Head of Facilities Management

This role will be based across Essex / Cambridge / Peterborough

Maxwell Stephens is partnering with an educational establishment to appoint a Head of Facilities Management for an initial 6 Month contract, a senior leadership role within a complex, multi-campus estate.

This position leads all facilities services, including outsourced soft services, catering, porterage and front-of-house operations, ensuring high-quality, compliant, and cost-effective delivery that directly supports the student experience.

You will take full ownership of performance, budgets, service improvement and stakeholder engagement, ensuring safe, compliant and well-maintained environments for students, staff and visitors.

This role has every opportunity to progress into a long term permanent position.

• Providing strategic leadership for the facilities function, ensuring best practice, innovation and continuous improvement
• Leading, motivating and developing multi-disciplinary teams and senior managers
• Managing and optimising outsourced service contracts, including procurement, tendering and performance management
• Developing and controlling significant operational budgets, including identifying income-generation opportunities
• Producing robust management information, KPI reporting and service reviews to support informed decision-making
• Ensuring full compliance with health & safety, food safety, environmental and statutory legislation
• Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders across Estates and the wider University
• Deputising for the Director
• Representing on committees, working groups and professional networks

This role requires regular travel between campuses and occasional out-of-hours and weekend working in response to operational needs and emergencies.

We are seeking a confident, credible and commercially astute facilities leader with experience operating at scale.

• Significant senior-level experience managing facilities services within a large, multi-site organisation
• Proven experience of strategic planning and service transformation
• Strong background in contract procurement and management, including frameworks
• Demonstrable experience managing and setting substantial budgets
• Experience leading and developing high-performing teams
• Strong analytical capability, with experience reporting against KPIs
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills

• Degree or relevant professional qualification
• Membership of IWFM (formerly BIFM)
• NEBOSH General Certificate (or equivalent)
• MSc Facilities Management (desirable)
• Higher education sector experience (desirable, not essential)

This is not a maintenance-led FM role. It is a visible, influential leadership position within a progressive educational environment, offering genuine scope to shape services, improve performance and enhance the campus experience.

If you are a strategic FM leader who thrives in complex environments and wants to operate at senior level within education, this role will stretch and reward you.