National Express Project Manager Recruitment

Background

National Express is one of the UK's leading public transport operators, delivering bus and coach services across the country while managing a substantial property and operational estate. Supporting thousands of employees and millions of passenger journeys each year, maintaining safe, compliant and efficient facilities is critical to the organisation's continued success.

To support its expanding estate and capital investment programme, National Express partnered with Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Project Manager responsible for delivering facilities and estates projects across its national portfolio.

National Express Group changed its name to Mobico Group in 2023. Its UK businesses include National Express coaches and the National Express West Midlands and Coventry bus operations, and the group is headquartered in Birmingham.

The Challenge

National Express required an experienced Project Manager capable of leading a broad range of estates and facilities projects across multiple operational sites.

This was a highly varied role requiring a combination of project management expertise, estates knowledge and operational facilities management experience. The successful candidate would be based from Birmingham while travelling regularly across the UK to oversee projects and support operational teams.

Key responsibilities included:

• Managing estates and property improvement projects across multiple locations.
• Planning and delivering refurbishment, maintenance and workplace change projects.
• Coordinating office moves and operational change programmes.
• Managing contractors, consultants and specialist suppliers.
• Overseeing planned maintenance and capital works.
• Preparing project scopes, specifications and business cases.
• Managing project budgets and capital expenditure.
• Ensuring statutory compliance and Health & Safety standards were maintained.
• Building strong relationships with operational managers and senior stakeholders.
• Supporting the ongoing development of National Express's property portfolio.

The organisation required someone with a broad facilities management background who could combine strategic planning with hands-on project delivery while working within a fast-moving operational environment. In a live transport estate, projects have to be sequenced around services that cannot stop, which puts a premium on planning discipline and stakeholder handling as much as technical delivery.

The Market for This Role

Transport estates mix depots, workshops, offices and passenger-facing sites, each with its own operational constraints.

Our Approach

Working closely with National Express, Maxwell Stephens developed a detailed understanding of both the technical requirements and operational culture of the business.

Using our specialist facilities management network, we conducted a targeted search for professionals with experience across estates management, capital projects and multi-site operations. Our assessment focused on candidates who demonstrated:

• Proven experience delivering estates and facilities projects.
• Multi-site operational facilities management expertise.
• Strong contractor and supplier management capability.
• Budget and capital project management experience.
• Knowledge of transport, infrastructure or operational environments.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• A proactive, commercially aware and solutions-focused approach.

Each shortlisted candidate underwent a comprehensive interview process, assessing both technical competence and cultural fit before presentation to the client.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens placed an experienced Project Manager who brought a strong blend of estates, facilities and project management expertise. The successful candidate quickly became an integral part of the National Express property team, taking ownership of projects across the estate.

The role covered facilities and estates projects across the national portfolio, contractor management, and project budgets.

Why This Placement Worked

The assignment reflects Maxwell Stephens' experience recruiting facilities, estates and project management professionals for complex, multi-site organisations where operational resilience, compliance and effective project delivery are business critical. If you are recruiting for a similar role, get in touch with our team.