The Interim FM and Estates Guide is a practical guide to interim appointments in Facilities Management and estates. It is written first for organisations deciding whether to use an interim and how to brief, assess and manage one, and then for FM and estates professionals who are considering interim work or already building an interim career.
Interim leaders are usually appointed when something is already under pressure: a vacancy that cannot wait, a relocation, a contract mobilisation or a compliance position that needs recovering. The guide argues that these appointments deserve more rigour than they often receive, because an interim has less time to recover from a poor start and usually inherits a harder problem.
Deciding when an interim is the right call
The guide sets out the situations where interim leadership earns its cost and explains how to tell whether a need is genuinely interim. It covers:
- Vacancy cover while a permanent search runs
- Change and transformation, including outsourcing and restructuring
- Mobilisation, fit-out and relocation
- Crisis and compliance recovery
- Bridging to a permanent hire when the role is not yet ready to recruit
It also explains the practical difference between an interim manager, a contractor and a consultant, with a simple test for deciding which one you actually need.
Briefing, cost and assessment
Readers will learn how to write an interim brief built around outcomes, an expected duration and a defined end state, rather than a reused permanent job description. The guide explains why interims can start quickly, where organisations lose that speed internally, and how to think about day rates in relation to the cost of the problem being solved. It notes that organisations must assess employment status for tax purposes and take professional advice.
A dedicated chapter covers assessment, with questions to test evidence of delivery in short windows and credibility on day one, and the warning signs that suggest a candidate describes activity rather than results.
Onboarding, governance and handover
The guide gives checklists for preparing before day one, governing the assignment against its outcomes and avoiding scope creep. It closes the employer section with a handover checklist and guidance on managing an interim who is bridging to a permanent appointment.
Guidance for interim professionals
The second part of the guide is for FM and estates professionals. It covers:
- Positioning yourself around the problems you solve
- Evidencing impact rather than activity on your CV
- Managing the gaps between assignments
- Moving between interim and permanent work, in either direction
What the data says
What UK data shows about interim management, assignment length and flexible work.
- The average interim management day rate in the UK rose to £907 in 2026, according to the Institute of Interim Management. Source: Institute of Interim Management (IIM), Interim Management Survey 2026, 17th Edition
- The average interim assignment now lasts 10.0 months, up from 9.6 months in 2025. Source: Institute of Interim Management (IIM), Interim Management Survey 2026, 17th Edition
- Change or transformation management is the most common primary purpose of interim assignments, at 37%. Source: Institute of Interim Management (IIM), Interim Management Survey 2026, 17th Edition
- On any given day in 2024, 872,000 temporary or contract workers were on assignment through UK recruiters. Source: Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), Recruitment sector contributes more than £40 billion a year to the UK economy despite tough job market, 2025
- About one in nine (11%) of the FM vacancies Maxwell Stephens advertised from 2023 to 2026 were interim or contract roles. Source: Maxwell Stephens analysis of 497 advertised vacancies, May 2023 – September 2026
See it in practice
SailGP Interim Facilities Project Manager Recruitment
SailGP, the international sailing competition, decided to move its headquarters from New Zealand to London and needed specialist facilities and project-management expertise to mobilise the new UK operation. Maxwell Stephens was appointed to recruit an Interim Facilities Project Manager on an initial six-month contract, to take the new property from project stage through to live operation. We ran a tailored headhunting campaign, directly approaching 57 candidates and presenting a shortlist of three, all of whom SailGP interviewed. SailGP appointed its preferred candidate to oversee the transition from fit-out and implementation into live workplace operations.
It shows a mobilisation and relocation brief with a defined end state, where the interim had to be credible from day one because a fixed-term assignment left no room for a settling-in period.
Read the full case study or browse all case studies.
Related reading
- Interim or Permanent? Choosing the Right FM Appointment
- The First 100 Days in a Senior FM or Estates Role
- How to Succeed as an Interim Manager
Practical guides
Free Maxwell Stephens guides on the same subject:
Who this resource is for
Facilities, estates and workplace leaders, HR and talent acquisition teams, finance and operations directors, and senior hiring managers planning an interim appointment, together with experienced FM and estates professionals who are considering interim work or already working as interims.
Talk to Maxwell Stephens
Maxwell Stephens is a specialist Facilities Management recruitment consultancy. If you are planning an FM, estates or workplace appointment, contact us for a confidential conversation, or read our case studies to see how comparable searches were run.
Looking for your next interim assignment? Browse our current vacancies or upload your CV.