About this role
Facilities Operations Manager, Soft Services, ongoing temporary role, World Class University, 35 hours per week, £24.00 per hour plus holiday pay
Are you a seasoned Facilities Management professional with management experience within Soft Services? We are recruiting for a confident Facilities Operations Manager on an ongoing basis to support during a time of staff changes. This role is working within a World Class University, in their Estates department which covers areas including Estates Strategy, Capital Projects, Maintenance, Energy, Carbon and Environmental Management, Health & Safety and Catering. You will manage Soft Services including delivery of cleaning, janitorial portering and waste management services, managing the Facilities Management Supervisors and working closely with the Head of Facilities Management.
Key Responsibilities:
Managing the delivery of cleaning, janitorial and portering services, ensuring agreed standards are consistently metManaging and coordinating FM Supervisors within Soft ServicesOverseeing periodic deep cleaning programmes, conference and summer schools cleaning and housekeeping, event setups and clear-downs, and seasonal workActing as the operational escalation point for urgent issues, customer concerns, and incidentsEnsure integration between Cleaning, Janitorial and Portering teamsApproving rotas and annual leave and oversee absence managementDelivering training where requiredOverseeing operational compliance with Health & Safety legislation, COSHH, RAMS, risk assessments, PPE and Fire SafetyEnsuring that regular audits and inspections are carried out in line with internal procedures, analysing trends, and implementing corrective actionsEnsuring effective incident and accident, near miss reporting and follow-up (RIDDOR awareness), coordinating incident investigations and learning outcomesMaintaining secure, compliant stores and cleaning cupboards and high standards of equipment careProviding visible leadership and hands on operational support during summer schools, conference seasons, open days, Welcome Week and exam periodsCoordinating event cleaning and portering logisticsEnsuring use of CAFM (e.g., MiCAD, ), for job assignment, monitoring, SLA compliance and closureProducing regular reports on KPIs Managing day-to-day relationships with suppliers and contractors Supporting Estates’ sustainability priorities: waste reduction, recycling, responsible chemical use, energy efficient equipment and process optimisationContributing to business continuity and contingency planning, maintaining resilience for incidents, closures, and seasonal pressuresOverseeing ordering, stock control, distribution of consumables, chemicals, PPE, uniforms and equipmentMaintaining asset registers, planned servicing schedules, PAT testing coordination and machine lifecycle planning; ensure prompt repairs and safe operationMonitoring expenditure and provide information to support designated operational budgets You will have:
Managerial experience within Facilities Management or Cleaning ServicesSoft Services experienceConfident Excel and Outlook userStrong knowledge of cleaning, janitorial, portering and waste management operationsLeadership of multi functional teams across complex multi building estatesContractor and supplier managementManagement of formal processes such as attendance, conduct and performanceKnowledge of H&S legislation – COSHH, RAMS, SSOW and risk assessmentUnderstanding of BICSc standards and methodologiesYou will ideally be a BICSc accredited trainer or have a similar qualification with a recognised professional qualification in Health & Safety (e.g. IOSH). If you have a recognised Facilities Management qualification and Membership of a relevant association that would be an advantageIt would be useful if you have worked in Higher Education or large Public Sector environments, have used CAFM systems (e.g MiCAD), have managed waste services and have designed or delivered staff training Val Wade Recruitment actively welcomes applications from underrepresented communities and is proud to be an equal opportunities employer and agency.