Background
Mary Feilding Guild runs a care home for older people. It created a new post of Maintenance Manager and asked Maxwell Stephens to find the right person, reporting to the Director with a dotted line to the Registered Manager.
The Challenge
A care home is a building people live in, so maintenance has a direct bearing on safety and comfort. The Maintenance Manager is responsible for an annual maintenance plan, monthly quality assurance reports and responding to routine issues quickly, usually within a day. The post also looks after planned maintenance contracts, quotes and follow-up works, and flags improvement works to the Director so spending can be planned.
Health and safety is central. The manager carries out a monthly building check with a care manager, writes risk assessments before any work, joins the health and safety group, and carries out the annual fire risk assessment with care colleagues. Contractors working unsupervised in residents' rooms need a clear DBS, and the manager has to keep documentation sound enough to show full compliance to the Care Quality Commission.
The manager also supervises a part-time caretaker, handling supervision, appraisal and training needs. The client wanted proven experience in a similar setting, such as a care home, hotel, sheltered housing or managed apartments, with a broad grasp of plumbing, electrics and boilers, the confidence to challenge poor contractor practice, and real respect for older people.
The role was new to the organisation and is reviewed regularly, so the successful candidate also had to be comfortable shaping the job as it developed, attending regular one-to-ones with the Director and keeping up with changes in legislation that affect safety. Safeguarding training applies to all staff, and the post holder is expected to maintain appropriate boundaries with residents and act as a role model.
Our Approach
- We took the brief from the Guild, including how the role would divide between hands-on work and management.
- We searched for maintenance and estates managers from care homes, retirement housing, hotels and managed residential buildings.
- We screened for health and safety knowledge, contractor management, record keeping suited to a regulated setting, and the right manner with residents.
- We shortlisted with full CVs and our notes, then took the process through to offer.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.
If you run a care or residential setting and need maintenance leadership, talk to Maxwell Stephens about how we would approach the search.
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