King’s College London was founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington (then Prime Minister) in 1829 as a university college in the tradition of the Church of England. The university has grown and developed through mergers with several institutions each with their own distinguished histories. These include: United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals; Chelsea College; Queen Elizabeth College; Institute of Psychiatry.
KCL approached Maxwell Stephens to support in the recruitment of an Assistant Director of Engineering to be based on the Guy’ and St Tomas’ Campus (London Bridge) with responsibility for satellite offices at all of the University’s 4 main Campus’ and many of the smaller remote sites across central London.
“Maxwell Stephens has helped us hire our top 3 performers and most of the directors. The service is great and they always provide high quality candidates. Maxwell Stephens are a joy to work with from a digital and organisational point of view, we have worked with them for over 7 years and we have never fallen out!”
The Position
The Assistant Director of Engineering would be a key member of the Estates and Facilities Senior Management Team, reporting directly to the Director of Operations. The Assistant Director of Engineering would oversee the functional and pastoral management of a multi-level team consisting of circa 100 directly employed engineers, technician and support staff, in addition to a portfolio of specialist engineering and maintenance service partners.
The successful candidate would be accountable for the oversight and strategic management of a £10m- £15m per annum OPEX budget, in addition to being responsible for the creation, execution, and on-going management of a CAPEX Asset Improvement Pipeline for Lifecycle, Infrastructure, and Minor Works of circa £5m – £15m per annum. In addition they would assume overall responsibility for the safe and efficient functioning, maintenance and operation of all buildings, equipment, machinery, systems, and services.
The Candidate
This senior role required a candidate with a wide range of experience. Extensive senior FM management experience and experience of managing a large portfolio were necessities for the position., preferably in a similar Higher Education/clinical and research environment. Other areas of experience required included: contractor/vendor commercial and performance management; devising, managing and letting FM contracts; experience of major refurbishment and infrastructure projects; managing and forecasting multi million pound budgets; experience developing and managing high performing teams and developing junior talent and experience of developing and implementing a life cycle program.
In regards to qualifications, it was essential that the post holder have a degree/post grad qualification in a relevant field (ideally a master’s degree). It was also desirable that they be a member of a relevant professional organisation (BIFM/RICS/CEng). A demonstrable knowledge of Health & Safety legislation with IOSH/NEBOSH qualification was essential.