Senior Operational Manager Recruitment for BMSE at Peterborough City Hospital

Background

Maxwell Stephens recruited a Senior Operational Manager for Brookfield Multiplex Services Europe (BMSE) at Peterborough City Hospital.

The appointment supported a complex healthcare estate comprising a 600-bed acute hospital, a mental health unit and a city-centre care unit, all operating as part of a 30-year design, build and operate PFI contract. The role called for an experienced senior FM professional able to lead a 24/7 operational environment, hold stringent service and compliance standards, manage engineering resources and work effectively with stakeholders across the Trust, the SPV and BMSE.

The Challenge

Acute hospital estates are among the least forgiving environments in facilities management. Services cannot be paused for maintenance, an engineering failure has clinical consequences, and the PFI structure adds a further layer: the operational manager answers not only to the service provider's own business objectives but to contractual obligations owed to the SPV and, through it, to the Trust.

Against that backdrop, the brief needed someone who could:

• Lead a 24/7 operation. Direct the operational management team against business, contractual and customer objectives, and keep service delivery and environmental conditions within agreed SLAs and KPIs.
• Manage engineering resources. Get the best from an in-house workforce, use subcontracted services where they represented value, and provide direction during major service interruptions and incidents.
• Operate at strategic level. Contribute to senior management meetings involving the Trust, the SPV and BMSE, and review management performance, budgets and operational results.
• Carry technical credibility. Take a lead on electrical infrastructure and the compliance regimes around it, which in a hospital setting means being credible on high-voltage systems, gas and combustion, emergency lighting and electrical inspection.

Candidates with the operational leadership are relatively common. Those who also hold the technical depth to be credible with engineering teams, and the commercial awareness to run a PFI contract, are not.

The Outcome

The Senior Operational Manager placed by Maxwell Stephens took on a broad remit across the contract. Their work in post included:

• Operational leadership. Led the operational management team to deliver against business, contractual and customer objectives, maintaining service delivery and environmental conditions in line with agreed SLAs and KPIs and ensuring operational and compliance requirements were consistently addressed.
• Engineering and workforce management. Optimised the in-house workforce to strengthen 24/7 engineering capability, while ensuring subcontracted services were used effectively and represented appropriate value. Provided direction to engineering and management teams during major service interruptions, incidents and other operationally critical situations.
• Strategic management. Contributed strategic guidance at senior management meetings involving the Trust, the SPV and BMSE. Reviewed management performance, budgets and operational results, identifying where KPI or SLA performance needed to improve and implementing corrective action.
• Stakeholder and client relationships. Built and maintained strong professional relationships with key stakeholders, partners and customers, strengthening communication across the contract and supporting effective decision-making in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Project and infrastructure management. Supported the delivery of major and minor works to the required standards, timescales and compliance requirements. Took a leading role in managing the electrical infrastructure, coordinating planned and unplanned works to keep hospital operations safe and reliable.
• PPM and process improvement. Designed and implemented a new planned preventive maintenance system, replacing paper-based processes with an IT-led approach that improved the management and visibility of maintenance activity and supported better monitoring, reporting and operational control.
• Audit and communication. Introduced structured auditing processes to strengthen quality assurance and compliance, and improved communication between operational management and engineering teams, creating clearer accountability and more consistent service delivery.
• Technical training and compliance. Completed extensive High Voltage Authorised Person training and strengthened procedures relating to gas and combustion-system compliance. Developed improved processes for emergency-lighting maintenance and electrical-system inspections.
• Energy management. Formulated an energy-conservation policy to improve performance and support more efficient use of resources across the estate.

Impact

The appointment strengthened the operational management of a highly complex healthcare Facilities Management contract:

• Improved operational control through better coordination of engineering teams, maintenance activity and subcontracted services within a 24/7 hospital environment.
• Stronger planned maintenance, with the IT-based PPM system creating a more structured and transparent approach to maintenance management.
• Enhanced compliance, as improved auditing, technical procedures and electrical-management processes supported stronger safety and regulatory control.
• Greater stakeholder coordination, with closer collaboration between BMSE, the Trust, the SPV and operational teams improving communication and contract management.
• Improved engineering resilience, with an optimised in-house workforce and stronger technical procedures supporting continuity through planned works, reactive maintenance and major service disruptions.

Why This Placement Worked

Senior operational roles on healthcare PFI contracts are often briefed as management appointments and then filled by managers who depend entirely on their engineers for technical judgement. What made this appointment effective was the combination in one person of operational leadership, technical expertise, commercial awareness and stakeholder management. That is what a 24/7 acute estate, run under a long-term PFI structure, actually demands.

If you need a senior FM professional to lead a complex healthcare, PFI or critical-environment contract, Maxwell Stephens can help. Get in touch with our team.