Background
Over the course of its partnership with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Maxwell Stephens has placed key professionals in roles that support the charity's mission of caring for animals in need. Most recently we recruited an Interim Head of Estates & Facilities, adding to earlier placements of a Facilities Manager and a Health and Safety Manager.
Animal welfare charities present a distinctive facilities brief. The buildings house animals as well as people, staff and volunteers work side by side, and maintenance, safety and compliance all have to be managed with animal welfare in view. That makes estates, facilities and safety roles unusually interdependent, which is why the three appointments described here are best read together.
The Placements
Interim Head of Estates & Facilities
The Interim Head of Estates & Facilities is a leadership role responsible for all aspects of property, facilities and estate management across Battersea's three sites. Reporting directly to the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, the role ensures that the charity's infrastructure operates effectively and supports its strategic objectives.
Our appointed candidate brought substantial experience of leading multidisciplinary teams, managing diverse property portfolios and implementing estates and facilities strategies, together with a background in project management, compliance and health and safety. They quickly took the Estates & Facilities department forward, building a high-performing, customer-focused team while driving improvements in maintenance, security and sustainability practices. Key achievements so far include:
- Maintenance systems. Implementing robust systems for planned and reactive maintenance across all sites.
- Rolling programme. Developing a rolling maintenance programme for buildings, vehicles and equipment.
- Compliance. Ensuring compliance with health and safety legislation, fire safety regulations and environmental standards.
- Capital works. Leading capital works projects to improve facilities while maintaining budgetary discipline.
Through their commitment and strategic foresight, the Interim Head of Estates & Facilities has brought Battersea's infrastructure into line with the evolving needs of the organisation while reflecting its values of care, respect and collaboration.
Facilities Manager
The Facilities Manager oversees all aspects of facilities management across Battersea's three sites, ensuring they meet the charity's needs. This includes managing reactive and planned maintenance, leading a team, implementing helpdesk systems and ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations.
Our appointed Facilities Manager brought considerable experience of managing multidisciplinary teams and implementing effective facilities management strategies. By leading initiatives to improve service quality and efficiency, they have improved operations across Battersea's facilities, and their leadership has built a culture of continuous improvement, with more efficient processes and greater stakeholder satisfaction as a result.
Health and Safety Manager
The Health and Safety Manager promotes a safe working environment across Battersea's sites. Responsibilities include providing advice, developing policies, conducting risk assessments, delivering training and ensuring compliance with regulations.
Our selected Health and Safety Manager has extensive expertise in health and safety management within complex organisations. They have implemented robust safety protocols, conducted thorough audits and delivered comprehensive training programmes. Their proactive approach has raised safety standards and built a culture of awareness and accountability among staff and volunteers.
The Outcome
By working closely with Battersea's facilities and estates teams, operations staff and senior management, the professionals we recruited have integrated well into the organisation. Their collaborative work has created genuine synergies between facilities management and health and safety practice, giving Battersea a joined-up approach to running its sites.
Why These Placements Worked
Recruiting a series of related roles for one client has an advantage that single searches lack: each appointment informs the next. Having recruited the Facilities Manager and the Health and Safety Manager first, we came to the Interim Head of Estates & Facilities search already familiar with how the three sites operate and with the team the new leader would inherit, which made it easier to judge which candidates would fit as well as which were qualified.
If your organisation needs to build or strengthen an estates, facilities and safety function, whether through one appointment or several, Maxwell Stephens can help. Get in touch with our team.
Planning a similar appointment?
If you are recruiting for a similar role, our team can help you define the brief, reach the right candidates and manage the process through to appointment.