How We Found CBREMS’s Locality Facilities Pro

Background

CBRE Managed Services (CBREMS), a global leader in commercial real estate services, asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Locality Facilities Manager to oversee operational activities across multiple properties within a specific region. The role called for someone able to manage site operations, maintain high standards of building upkeep, ensure compliance with health and safety regulations, and liaise effectively with tenants and stakeholders.

Alongside the operational remit, the Locality Facilities Manager would be responsible for managing service charge budgets, handling procurement in line with company policies, and making sure every property in their care met the client's key performance indicators (KPIs). It was a pivotal appointment, and one that demanded a deep understanding of property management, contract law and environmental regulations.

The Challenge

Locality and multi-site facilities roles are harder to fill than their single-site equivalents. The manager is rarely on any one property for long, so they have to set standards that hold when they are not there, and they answer to several sets of occupiers and a managing agent's KPIs at the same time. Add service charge accountability and the field narrows further: candidates who are strong on the technical side of building operations are not always comfortable defending a budget to tenants, and vice versa.

CBREMS set out a comprehensive brief. The person appointed needed to be able to handle:

• Operational management. Overseeing day-to-day operations across the portfolio, including building inspections, maintenance programmes and tenant relations.
• Financial acumen. Managing service charge budgets, controlling expenditure and running procurement processes in line with company policy.
• Compliance and safety. Ensuring health and safety compliance, managing environmental responsibilities and developing emergency plans.
• Stakeholder engagement. Building and maintaining strong relationships with tenants, suppliers and local authorities.
• Project management. Leading major work programmes, keeping them aligned with client KPIs and reporting to the operational team on time.

Technical knowledge and management experience were the entry requirements. What made the search genuinely demanding was finding someone who could also navigate a complex regulatory environment and build credible working relationships across a wide range of stakeholders.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted recruitment campaign built around the five areas of the brief, rather than relying on a broad advertising response. In practice, that meant:

• Searching for genuine multi-site experience. We concentrated on facilities professionals who had already overseen several properties at once and dealt with the operational complexity that comes with it, rather than single-site managers looking to step up.
• Treating the commercial side as core. Service charge budgets, procurement discipline and KPI reporting were assessed as central competencies, not desirable extras.
• Weighing regulatory and stakeholder capability. We looked for people who understood health and safety and environmental obligations well enough to own them across a portfolio, and who could hold their own with tenants, suppliers and local authorities.

The Outcome

The candidate selected brought a wealth of facilities management experience, particularly in overseeing multiple properties and managing complex operational challenges. In post, they demonstrated:

• Operational delivery. Managing day-to-day site operations effectively, including regular building inspections, maintenance programmes and tenant liaison.
• Financial control. Managing service charge budgets, keeping procurement compliant with company policies and overseeing all financial aspects of property management.
• Compliance and safety standards. Maintaining high standards of health and safety compliance, managing environmental responsibilities and developing comprehensive emergency plans.
• Stakeholder management. Building and maintaining strong relationships with tenants, suppliers and local authorities, supporting smooth operations and high levels of tenant satisfaction.
• Project leadership. Leading major work programmes on site, acting as the liaison point for all parties involved, and delivering projects on time and within budget.

The successful candidate integrated quickly into the CBREMS team and made an immediate impact: operational efficiency improved, tenant satisfaction rose, and the properties in their care met the client's KPIs.

Why This Placement Worked

The brief treated operational, financial, compliance and stakeholder responsibilities as a single job rather than a list of nice-to-haves, and the search was run the same way. Candidates were measured against the whole role, which is the only reliable way to find someone who can carry a locality remit without one part of it slipping.

If you are recruiting a facilities manager to cover multiple properties — with service charge, compliance and tenant relationships all sitting with one person — Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach candidates with the breadth to deliver it. Get in touch with our team.