- Environmental management. Adhering to environmental policies.
- Risk management. Managing risk proactively and handling insurance issues.
- Stakeholder engagement. Liaising with tenants, attending meetings and working with local authorities.
The ideal candidate needed a blend of technical expertise, legislative knowledge and the ability to build and maintain relationships with clients, tenants and suppliers. Multi-property roles for a managing agent add a further test: the manager represents the agent to landlords and occupiers at each site, often without a colleague on hand, so judgement and self-sufficiency matter as much as technical knowledge.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens ran a meticulous recruitment process against the full breadth of the brief: financial control, contract tendering and statutory compliance on one side, and the relationship skills the role depends on, on the other. In a managing-agent environment a weak appointment in any of these areas becomes visible to the client quickly, which is why we would rather test for all of them than rely on a strong CV in one.
The Outcome
The search led to the placement of a Locality Facilities Manager who integrated quickly into the CBREMS team. Since joining, the appointee has demonstrated their capability by:
- Enhancing the positive image of the properties under their management.
- Managing service charge budgets and expenditure effectively.
- Tendering and placing contracts for essential services.
- Carrying out regular building inspections and maintaining high standards of maintenance and repair.
- Ensuring full compliance with health and safety regulations and environmental policies.
- Managing risks proactively and resolving insurance issues.
- Building and maintaining strong relationships with tenants, clients and suppliers.
Why This Placement Worked
Facilities management roles for managing agents are often filled on technical ability alone, and the appointment then struggles with the commercial and client-facing side of the job. Treating financial control, compliance and stakeholder management as equal parts of the brief is what produced a manager who could take responsibility for a regional portfolio rather than a single building.
If you are recruiting facilities or property managers for a managing-agent portfolio, whether for a single site or a region, Maxwell Stephens can help. Get in touch with our team.