Head of Facilities
When a business has just one location, there’s always going to be a person whose job it is to ensure the building itself and all its functions are running properly. It might be an office manager, plant manager or such like. But businesses with multiple locations need a more strategic, joined-up and budgeted way to run the properties, and that task is fulfilled by the head of facilities.
The role will be a blend of planning the facilities for future needs, ensuring the books are balanced for all the locations and planning maintenance, cleaning, services, safety and so on – in summary, keeping the facilities functional, profitable, legal and sustainable.
Under the head of facilities, management usually acts on a hierarchical basis, more so in larger operations with multiple plants, offices, depots and storage facilities. That means the head of facilities will often be based in the head office and will delegate tasks and goals to facility managers at the locations, but there will also be regular attendance on-site within the region covered.
The skills required
Head of facilities jobs usually demand experience in overseeing multiple locations of an organisation, and successful candidates will be able to demonstrate a strong aptitude for delegation to, and communication with, the various location managers. The job will be a blend of strategic planning and more urgent decision-making – you could be where the buck stops when a location manager needs to troubleshoot a pressing issue and a potentially costly decision has to be made and then justified to the board.
For some positions, however, experience managing a single facility will be a sufficient qualification, as many of the budgetary and management skills scale up straightforwardly.
Head of Facilities Jobs in Humberside
Located in northern England, Humberside was a county until it was abolished in 1996 and replaced with several unitary authorities, including Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Although it may be gone in name, the communities in Humberside offer a variety of roles for those seeking Head of Facilities positions.
Humberside was created in 1972 as part of the Local Government Act. Before this, the regions that made up the county had been based in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, shipbuilding and manufacturing. However, the county suffered due to its north and south sections being separated by the River Humber until the Humber Bridge was completed in 1981.
These days, the regions that once made up Humberside have gone through significant regeneration and have economies that are predominantly based in the service sector and tourism.
Hull is an important port town, both for cargo and ferries to Europe. It's also home to a number of chemical and pharmaceutical companies like Reckitt Benckiser, BP, Seven Seas and Smith & Nephew.
Meanwhile, Grimsby is known for its fishing and it sees a lot of containerised cargo enter its ports every year. The fish that comes into the town is processed here and both Young's Seafood and Findus produce fresh and frozen fish products.
Other companies based in Humberside, or with large facilities in the region, include Tata Steel, Corus, Singleton Birch, BOC, Nisa Today and Ericsson.
Popular locations
Heads of facilities use Cast UK
At Cast UK, we only deal with high calibre people and positions, so if you’re looking for a head of facilities for your business, please reach out, as we’ll be able to shortlist a superb selection of candidates for your role. If you want us to be your recruitment partner, call us on 0333 121 3345 and speak to one of our consultants.
If you’re looking to take a step up the ladder as a facilities manager and you’ve got the skills and experience, why not click the link below and register with us? We could have just the role for you.
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