Why Southwark?
Southwark is one of London’s most diverse and innovative boroughs. The council delivers a wide range of services every day, and behind those services is a large and complex estate that needs to be safe, secure, well maintained and fit for purpose.
Corporate Facilities Management plays a key role in making that happen. We support buildings across the council’s non-housing operational estate, including flagship sites such as Tooley Street and Queens Road, as well as a range of operational and public-facing buildings.
We’re now looking for a Head of CFM Operations and Performance to help lead and strengthen and modernise how our services are delivered. This is a great career opportunity to take on a senior FM leadership role in a large London borough offering real scope to shape how operational FM services are delivered and improve performance.
About the role
This is a senior operational leadership role, reporting to the Assistant Director of Corporate Facilities Management. You’ll lead the performance, planning and the continuous improvement of FM operations across the council’s non-housing estate.
The role covers a wide range of services, including statutory compliance, reactive maintenance, cleaning, security, front of house, post, room configuration and wider FM support to services across the borough.
You’ll be responsible for ensuring the fundamentals are done well while improving how services are managed, and making sure the service has the right systems, data, contracts and performance measures in place.
A big part of the role will be bringing together in-house teams, contractors and council services so that FM support feels joined up, responsive and reliable. You’ll also lead on performance, risk and assurance, making sure there’s a clear and consistent approach to how buildings and services are managed, monitored and improved.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading operational FM services across a large and varied council estate
- Improving performance, service quality, compliance and value for money
- Managing risk and assurance across statutory, operational and contractual responsibilities
- Strengthening service level agreements and ensuring expectations are clear and properly managed
- Providing senior advice on FM performance, operational risk, compliance and service improvement.
- Supporting the continued development and modernisation of Corporate Facilities Management services
What we're looking for
We’re looking for someone with strong senior-level experience in facilities management, estates operations or a similar building services environment.
This isn’t a back-office role. The service operates across a live estate, supporting staff, visitors, elected members and residents. You’ll need to be visible, responsive and comfortable working in an environment where priorities can change quickly and where good facilities management makes a real difference to how services operate.
You’ll bring a practical, solutions-focused approach, with the confidence to work with senior managers, contractors, operational teams and service users. You’ll need to be able to step back and think strategically, but also get into the detail when needed.
To be considered, please outline the following experience in your application:
- Leading operational FM services across multiple sites or a complex estate
- Managing statutory compliance, health and safety, building operations and service risk
- Improving contract performance, service standards and customer experience
- Using data, reporting and service insight to identify issues and drive improvement
- Leading teams and working with contractors in a busy operational environment with a focus on collaboration, accountability and service excellence
Additional Information
Guaranteed Interview Scheme:
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.
Benefits and more information:
In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.
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