Head of Facilities Management
South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust has a rich history, well-established community links and an international reputation. We provide a full range of local mental health services to the Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth London boroughs, as well as specialist forensic mental health services, including specialised services such as national deaf adults and CAMHS inpatients and OCD.
We are committed to providing high quality integrated health and social care for local people with mental health problems in South West London and more specialist mental health services for people throughout the UK. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ however we aim to be ‘outstanding’.
Our Values
We take pride in providing specialist care to our service users where our Trust values; being consistent, compassionate, collaborative, respectful and open is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is "making life better together".
When you join us, you’ll be part of something special – an innovative and rapidly growing organisation that is helping to redefine the Mental Health, education and social care landscape in the UK.
As a Trust, we are happy to talk flexible working.
Job overview
We are seeking a motivated and experienced individual to lead and manage the Facilities Management (FM) services across our Trust. As the Facilities Lead, you will provide strategic leadership, ensuring high-quality, cost-effective, and compliant services across the estate, covering Soft FM (Catering, Cleaning), Hard FM, Security, Portering, Waste Management, and more.Your responsibilities will include managing contracts, performance, and operational areas, while ensuring compliance with NHS standards.
You will work closely with your team to set objectives, drive improvements, and contribute to the Trust’s strategic goals, focusing on efficiency, sustainability, and cost control. You will need proven experience in Facilities Management, strong leadership skills, and the ability to manage complex contracts and budgets.Your expertise in team management, continuous improvement, and stakeholder engagement will be essential.
Main duties of the job
In this role, the FM Lead will manage services such as catering, cleaning, security, waste management and portering, ensuring efficient and compliant operations across the Trust’s estate. Based at Springfield, you will travel between multiple sites.You’ll lead a team, set objectives, and drive continuous improvement to meet high-quality standards and NHS regulations. Managing both in-house and outsourced contracts, you’ll monitor performance, control budgets, and maintain a customer-focused approach to prioritize staff and patient needs.
You’ll play a key role in enhancing service delivery, reducing costs, and supporting sustainability initiatives. Additionally, you’ll ensure adherence to health and safety standards, oversee risk assessments, and manage incident reporting. Collaborating with stakeholders, you’ll make informed decisions to improve operational efficiency and service quality.
Customer focus will be integral, ensuring all services meet staff and patient needs. You’ll proactively identify improvements, ensuring your team delivers high-quality, patient-centered services.
To succeed, you will need strong leadership, excellent communication skills & experience managing facilities services, contracts and budgets. A customer-focused, results-driven mindset is essential, along with a passion for improving service quality in healthcare.This is an ideal opportunity for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment and is committed to delivering exceptional services.
Working for our organisation
We are Proud to Belong at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust.
We have expert services, a rich history and a clear commitment to providing the best quality care for those with mental ill-health. The Care Quality Commission already rates our services as ‘good’ - we aspire to be ‘outstanding’.
This is a great time to join us. We are transforming the way we care for our communities to support our mission of Making Life Better Together. We have built two brand new mental health facilities at Springfield University Hospital, which are amongst the best in the world.More developments are planned across our sites and services as we invest a further £120m to upgrade and modernise our estate by 2027.
We are inclusive and diverse and strive to be actively anti racist. We want to attract people from all backgrounds and experiences to enrich the work we do together. We are proud to co-produce and involve our local communities in all that we do.
We offer flexible working, career development and a variety of benefits to enable a positive, welcoming environment in which our people and their careers can thrive.
Come and join our inclusive teams and help our patients on their recovery journey.
About our locations:
Springfield University Hospital, Tooting
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Be responsible for all aspects of operational staff, to deliver service priorities, including the structure, selection, recruitment, career development, training safety and welfare, sickness, and absence following disciplinary procedures if required.Making decisions on serious disciplinary cases or grievances and making informed decisions for outcome.
Agree and set objectives and targets for relevant staff, ensuring priority is given to their achievement, and be directly responsible for coordinating performance monitoring, effective staff supervision, and appraisals throughout the directorate.
