Role Title

Facilities Manager

Job family group

Property Directorate

Job family

Facilities Management

Grade

HEO

Status

Role Purpose

(250 words max)

The Facilities Manager is responsible for oversight of the Facilities Management (FM) and Security service contract provision within a defined portfolio of properties, supporting the wider business objectives of HMCTS and developing a fit for purpose, safe, secure, and modern sustainable Estate.

The role is established to provide a remote support function to HMCTS colleagues by performance managing service providers appointed through fixed term-contract arrangements and deliver a high level of personalised care to our customers, stakeholders and court and tribunal users.

Key Accountabilities (600 words max)

• Maintain an established and broad understanding of both the security and facilities management contract arrangements and related supplier responsibilities to swiftly respond to daily user enquiries and resolve problems and issues in a timely manner. This means developing a knowledge of contract framework, specifications, service level agreements and key performance indicators against which supplier’s success can be measured.

• Be the first point of contact for HMCTS Operational Managers and Building Champions to resolve escalated building maintenance and security issues. You will need to be available remotely at short notice to provide contract advice and communicate with supplier colleagues to ensure supplier resources are directed appropriately to resolve critical issues.

• Manage chargeable ad hoc work requests via supplier Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) systems - processing work order approvals within defined financial constraints and ensuring value for money checks are conducted so that agreed costs reflect contract specifications. Approve or reject submitted quotes within two working days to prevent service delays to end users. Complete business case documents to progress chargeable work exceeding financial authority and submit to line manager for review.

• Travelling to sites is a requirement of the role. The role holder will be expected to visit each of your properties in person monthly as a minimum. The visit should be structured so that you meet with the Building Champion/Delivery Manager and review outstanding priority issues, you will manage an action plan to resolve matters within your area of FM/Security contract responsibility. You will arrange to follow up actions through to resolution within timescales agreed with the Building Champion or other local leaders.

• Conduct formal Facilities Management building audits in person, in conjunction with FM contract providers - in line with contract requirements, currently two audits per month per region.

• Conduct Security contract Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) ‘M7 and M8’ audits on site in person (supplier search on entry and staff presentation assessments) - 4 sites per month minimum, 1 of which conducted with Supplier Supervisor.

• Feedback common themes of supplier performance to Line Management so that patterns are identified and addressed.

• Proactively seek and highlight key asset upgrade and replacements based on discussions with supplier counterparts and frequent asset failure knowledge - lobbying relevant departments to seek appropriate funding.

• Review supplier payment applications monthly (responding within five working days) to determine whether ad hoc chargeable tasks presented are suitably complete and agree payment accordingly or reject invoices with suitable justification provided back to the supplier.

• Build an understanding of HMCTS sustainability policy and consider this in all aspects of your working tasks. Take consideration of the policy when reviewing planned asset upgrades and replacement options presented by suppliers. Proactively examine utility data (water/gas/electricity) produced monthly to identify anomalies/unexpected data to actively reduce CO2 emissions and water wastage within your portfolio.

• Carry out reasonable additional ad hoc duties in line with your grade, this may involve management of staff.

• Provide support to the Ministry of Justice by assisting with FM related issues on Capital Projects - joint role in government soft landings.

• Attend ad hoc meetings (PECS quarterly meetings, site specific Fire Risk Assessments, Security Risk Assessments) upon request.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience (500 words max)

Essential Skills

• strong communication skills. The role requires constant dialogue with your customers, and you will be able to explain key contract processes and expectations as well as explanations of issues to an audience without technical understanding.

• proven experience working with customers and multiple stakeholders to deliver excellent levels of customer service. You will be able to provide examples in previous experience which demonstrates your exceptional people skills. You will build relationships with your customers and supplier staff that strikes a balance between holding our partners to account and a personable approach that ensures we work as a collective to improve standards, avoiding a purely combative approach.

• proficient using MS Office, Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook software. You will be responding to many daily enquiries by email and will be confident of writing in a formal manner, occasionally to senior audiences.

• base level understanding of Fire Safety, Security and Health & Safety.

• experience of working within defined policies and procedures for example financial constraints.

Desirable Skills

• experience working within a Facilities Management and Security environment. The ideal candidate might show a successful track record in managing services, properties and relationships in a multi-site FM and Security environment.

• qualified to institute of workplace and facilities management standard or comparable level.

• experience in contract management, understanding of contract process and service level agreements/key performance indicators by which we hold suppliers to account.

• experience of project management. You will work with supplier Project Managers and will take an oversight of the project process, escalating when projects deviate from scope and progress.

• basic understanding of Asbestos and Legionella Management - although training will be provided.

