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 Royal Leamington Spa
The Romans, who loved a good mineral spring, knew all about the source, and would bathe in it between wine sessions. Centuries later the same spring would go on to make Leamington Spa’s fortune in the spa boom that gripped Britain in the nineteenth century. So popular was the town with Queen Victoria that she granted the town “Royal” status in 1838 (in fact it was called Leamington Priors until then, not Leamington Spa).
The town is located 20 miles (32 km) south east of the centre of Birmingham, 8 miles (13 km) south of Coventry and 27 miles (44 km) west of Northampton. As the popularity of spa towns declined towards the end of the nineteenth century, the town became a more typical industrial settlement, especially when the canals and railways came, although it kept some of its exclusive kudos and was a popular place for people from the cities to retire to or take a break. This led to it becoming a shopping town, and that aspect remains to this day. Engineering works, especially foundries, were common in the town, and that still goes on to some extent.
With an economically active population, good road and rail links, a fair amount of engineering work and some hi-tech industries in its business parks, Royal Leamington Spa is a deceptively promising place to find Head of Facilities work. As a commuter town for Coventry, Birmingham and Leicester, it also opens up fantastic opportunities for anyone willing to travel.
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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