The IFM Lead serves as the primary strategic and operational leader for the organisation’s physical assets and workplace environments. The role extends beyond day-to-day facilities management, providing leadership for a holistic, integrated service delivery model that supports employee wellbeing, productivity, operational resilience, and wider business objectives.
Strategic Pillars
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Optimise buildings and costs: Deliver high-performing facilities while maintaining strong commercial discipline and value for money.
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Enable inspiring workplaces: Develop spaces that encourage innovation, collaboration, connection, and engagement with colleagues, customers, and the organisation’s brand.
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Deliver exceptional experiences: Create a seamless workplace experience, ensuring that key moments for colleagues are consistently well managed.
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Drive operational excellence: Maintain resilient, compliant, safe, and efficient operations while proactively identifying and mitigating risk.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Service Integration
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Integrated Service Delivery: Lead the overall facilities service delivery model, integrating technical engineering, building operations, workplace services, and soft FM into a cohesive and effective solution.
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Workplace Strategy: Develop and implement multi-year workplace and facilities strategies aligned with organisational objectives, innovation, brand identity, sustainability, and long-term asset value.
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Transformation & Change: Identify, evaluate, and implement new workplace technologies, processes, and programmes, leading change management to ensure successful adoption.
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Governance & Compliance: Provide strong operational governance, ensuring statutory compliance, appropriate controls, and clear ownership of operational responsibilities.
Operational Efficiency & Financial Management
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Budget Management: Oversee significant capital and operating budgets, maintaining rigorous financial control across facilities operations, maintenance, projects, and capital investment.
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Commercial Analysis: Conduct robust cost-benefit and investment analysis to ensure facilities initiatives deliver measurable business value and support long-term financial objectives.
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Supplier & Contract Management: Lead the strategic management of key suppliers, contractors, landlords, and service partners, including RFPs, scopes of work, SLAs, KPIs, negotiations, and performance management.
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Audit & Reporting: Establish effective audit, reporting, and governance processes that provide transparency, accountability, and continuous performance improvement.
Stakeholder & Client Engagement
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Strategic Relationship Management: Act as the primary point of contact and escalation for senior stakeholders, providing trusted advice on workplace, facilities, operational, and strategic matters.
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Data-Driven Decision Making: Translate operational performance data, customer feedback, workplace trends, and business requirements into clear recommendations and actionable insights.
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Landlord & Partner Relationships: Build strong relationships with landlords and external partners, representing organisational interests and ensuring alignment with business and workplace objectives.
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Issue Resolution: Proactively identify and resolve complex operational and portfolio-level issues, ensuring services evolve in response to changing organisational requirements.
What Success Looks Like
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Strategic Impact: Facilities and workplace services consistently meet or exceed agreed performance standards and strategic objectives.
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Financial Performance: Capital and operational expenditure are effectively managed, delivering value, efficiency, and appropriate returns on investment.
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Stakeholder Confidence: Senior stakeholders view the IFM function as a trusted, proactive, and commercially focused business partner.
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Team Development: A high-performing team of facilities managers, engineers, and support professionals is effectively led, developed, and empowered to deliver outstanding results.
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Operational Resilience: Risks relating to health, safety, security, compliance, business continuity, and operational performance are proactively identified and managed.
Required Qualifications & Experience
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Experience: 10+ years of progressive facilities management experience, with significant experience in Integrated Facilities Management (IFM).
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Financial Acumen: Demonstrable experience managing substantial operational and capital budgets, conducting cost-benefit analysis, and supporting capital investment planning.
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Strategic Leadership: Proven experience leading complex, multi-site workplace or facilities programmes, transformation initiatives, and organisational change.
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Stakeholder Management: Exceptional communication, influencing, negotiation, and relationship-management skills, with the ability to engage effectively at executive, operational, and supplier levels.
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Technical & Compliance Knowledge: Strong understanding of health, safety, security, environmental requirements, statutory compliance, risk management, and industry-standard audit processes. IOSH qualification is a minimum requirement.
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Education: Bachelor’s degree in Facilities Management, Hospitality, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related discipline. A Master’s degree and/or professional facilities management qualifications such as CFM or FMP would be advantageous.