Problem Solving and Decision Making (300 words max)

The Facilities Manager is expected to make difficult decisions quickly, often daily as they manage competing demands on their time. They will be expected to support operational colleagues when issues are escalated to them for advice and support, for instance by coordinating suppliers to ensure swift and reasonable response is made to emergency events such as roof leaks, flooding, temperature issues and fire events. These events are often unpredictable and may fall outside of the usual contract service level agreements - you will therefore regularly use your own judgement to assess the level of urgency presented and the suitability of the supplier response.

As a delegated budget holder, you will be responsible for deciding how regional funding is best distributed. You will have multiple stakeholders lobbying you to spend this budget to serve their group purpose i.e. PECS Health & Safety advisors, HMCTS Safety and Security colleagues, the judiciary, and other external stakeholders such as the Crown Premises fire safety inspection group. Where funding decisions sit outside of your remit you will be expected to collate and analyse information, highlight any costs and benefits, associated or potential risks, and alternative options, and present them in a business case format to allow Senior Managers to make decisions which may be based on the role holder recommendations. You will have support from the HMCTS Technical Team who provide advice on the merits of supplier solutions.

You will manage requests to amend operating hours of supplier security staff and occasionally to reduce or increase the number of staff on site. This will involve collating background information, carefully assessing perceived levels of risk and presenting packaged business cases to the Regional Facilities Manager to be able to make an informed decision as to whether requests should be progressed.

Management of Resources (250 words max)

The role holder will be responsible for approving chargeable security and FM supplier tasks within their property portfolio and financial authority limits. Resources within the department may be limited hence there is a challenge to improve facilities for court and tribunal users by ensuring spend is directed where it is needed most, using a framework of criteria to ensure regional delegated budgets are not exceeded.

The role holder may have direct line management responsibility. If they manage a team they will undertake all management responsibility as necessary, including developing he capability of the team, inducting staff, and performance management. They will work with local security contractor managers and exert influence over them to ensure their own resources are directed for the maximum benefit of HMCTS and its users. They will also be able to prioritise their own work and manage their time effectively, by carefully evaluating the various demands on their diary.

They will influence and raise the capability of local HMCTS Building Champions to get the most from CAFM systems, enabling them to focus their own limited resources for our common purpose contract management goals.

Autonomy (250 words max)

The Facilities Manager position comes with some autonomy, with a flexible approach to managing their time. They will manage their own calendar effectively and be expected to balance their time across busy working days. Consequently, they will be a self-driven and motivated individual.

The role holder line manager will often have a light touch over day-to-day activities however ever-changing priorities mean they may be expected to re-prioritise workloads at short notice.

The role is remote in physical location within a regional team of Facilities Managers, and you will check-in with your Line Manager (the Area Facilities Manager) at least weekly, and often every day, meeting in person only once or twice a month. Some lone working is necessary during site visits. They will make their own decisions i.e. assessing whether boiler faults dictate that temporary heating might be necessary or responding to unpredictable weather events affecting our buildings and be able to seek guidance from Area Facilities/Regional Facilities Manager where required.

While you will have great autonomy over your time management, you are expected to work within defined financial constraints and certain guidelines (see key accountabilities and numbers of site visits/KPI audits etc), whilst adhering to flexible working arrangements and lone working guidelines.

Key Relationships and Contacts (300 words max)

• You will use excellent communication skills to build a network of reliable contacts at a comparable grade within the supplier organisations and you will work closely with these contacts to resolve a wide range of unpredictable issues. It is crucial to strike a balance that looks like amicable, friendly, and effective working relationships, while exerting pressure as necessary to achieve necessary supplier high performance.

• You will be the main FM contact point for site-based Building Champions who will come to rely on your quick responses and learned knowledge of the contracts. Often your direction may be towards other departments and this knowledge of who might be best placed to deal with a problem is invaluable. In your monthly meetings with the Building Champions you will seek out opinions and encourage feedback that drives supplier performance; therefore the valued nature of these relationships cannot be underestimated.

• You will establish close relationships within your own team and create a buddy system with a colleague to verify safe travels and site visits. You will seek out advice from your regional colleagues daily and you will meet in person monthly to share ideas, problem solve and feedback to your senior colleagues within the Team.

• The FM should remain visible to the Building Champions and occasionally their colleagues as well as colleagues from other government departments such as the National Probation Service. You will forge close relationships with colleagues in other Estates Directorate Departments such as the Asset Management Team, HMCTS Technical, Capital Projects Delivery and the Sustainability Teams. As the front-line Facilities Manager, you will play a crucial role in reporting issues to be resolved by these colleagues. Complex issues need to be reported accurately and swiftly to ensure business continuity.