Assistant Director of Engineering Recruitment for King's College London

Background

Founded in 1829, King's College London (KCL) is one of the UK's most prestigious Russell Group universities and a leader in education, research and healthcare. Operating across multiple campuses throughout London, the university manages a vast and highly complex estate that supports tens of thousands of students, academics, researchers and clinical staff.

To strengthen its senior Estates & Facilities leadership team, King's College London appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an Assistant Director of Engineering. Based primarily across the Guy's and St Thomas' campuses at London Bridge, the role also carried strategic responsibility for engineering services across KCL's wider estate, including its four main campuses and numerous satellite locations throughout central London.

This was one of the University's most significant engineering leadership appointments, requiring a highly experienced professional capable of managing critical infrastructure across a demanding higher education environment.

The Challenge

Reporting directly to the Director of Operations, the Assistant Director of Engineering would become a key member of the Estates & Facilities Senior Leadership Team, providing strategic leadership for engineering operations across one of the UK's most complex university estates.

The successful candidate would oversee a large multidisciplinary engineering function while ensuring the safe, reliable and compliant operation of critical building infrastructure supporting teaching, research and clinical activities. Key responsibilities included:

• Providing strategic leadership for engineering services across the university estate.
• Leading a multidisciplinary team of approximately 100 engineers, technicians and support staff.
• Managing specialist engineering contractors and maintenance partners.
• Overseeing an annual operational engineering budget of £10–15 million.
• Developing and delivering a capital asset improvement programme valued between £5–15 million annually.
• Managing lifecycle replacement and infrastructure investment programmes.
• Ensuring statutory compliance across engineering systems.
• Maintaining critical building services and infrastructure.
• Leading major refurbishment, engineering and infrastructure projects.
• Developing engineering strategy aligned with the University's long-term estate plans.
• Driving operational resilience, efficiency and continuous improvement.
• Supporting sustainability and energy performance initiatives.

The scale, complexity and technical demands of the position required an engineering leader capable of operating strategically while keeping day-to-day operations running across a diverse, research-intensive estate. Where research and clinical activity depend on uninterrupted building services, the tolerance for engineering failure is far lower than in a conventional office portfolio, and that shapes the calibre of leader required.

Our Approach

Having supported King's College London on numerous senior appointments over many years, Maxwell Stephens had a detailed understanding of both the University's culture and the complexity of its Estates function.

Working closely with the leadership team, we developed a comprehensive executive search strategy targeting senior engineering professionals with experience leading large technical teams across complex estates. Our search focused on candidates with expertise in:

• Engineering leadership within large estates.
• Higher Education, Healthcare or similarly complex environments.
• Asset lifecycle planning and infrastructure investment.
• Multi-million-pound operational and capital budget management.
• Engineering contractor procurement and performance management.
• Mechanical and Electrical building services.
• Critical infrastructure and operational resilience.
• Health & Safety and statutory compliance.
• Team leadership and organisational development.
• Major capital projects and engineering transformation.

Professional qualifications including degree or postgraduate engineering credentials, Chartered status and membership of organisations such as IWFM, RICS, CIBSE, IET or equivalent were highly desirable, together with IOSH or NEBOSH qualifications.

Throughout the process, particular emphasis was placed on identifying leaders who combined technical depth with strategic thinking, commercial awareness and strong people leadership.

The Outcome

Following a comprehensive executive search and rigorous assessment process, Maxwell Stephens appointed an Assistant Director of Engineering who brought extensive experience leading engineering operations across large, technically complex estates, together with significant expertise in infrastructure investment, compliance and operational leadership.

Since joining King's College London, they have:

• Strengthened engineering leadership across multiple campuses.
• Enhanced operational resilience and infrastructure performance.
• Delivered major capital and lifecycle investment programmes.
• Improved contractor governance and engineering service delivery.
• Strengthened statutory compliance and Health & Safety standards.
• Led and developed a large multidisciplinary engineering workforce.
• Supported the University's long-term Estates and sustainability strategy.

The appointment provided King's College London with the strategic engineering leadership required to support one of the UK's largest and most complex higher education estates.

Supporting Complex Estates Through Executive Search

Recruiting senior engineering leaders for leading universities requires specialist sector knowledge, technical understanding and access to a strong network of candidates. Maxwell Stephens' long-standing partnership with King's College London reflects our track record in recruiting senior Estates, Engineering and Facilities leaders capable of managing critical infrastructure across some of the UK's most prestigious organisations.

Client Testimonial

"Maxwell Stephens has helped us hire our top three performers and many of our senior directors. The service is outstanding and they consistently provide high-quality candidates. We've worked together for more than seven years and they remain a pleasure to partner with, both professionally and organisationally."

If you are recruiting a senior engineering or estates leader for a large, technically demanding portfolio, Maxwell Stephens can help you define the brief and reach candidates with the right blend of technical depth and leadership. Get in touch with our team.