Background
Kier Group, a leading UK construction and infrastructure services company, appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Contracts Manager for its Mechanical & Electrical Services Maintenance division.
The role was field-based, covering London and the South, with responsibility for the delivery of M&E maintenance services across a varied client portfolio. The appointee would be accountable for ensuring that mobile engineers and subcontractors delivered work safely, efficiently and in line with agreed KPIs, SLAs and compliance requirements.
The brief called for someone who combined technical knowledge with commercial awareness, team leadership and a clear understanding of contractual performance. In a mobile maintenance operation the Contracts Manager is often the one person who sees the whole contract — the engineers, the subcontractors, the client and the budget — which is why the role carries so much weight.
The Challenge
Kier needed a Contracts Manager who could take ownership of a complex maintenance portfolio and keep service delivery consistent across multiple sites. Technical competence alone was not enough: the candidate also had to demonstrate leadership, effective client management and the ability to improve performance over time.
The key requirements were:
- M&E services expertise. A strong background in mechanical and electrical maintenance, with the ability to understand operational priorities across a diverse portfolio of buildings.
- Contract management. Experience managing contractual obligations, service levels, risk and performance across multiple client accounts.
- Team leadership. The ability to lead, motivate and develop mobile engineers and subcontractors while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
- Health & safety compliance. A sound understanding of the relevant health and safety requirements, ideally supported by a qualification such as IOSH.
- Financial management. Experience monitoring budgets, controlling costs and managing the financial performance of service contracts.
- Client relationship management. The confidence to build relationships with clients, communicate clearly and resolve issues quickly and professionally.
- Continuous improvement. A proactive approach to reviewing processes, identifying inefficiencies and introducing changes that strengthen performance and customer satisfaction.
- Public and private sector experience. The ability to operate across both environments, where contractual, governance and compliance requirements can differ significantly.
Finding all of this in one person is the difficulty. Many capable M&E engineers step up into contract management without ever having run a budget or handled a difficult client conversation, and many commercially strong managers lack the technical depth to challenge an engineer's diagnosis. The pool of people who are credible on both fronts, and who are willing to work across a wide geography, is limited.
Our Approach
Maxwell Stephens ran a targeted search for professionals with proven experience in M&E maintenance, contract management and mobile engineering operations. Rather than relying on advertising response, we used our specialist facilities management network to identify candidates with a track record of managing complex technical contracts across multi-site environments.
Candidates were assessed on both technical and leadership capability, and specifically on their ability to:
- manage mechanical and electrical maintenance services
- lead engineers and subcontractors
- deliver against KPIs and SLAs
- manage commercial and financial performance
- maintain strong health and safety standards
- communicate effectively with clients and senior stakeholders
- identify opportunities for continuous improvement
Particular attention was paid to candidates who could balance operational detail with commercial and client-facing responsibilities — the combination that separates a Contracts Manager who keeps a portfolio stable from one who improves it.
The Outcome
Following a detailed assessment process, Maxwell Stephens placed a highly experienced Contracts Manager with Kier Group. The appointment strengthened the performance of Kier's M&E Services Maintenance operation across London and the South in several ways:
- Improved contract performance. Stronger oversight of service delivery helped ensure contractual obligations, KPIs and SLAs were consistently met.
- Stronger team leadership. Effective management of mobile engineers and subcontractors improved coordination, accountability and service consistency across the portfolio.
- Better risk and compliance management. The candidate's understanding of health and safety and contractual risk helped ensure maintenance activities were delivered safely and to the required standards.
- Closer financial control. Tighter monitoring of budgets and contract performance supported more effective cost management and kept services within agreed financial parameters.
- Greater operational efficiency. A proactive approach to process improvement identified opportunities to streamline maintenance activity and improve service delivery.
- Stronger client relationships. Clear communication and a responsive approach maintained positive client relationships and ensured operational issues were addressed quickly.
- A focus on continuous improvement. The candidate brought an improvement-focused mindset, helping identify ways to enhance performance, efficiency and customer satisfaction over time.
Why This Placement Worked
The search treated the role as what it is: a technical services position with contract management, team leadership, compliance, financial control and client engagement attached, all carrying equal weight. Assessing against every one of those, rather than leading on technical knowledge and hoping the rest followed, produced an appointment that fitted the job as it operates in the field.
If you are recruiting an M&E Contracts Manager to lead a complex, field-based maintenance portfolio, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach candidates who are credible on both the technical and the commercial side. Get in touch with our team.