Facilities Manager Recruitment for Providence Row

Background

Providence Row is an East London charity working with homeless and vulnerably housed people through crisis support, advice, recovery and learning programmes. It asked Maxwell Stephens to find a Facilities Manager to look after its central site and report to the Director of Finance.

The Challenge

This is a stand-alone, single-site post with light-touch supervision. The Facilities Manager owns the building: the security, maintenance and service of the premises, first-line response to any facilities issue and ownership of the charity's obligations as a landlord, alongside other tenants in the building. Fire, legionella, electrical and health and safety compliance all sit with the post holder, who also acts as Chief Fire Marshal and site First Aider.

The role also looks ahead. The Facilities Manager is expected to create a long-term cyclical maintenance plan, keep a building, equipment and fixtures register, run capital projects, draft contracts for tender and bring in a supplier selection policy based on best value. Improving environmental performance and keeping the surroundings tidy and pest-free were part of the brief.

The candidate had to be comfortable in both residential and commercial compliance, hold NEBOSH and have at least four years of facilities management experience in the UK. A degree or higher national diploma was wanted. The people side mattered too: the charity looks for a real commitment to its values and an interest in working with people who have experienced homelessness.

The post sometimes requires presence outside normal hours or at weekends, for a delivery or an event, so flexibility was expected.

Our Approach

• We took a full briefing from the charity on the site, the lease position and the projects expected in the first year.
• We searched for single-site and multi-use building managers from charities, housing providers and mixed residential and commercial properties.
• We screened for NEBOSH, compliance depth, budget and supplier management, and a clear motivation to work in this sector.
• We presented a shortlist with full CVs and our own notes, then handled offer negotiations for both sides.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.

If your organisation needs a hands-on facilities lead who can also plan the long term, talk to Maxwell Stephens about how we would approach the search.