Background
Exemplas Group, an organisation supporting businesses and public-sector clients, appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Facilities Manager to oversee services across its estate, with particular responsibility for BioPark.
The role required someone capable of operating effectively within a specialist science and technology environment, where reliable facilities services, strong stakeholder relationships and careful commercial management were essential. The successful candidate needed to combine technical Facilities Management knowledge, contract-management expertise, financial control and strong interpersonal skills while supporting tenants, contractors and internal teams across a complex site.
The Challenge
Exemplas required a Facilities Manager who could quickly integrate into the BioPark environment and take ownership of a broad range of operational responsibilities. The role demanded someone comfortable working within a scientific or technical setting and capable of balancing day-to-day service delivery with longer-term commercial and stakeholder priorities.
Key requirements included:
- Experience in scientific or technical environments. A strong background managing facilities within science, laboratory, technical or similarly specialist environments was highly desirable.
- Contract and supplier management. The ability to negotiate, manage and review commercial contracts covering services such as maintenance, waste and recycling, ensuring suppliers delivered appropriate quality and value.
- Stakeholder management. Strong communication skills for building productive relationships with tenants, contractors, internal teams and the University of Hertfordshire's Facilities Management team.
- Budget management. Managing Facilities Management expenditure carefully, maintaining financial control and identifying opportunities to improve value for money.
- Operational management. Ensuring everyday facilities services were coordinated effectively and that the BioPark environment remained safe, functional and well maintained.
- Reception and team management. Responsibility for on-site reception staff, requiring confident people management and clear operational oversight.
- Emergency support. Providing appropriate out-of-hours support and acting as an emergency contact when required.
Multi-tenant science and technology sites are a particular case in FM. The occupiers depend on services in ways an ordinary office tenant does not, the landlord-side facilities manager is often the only point of contact they have, and there is usually a partner institution with its own facilities team to coordinate with. The pool of candidates who have done this before is small.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens developed a targeted search strategy focused on professionals with relevant experience across Facilities Management, scientific environments, contract negotiation and stakeholder engagement. Our process centred on three areas.
Targeted search
We focused on candidates who had worked within science, laboratory, technical or other complex operational environments where Facilities Management needed to support specialist users and services.
Detailed assessment
Candidates were assessed on more than technical FM knowledge. We examined their ability to:
- Manage complex supplier relationships, and negotiate and oversee service contracts.
- Control facilities budgets.
- Communicate with tenants and senior stakeholders.
- Manage on-site teams.
- Operate effectively in a specialist environment.
- Respond calmly to urgent or out-of-hours issues.
Close client collaboration
We worked closely with Exemplas to refine the brief and ensure the selected candidate matched both the technical requirements of the role and the culture of the organisation. This gave a clearer understanding of the priorities specific to BioPark and improved alignment throughout the selection process.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens placed a well-qualified Facilities Manager who met Exemplas' operational, commercial and stakeholder requirements. The successful candidate brought relevant experience within a scientific environment together with strong contract-management and budget-control capability. The appointment strengthened BioPark in several areas:
- Facilities Management. Experienced leadership across day-to-day Facilities Management services, helping maintain a safe, reliable and well-managed working environment.
- Contract management. The candidate's commercial experience strengthened the management and negotiation of service contracts, supporting better supplier performance and value for money.
- Budget control. Effective financial oversight helped ensure Facilities Management expenditure remained controlled and aligned with operational priorities.
- Stakeholder relationships. The candidate developed effective relationships with tenants, contractors, internal teams and external partners, improving communication and coordination across the site.
- Team leadership. Management of reception and on-site support staff created clearer accountability and more consistent service delivery.
- Operational resilience. The candidate's ability to respond to operational issues and provide out-of-hours support strengthened continuity and helped ensure urgent matters could be dealt with quickly.
The appointment gave Exemplas a Facilities Manager capable of balancing service delivery, contract performance, financial control and tenant experience within the distinctive BioPark setting.
Why This Placement Worked
The brief was refined with the client before the search began, so the shortlist was assessed against what BioPark actually needed rather than a generic Facilities Manager specification. That mattered here because the role's difficulty lay in the combination: science-park experience, commercial contract management and the temperament to be the person tenants call at night.
The placement reflects Maxwell Stephens' experience in recruiting Facilities Management professionals for specialist scientific and technical environments, where standard FM knowledge must be combined with commercial judgement, stakeholder management and operational flexibility. If you are looking for a Facilities Manager to lead a science, technical or multi-tenant environment, get in touch with our team to discuss your requirements.