Background
Costain is one of the UK's leading infrastructure, engineering and construction organisations, delivering complex projects across the transportation, energy, water and defence sectors. With a nationwide operational footprint, the business depends on well-run workplaces and project environments to support its people and its delivery teams.
To strengthen its Group Facilities function, Costain engaged Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Group Facilities Manager. The appointment would oversee facilities operations across a regional portfolio of corporate offices and project facilities throughout the South of the UK, with responsibility for operational efficiency, statutory compliance and longer-term estate management across multiple locations.
The Challenge
The brief called for someone who could provide operational leadership and strategic oversight at the same time, across a varied portfolio of office and project facilities. The successful candidate would need to maintain high standards of day-to-day facilities management while supporting business continuity, compliance and long-term estate planning.
The scope of the role was broad. Key areas of responsibility included:
- Multi-site facilities management across corporate offices and project facilities
- Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) oversight and reactive maintenance management
- Health, safety and statutory compliance
- Contractor and supplier management
- Security, operational resilience and business continuity planning
- Capital improvement and lifecycle planning
- Budget management and financial control
- Office mobilisation and demobilisation projects
- Workplace technology and AV infrastructure support
Project facilities add a dimension that a purely corporate estate does not. Offices are mobilised and demobilised as schemes start and finish, so the estate is never static and the facilities function has to keep pace with programme timelines rather than set its own. That calls for a manager who is comfortable balancing routine operational requirements against longer-term strategic objectives, and who has the commercial awareness and detailed grasp of compliance obligations to make sound decisions across dispersed sites. Strong leadership capability was essential, as was the ability to support project teams operating in fast-moving environments.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens worked closely with Costain's leadership team to build a detailed picture of the organisation's facilities management structure, its operational priorities and its future estate requirements. That conversation produced a clear specification: technical expertise combined with strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to operate credibly in both corporate and project settings.
From there the search ran in three stages:
- A targeted search through our facilities management network. We focused on candidates with experience across multi-site facilities management, corporate workplace operations, construction and engineering environments, health & safety compliance, contractor and supplier management, capital projects and asset planning, business continuity, and workplace technology and AV systems. Particular emphasis was placed on people who had managed geographically dispersed estates while maintaining consistent standards of service delivery and compliance.
- Assessment against the full competency set. Candidates were assessed on facilities management expertise, contractor and supplier management, health, safety and compliance knowledge, budget management and financial control, property and workplace operations, capital planning and project delivery, business continuity and risk management awareness, and stakeholder engagement and communication.
- A focus on both horizons. Throughout, the aim was to identify an individual capable of meeting the immediate operational needs of the business while contributing to its long-term facilities strategy, rather than someone strong on one and weak on the other.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens appointed a highly experienced Group Facilities Manager with a strong background in multi-site facilities management, compliance leadership and operational delivery. The successful candidate had managed complex property portfolios and demonstrated the technical expertise and leadership capability needed to support Costain's national operations.
Their key strengths included:
- Extensive multi-site facilities management experience
- Strong contractor and supplier management expertise
- Comprehensive health, safety and compliance knowledge
- Proven budget management and commercial awareness
- Experience supporting both corporate and operational environments
- Business continuity and risk management capability
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills
- A proactive, solutions-focused management style
On appointment, the Group Facilities Manager took responsibility for facilities operations across the regional portfolio, strengthening leadership of multi-site operations, oversight of planned and reactive maintenance programmes, health, safety and statutory compliance performance, and contractor and supplier management. The appointment also brought greater control of facilities budgets and expenditure, improved business continuity and operational resilience, and effective support for project office mobilisation and demobilisation — keeping Costain's workplaces safe, efficient and well run.
Why This Placement Worked
Group facilities roles in engineering and construction businesses are often recruited as corporate office appointments, with the project estate treated as an afterthought. In practice the project side is where much of the operational pressure sits. This search treated the two as one portfolio from the outset and assessed candidates against the whole of it, which is why the appointment fitted the role as it actually operates.
Maxwell Stephens supports engineering, infrastructure, construction and corporate organisations with specialist recruitment across facilities management, workplace operations and property leadership — from group and multi-site facilities management to health & safety compliance, contractor management, business continuity and capital projects. If you are recruiting a facilities leader for a dispersed or operationally complex estate, get in touch with our team.