About this role
Job summary
Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week
Are you an experienced Facilities professional with a passion for delivering high-quality services and leading teams to achieve excellence?
We are seeking a motivated and forward-thinking Facilities Manager (Domestic Services) to lead the delivery of Domestic Services across the Trust. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in maintaining a clean, safe and welcoming environment for patients, visitors and staff, supporting both patient experience and infection prevention objectives.
As part of the Facilities Management Team, you will provide operational leadership for Domestic Services, ensuring compliance with the National Standards of Cleanliness 2025, driving continuous improvement and supporting the Trust's commitment to delivering Safe, Kind and Effective care.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will be responsible for the operational management of Domestic Services, ensuring the delivery of a high-quality, responsive and customer-focused service across the Trust.
Key responsibilities include:
Managing Domestic Services teams to ensure compliance with National Standards of Cleanliness and Trust policies. Leading audit programmes, PLACE assessments and service improvement initiatives. Working closely with Infection Prevention and Control teams to maintain safe patient environments. Managing staffing, recruitment, attendance, appraisals, training and workforce development. Monitoring budgets, resources and expenditure to support efficient service delivery. Investigating complaints and ensuring timely resolution of operational issues. Developing and maintaining standard operating procedures, risk assessments and quality assurance processes. This role offers an excellent opportunity for an experienced Facilities Manager to make a significant contribution to patient safety, service quality and the overall healthcare environment.
About us
The Trust's services are provided from three locations:
o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire.
The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery
Job description Job responsibilities
See Job Description for further details.
Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page.
If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?
Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.
The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.
If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costswill be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.
New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.
Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.
The Trust will not sponsor where the starting salary does not meet immigration rules
Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.
Good luck with your application.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Management or Professional qualification at postgraduate level or equivalent relevant experience Evidence of continuous professional development
Desirable
Membership of a relevant professional body, for example the Association for Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP), Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) or Healthcare Facilities Management Association (HFMA Facilities Network)
Knowledge and experience Essential
Knowledge of National Cleanliness Standards Knowledge of cleaning science Knowledge of COSHH Understanding of quality assurance and audit processes Experience in a management position within Facilities Management Experience of leading and managing teams Experience of budgetary control and resource management
Desirable
Experience of working in an acute hospital environment Knowledge of PLACE assessments Knowledge of NHS Facilities Services
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address Countess of Chester Hospital
Liverpool Road
Chester
CH2 1UL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.coch.nhs.uk/working-with-us.aspx (Opens in a new tab)