Facilities and Administration Manager for Contact a Family

Background

Contact a Family is a leading UK charity dedicated to supporting families with disabled children, providing information, advice and practical assistance to thousands of people nationwide. To support that mission effectively, the organisation asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Facilities and Administration Manager to oversee the smooth operation of its London headquarters and ensure a safe, efficient and well-managed working environment for staff, visitors and partner organisations.

The role was critical to maintaining operational continuity, managing facilities services and supporting the organisation's wider administrative and workplace functions.

The Challenge

Contact a Family needed an experienced facilities professional capable of taking ownership of both facilities management and administrative operations within a busy charitable environment. The successful candidate would have to balance day-to-day operational delivery with strategic improvements to workplace services, compliance and building management.

Key responsibilities included:

• Managing all facilities and premises-related activities
• Overseeing health & safety compliance and risk management
• Managing relationships with tenants occupying space within the building
• Coordinating maintenance programmes and building services
• Managing supplier relationships and service contracts
• Supporting office moves, refurbishments and workplace improvements
• Improving physical security and access control arrangements
• Developing facilities policies, procedures and operational standards
• Supporting administrative functions and organisational efficiency

The role required a highly organised individual with strong facilities management expertise, stakeholder management capability and a proactive approach to operational improvement. Combined facilities and administration roles in the charity sector carry a particular difficulty: the person is usually the whole function, with no deputy and a limited budget, and they are accountable to staff, trustees, visitors and, in this case, tenants sharing the building. The hire has to be someone who can set up policies and procedures from scratch and then run them without supervision.

Our Approach

Understanding the requirement

Maxwell Stephens worked closely with Contact a Family to gain a detailed understanding of the organisation's operational needs, its workplace environment and its long-term objectives. Particular emphasis was placed on identifying candidates with experience in facilities and workplace management, health & safety compliance, contractor and supplier management, office relocations and refurbishment projects, tenant and stakeholder management, budget and contract management, and administrative leadership and process improvement.

Targeted search

Drawing on our specialist facilities management network, we ran a targeted search for professionals with experience managing workplace environments within charitable, corporate and multi-occupancy settings. We prioritised candidates who demonstrated:

• Strong operational FM expertise
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Proven experience managing contractors and suppliers
• Knowledge of statutory compliance and health & safety legislation
• A proactive and service-focused approach
• The ability to operate effectively within a fast-moving organisation

Candidate assessment

Candidates were assessed on their technical expertise, leadership capability, organisational skills and cultural fit, to make sure they could support both the operational and the people-focused requirements of the role.

The Outcome

We placed an experienced Facilities and Administration Manager who integrated quickly into the organisation and took responsibility for the day-to-day management of workplace services and facilities operations. The successful candidate brought extensive experience in facilities management, contract management, workplace projects and health & safety compliance, making them a strong fit for the charity.

The role covered facilities management, compliance and safety, workplace improvements, and supplier and tenant relationships.

Why This Placement Worked

The search succeeded because it looked beyond the charity sector for people who had run comparable workplaces in corporate and multi-occupancy settings, while assessing carefully for the service-led, people-focused approach a charity headquarters needs. Technical capability and stakeholder skill were weighted equally, which is what a combined facilities and administration role demands.

Maxwell Stephens recruits facilities management professionals who combine technical capability with strong stakeholder management, helping organisations create safe, efficient and productive workplaces that support their wider mission. If you are recruiting for a similar role, get in touch with our team.