Facilities Manager Recruitment for Toynbee Hall

Background

Toynbee Hall needed a Temporary Facilities Manager to cover a period of staff absence. The building could not simply wait for a colleague to return: planned maintenance, security, visitor access and health and safety checks all had to carry on without a gap.

The post covered the whole operation of the premises, from the planned preventative maintenance process and legal compliance through to office supplies, meeting room equipment and new starter set-up.

The Challenge

Cover roles are unforgiving. The person has to be productive almost immediately, taking on a live compliance schedule and a set of contractors they have not appointed. At Toynbee Hall that included cleaning, planned maintenance, fire alarms, water hygiene, lifts and fire equipment.

The role was also hands-on. The postholder would act as key holder, fire marshal, first aider and display screen equipment assessor, and be the first point of contact for reactive maintenance. A safety qualification such as IOSH or NEBOSH General Certificate was preferred, alongside at least three years of managing contracts and contractors and some experience of service charge budgets. That combination of safety knowledge, customer focus and availability at short notice is a narrow field.

Because the post was temporary, the client also needed confidence that the interim would leave the building in better order than they found it. Records had to be kept up to date, risk assessments reviewed and reasonable adjustments for staff documented with HR. Those details are easy to lose during an absence, which is why the choice of cover mattered so much.

Our Approach

• We agreed the brief around the compliance and maintenance routines that had to continue uninterrupted during the absence.
• We approached facilities managers already used to office and multi-contractor environments who could start without a long handover.
• We checked candidates for practical H&S ownership, including inspections, records and risk assessment review, alongside any IOSH or NEBOSH qualification.
• We handled availability, interview and offer so the cover began on time.

The Outcome

Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.

If you need temporary or interim facilities cover at short notice, talk to Maxwell Stephens and we will tell you who is available.