Support staff development through the development of the directorate training plan, and ensure that training plans are in place for directorate staff.
Supporting the overall financial performance of the FM service by looking at ways to measure and improve performance, quality standards and reduce costs and contribute to the Trust cost improvement plan.
Provide expert advice on estates/contractual matters, formulation of estates
development options and assist in preparing relevant Capital bids for equipment, plant replacement, and backlog works in line with the strategic needs of the Trust/Directorate.
Be responsible for assessing the efficiency and developing strategies for the continuous development of all services within the remit of the role, monitor and report on the strategies periodically, and present benchmarking and performance data.of all services
To provide business support to the Associate Director of Capital & Estates Management across all FM services and act as deputy when required.
Prepare and agree on annual budgets and ensure value for money for all expenditures is achieved.
Assume responsibility for delegated elements of the directorate budget, Hard FM, Soft FM, and Security, and participate in monthly budget reviews.
Responsible for ensuring all relevant policies and procedures are up to date and in line with national and NHS statutory and mandatory guidance, and issued to the relevant internal and external stakeholders, as appropriate.
Person specification
Training & Qualifications
Essential criteria- Educated to Master’s degree level or equivalent experience in FM across all disciplines, including responsibility for in-house teams and contractors, monitoring services, producing KPIs, and compliance. Evidence of Continual Professional Development
- Qualified full member of a professional building/FM-related discipline e.g RICS, RIBA, CIBSE, IHEEM, ICE, and IWFM
- Health & Safety qualification
- A project management qualification
- Evidence of strategic planning experience
- A masters/degree in mechanical and electrical engineering
Experience
Essential criteria- Substantial experience in successful management of an estates and facilities function, ideally in a Mental Health setting.
- Experience with schemes and initiatives to reduce waste and carbon emissions.
- A proven track record of delivery of customer-focused estates and facilities services
- Thorough experience in working with and understanding relevant health and safety legislation
- Knowledge of building, working with and reporting from CAFM-based systems
- Demonstrable experience working at a senior level within a large complex organisation
- Experience in managing change and continuous improvement
- Experience in directly managing significant resources, including budgets and staff
- Experience in contract management
- Experience working in a mental health setting.
- Experience working in a complex, multi, professional organisational environment
Knowledge & Skills
Essential criteria- A broad knowledge of the statutory and regulatory requirements related to estates and facilities
- Working knowledge of a range of building services-related equipment including refrigeration, HVAC, gas boilers and systems, automatic control systems, and electrical installations
- Understanding of methods of quality development and quality monitoring
- Working knowledge of facilities-related services such as cleaning, catering, security, waste, portering,
- Working knowledge of property and commercial-related issues such as leases, licences, service charges, and business rates
- Knowledge of Facilities and Estates management Understanding of Clinical Governance and the principles underlying the provision of evidence-based care
- Knowledge of methods of risk management
We are Members of Stonewall Diversity Champions and Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.
As part of the Trust's commitment to Equalities and Diversity, the Trust supports the establishment of Staff Networks groups to promote diversity in the workplace:
- BME (Evolve) Staff Network
- Christian Staff Network
- DiverseAbility
- Deaf Staff Network
- Mental Health Staff Forum
- Women's Staff Network
- LGBTQIA+
We are committed to supporting the Armed Forces Community and has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
We provide reasonable adjustments to the interview process for any candidates with a disability.
Please note:
- That the closing date listed is a guide only and that the vacancy may close earlier should sufficient number of applicants have been received
- That once you have submitted your application you agree to your application being transferred to a 3^rd party e-recruitment system
- That should you not have heard from us within three weeks from the closing date your application has not successful
- That priority consideration for applications may be given to at-risk NHS employees
- That should you be successful and appointed, you authorise South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust to confirm your previous NHS service via an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) process
- That your employment is offered subject to successful completion of a Probationary Period depending on your Band (except medical roles)
- That we are a smoke-free Trust