Hand-back & Transition Manager

Equans is looking for an Hand-back & Transition Manager to join our team in Edinburgh on a permanent basis. This is a full-time role working 37.5 hours per week. On offer is a competitive salary, company vehicle or allowance, bonus and benefits package.

Reporting to the Account Director, the Handback & Transition Manager is accountable for the strategic, operational, and commercial management of the PFI contract handback and service transition at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

The role has single-point accountability for ensuring the safe, compliant, and contractually robust transfer of assets, data, services, and workforce from Equans to the client and/or successor arrangements at contract expiry. This includes managing highly sensitive commercial negotiations, cross-business coordination, and stakeholder assurance during the most complex and exposed phase of the contract lifecycle.

The role holder operates with a high degree of autonomy in a high-risk environment, protecting Equans’ commercial position, reputation, and future client relationships while maintaining service continuity and patient safety throughout the transition period.

This role operates in a highly exposed commercial and contractual environment as relationships transition from long‑term partnership to contract closure. The Handback & Transition Manager must navigate complex legal and technical documentation, manage senior stakeholder relationships, and resolve contentious issues while balancing contractual compliance with commercial protection and service continuity.

• Develop, own, and deliver the integrated handback and transition strategy in line with the Facilities Services Contract, Supplemental Agreement requirements, and Equans governance.
• Act as the single point of accountability for all handback and transition activities, providing clear ownership, reporting, and escalation.
• Lead delivery against contractual milestones, managing priorities independently within compressed and high‑pressure time frames.

• Lead asset condition surveys, lifecycle validation, backlog and defect management, and statutory compliance assurance.
• Ensure assets are transitioned in the contractually required handback condition through planned remediation and governance.
• Maintain a live and auditable risk register covering operational, commercial, legal, safety, and reputational risks, driving early mitigation.

• Act as the lead commercial interface for handback negotiations with NHS Lothian, Consort, and appointed advisors.
• Manage contract interpretation, claims, deductions, dispute resolution, and final account settlement.
• Protect Equans’ commercial position while maintaining a professional and collaborative client relationship.

• Lead the service transition strategy, ensuring continuity of hospital operations throughout handover.
• Coordinate TUPE planning and workforce transition in collaboration with HR, Operations, and successor providers.
• Manage knowledge transfer, asset data validation, CAFM and system decommissioning, and successor mobilisation support.

• Oversee delivery of a complete and defensible handback data pack, including asset registers, O&M manuals, compliance certificates, and technical documentation.
• Ensure all documentation meets contractual evidential standards and is audit‑ready.
• Maintain governance controls and reporting dashboards to support transparency and decision‑making.

• Capture lessons learned and contribute to best practice across Equans’ wider PFI expiry and transition portfolio.

• 25 days annual leave (+ public holidays)
• Life Cover equivalent to 2x times annual salary
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• Gym membership discounts
• Cycle to work scheme
• Holiday purchase scheme
• 2 corporate social responsibility days per year
• Broad range of learning opportunities, such as professional qualifications, collective/individual…