Facilities Manager Recruitment for Turner & Townsend

Background

Turner & Townsend, a global professional services organisation specialising in consultancy, programme management, project delivery and operations, appointed Maxwell Stephens to recruit an experienced Facilities Manager for its London office.

The role was central to maintaining a professional, efficient and productive workplace that reflected Turner & Townsend's brand, values and standards of client service.

The successful candidate needed to combine operational facilities management experience with team leadership, supplier management, health and safety knowledge, workplace coordination and clear communication.

The Challenge

Turner & Townsend needed a Facilities Manager able to take ownership of a broad range of workplace services while keeping the London office safe, compliant and consistently well presented.

The role involved both oversight and hands-on operational management, with responsibility for internal teams, external suppliers and the day-to-day needs of employees and visitors.

Key requirements included:

• Workplace standards. Holding consistent standards across the London office so the workplace supported both productivity and the organisation's professional image.
• Team leadership. Managing a local facilities team made up of a Facilities Coordinator and three receptionists, giving them direction and maintaining customer service levels.
• Supplier and contract management. Overseeing catering, hard FM, soft FM and other service providers, monitoring performance against contractual requirements and seeing that invoices were processed appropriately.
• Health and safety management. Maintaining compliance with the relevant legislation and company standards, including first-aid provision, emergency procedures and safe systems of work.
• Reception and front-of-house services. Keeping reception fully operational during core business hours and professional for employees, clients and visitors.
• Workplace support. Managing office services including telephone systems, stationery, kitchen supplies and workplace equipment.
• Security and access management. Overseeing security processes, including the management and issue of access passes.
• Moves and changes. Coordinating internal staff moves, covering floor plans, furniture requirements, IT infrastructure and telephone arrangements.
• Tenant management. Managing the relationship with the occupier of sublet space and administering the associated charges in accordance with lease provisions.

A single-office facilities role in a consultancy is more exposed than the job title suggests. The client-facing floors are part of how the firm presents itself, so a lapse in front-of-house or presentation standards is visible to the people the business is trying to win work from. At the same time the postholder carries statutory compliance, supplier performance and a sublet tenancy. Candidates who are strong on workplace experience often have little contract exposure, and hard-services candidates are rarely comfortable running a reception team.

Our Approach

Maxwell Stephens carried out a targeted search for facilities management professionals with proven experience in corporate office environments, focusing on candidates who could show a balance of operational capability and people management.

Particular emphasis was placed on professionals with experience in:

• managing facilities and front-of-house teams
• overseeing hard and soft FM suppliers
• maintaining workplace health and safety standards
• coordinating office moves and workplace change
• managing landlord, tenant and supplier relationships
• delivering a consistently high level of internal customer service
• handling multiple operational priorities in a fast-paced environment

Communication skills and cultural fit carried equal weight. Turner & Townsend needed someone who could work confidently with employees, senior stakeholders, suppliers and visitors while holding the professionalism expected in a global consultancy. In a small facilities team that is not a soft consideration: the manager sets the tone that the coordinator and the reception team follow every day.

The Outcome

Following a detailed search and assessment process, Maxwell Stephens recruited an experienced Facilities Manager for the London office. The appointed candidate brought extensive facilities management experience, leadership capability and a sound understanding of health and safety requirements, and strengthened several areas of the workplace operation:

• Workplace standards. Consistent standards across the London office, so the workplace continued to reflect the firm's professional brand and expectations.
• Team leadership. Effective management of the Facilities Coordinator and reception team, improving coordination, accountability and consistency across workplace services.
• Supplier management. Closer oversight of hard FM, soft FM, catering and other suppliers, strengthening service delivery against contractual requirements.
• Health and safety. Appropriate arrangements maintained, including emergency procedures, first-aid provision and safe systems of work.
• Workplace coordination. A structured approach to internal moves, office services, equipment and infrastructure, reducing disruption as business requirements changed.
• Front-of-house operations. Consistent management of reception and visitor services through core business hours.
• Stakeholder communication. Communication and project-management skills applied to internal teams, external suppliers and the tenant occupying sublet space.

Why This Placement Worked

The placement gave Turner & Townsend a Facilities Manager able to balance operational delivery, workplace standards, compliance, supplier performance and team leadership in one role.

The search worked because the brief was treated as two jobs that had to sit in the same person: a service and front-of-house lead, and a contract and compliance manager. Shortlisting against only one of those is the usual reason single-office appointments of this kind disappoint within the first year.

If you are recruiting an experienced Facilities Manager to lead a corporate workplace and the team that runs it, Maxwell Stephens can help you scope the brief and reach the people who cover both sides. Get in touch with our team.