Facilities Coordinator Recruitment at GAM Investments

Background

GAM Investments is a leading independent investment management firm with a global presence spanning 12 countries and more than 1,000 employees. Managing billions of dollars in assets for institutional and private clients, GAM has built its reputation on active investment management, disciplined operations and long-term client relationships.

To support its London headquarters, GAM appointed Maxwell Stephens on an exclusive basis to recruit a Facilities Coordinator on a fixed-term contract. The successful candidate would hold a key operational role within the Facilities team, keeping workplace services, supplier management and statutory compliance running smoothly across the business.

The Challenge

GAM needed an experienced Facilities Coordinator capable of managing a broad range of facilities services within a fast-paced corporate environment. The role demanded strong organisational skills, commercial awareness and the ability to hold high service standards while working closely with internal stakeholders, suppliers and contractors.

The successful candidate would take responsibility for:

• Managing facilities contracts and supplier performance.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for workplace services.
• Ensuring compliance with Health & Safety, security and statutory legislation.
• Monitoring Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Managing procurement documentation, purchase orders and capital expenditure requests.
• Supporting facilities budgets and invoice processing.
• Maintaining accurate compliance records and facilities documentation.
• Coordinating contractor performance reviews and supplier meetings.
• Producing operational and performance reports.
• Supporting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting.
• Responding to facilities issues and coordinating reactive maintenance.
• Contributing to business continuity and physical security arrangements.

The role required someone who could balance operational delivery with strong customer service while meeting the standards expected within an international financial services organisation.

Two features of the brief narrowed the field. A fixed-term contract means there is no time for a slow start: the appointee has to be credible with suppliers and stakeholders from the first week. And an exclusive appointment puts the responsibility for the whole shortlist on one agency, so the search has to be thorough rather than fast.

Our Approach

Working closely with GAM's leadership team, Maxwell Stephens developed a detailed understanding of both the technical requirements and the cultural expectations of the role. Using our specialist facilities management network, we identified professionals with experience in corporate headquarters, financial services and premium workplace environments.

The search focused on candidates who demonstrated:

• Strong facilities management experience within corporate offices.
• Contract and supplier management expertise.
• Knowledge of procurement processes and financial administration.
• Health & Safety and statutory compliance experience.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and customer service skills.
• Strong organisational, reporting and administrative capability.
• Commercial awareness and budget management experience.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach to workplace operations.

Each shortlisted candidate went through a rigorous assessment to confirm both technical competence and cultural alignment with GAM. Coordinator-level roles in financial services are often underestimated; the title is junior but the person is frequently the only one who knows where every contract, certificate and purchase order sits, so we assessed for that level of ownership rather than for the title.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens appointed an experienced Facilities Coordinator who quickly became a valued member of GAM's London Facilities team. The successful candidate brought extensive experience of managing corporate workplace services, supplier relationships and compliance activity, and was able to contribute to the smooth running of the business straight away. Since the appointment, GAM has seen:

• Improved supplier management. Closer oversight of contractors and service providers, with consistently high service standards and greater supplier accountability.
• Reliable day-to-day operations. Efficient coordination of facilities services, improving the workplace experience for employees, visitors and stakeholders.
• Compliance and governance. Robust management of Health & Safety, security and statutory obligations, strengthening operational governance and reducing business risk.
• Financial control. Effective management of purchase orders, invoices and facilities expenditure, supporting accurate budgeting and financial transparency.
• Better customer service. As the central point of contact for workplace services, the appointee delivers responsive, professional support to internal clients across the business.

Why This Placement Worked

The appointment strengthened GAM's Facilities function by providing experienced operational support across contract management, compliance, workplace services and supplier performance. Investment managers, financial institutions and global corporate organisations expect governance and workplace service to be handled with the same care as everything else they do, and a coordinator who understands that is worth a careful search.

If you are recruiting a Facilities Coordinator or similar operational role for a corporate headquarters, on a permanent or fixed-term basis, Maxwell Stephens can help you find the right person. Get in touch with our team.