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 Salford
The city of Salford grew up around the same time as neighbouring Manchester until the two merged into one great metropolis, now called Greater Manchester, as the Industrial Revolution got into full swing. Both cities lie within the boundaries of the M60, the Greater Manchester ringroad, and are also joined by the inner ringroad, the Mancunian Way. Salford takes in several towns such as Eccles, Swinton, Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam, bringing the total population to around 240,000. Although Manchester and Salford have similar histories, Salford was always to be in Manchester’s shadow commercially, and there is no discernible city centre to speak of, whereas Manchester’s central business district is large.
A great engineering feat was the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal, which linked Salford and Manchester to the Irish Sea for practically any vessel – this was no barge canal. It ended the dominance of Liverpool as a sea port and brought trade and allowed export directly from the factories and mills. Its terminus was a huge port with massive berths, in what is now Salford Quays. Although ships do still use the canal, the quays are now a massive development of shopping, museums, galleries and residential units. MediCityUK is there, and it’s where many parts of the BBC, including 5 Live, Breakfast, Sport and Children’s are now based.
Salford is extremely well connected, sharing Manchester’s road, rail, tram, canal and international airport network. It’s also a thriving and vital part of Greater Manchester, with its own industry, university and a major hospital. With the huge industrial estate of Trafford Park on the doorstep and a conurbation of 2.5 million to serve, it’s no wonder that we regularly handle Head of Facilities jobs in Salford.
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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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