What Do Facilities Managers Do?
03 Oct, 20241-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- What a Facilities Manager does.
- The qualifications needed to be a Facilities Manager.
- The skills required to be a Facilities Manager.
- Where Facilities Managers work.
- Where the latest Facilities Manager jobs are and how to apply for them.
Interested in pursuing a career as a Facilities Manager? In our latest blog, we’re taking a look at the skills required for a successful career within this role and the qualifications needed to ensure that individuals are able to carry out this role to the highest standard!
What does a Facilities Manager do?
Day to day, a Facilities Manager is responsible for supervising the functionality of buildings and the services they provide, through governing their maintenance and security.
Facilities Managers must ensure that buildings are meeting stringent health and safety regulations and that standards are maintained within this area. They must also manage various contractors if repairs and renovations are required on properties, whilst taking a lead on budgeting for facility operations.
Amongst maintaining the physical infrastructure of a building and upholding health and safety standards, Facilities Managers must also manage and supervise a team of maintenance staff and ensure that all tasks are completed in a timely manner.
Facilities Managers must also effectively allocate funding used to maintain, repair and upgrade buildings and keep an accurate inventory of equipment and supplies to guarantee the success of building projects.
What qualifications are needed to be a Facilities Manager?
Typically, to practise as a Facilities Manager, an individual will need a bachelor’s degree in facilities management, property management or another related field that will equip them with the necessary skills and experience.
The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) provides a Level 4 or higher professional certification that can significantly boost an individual’s career prospects.
Property recruitment specialist, Chris Wilkinson, says “People who gain additional qualifications or invest time into Continuous Professional Development stand out amongst other candidates when it comes to finding a new role or progressing within their career.”
Many employers highly value relevant experience within building services, property management or facilities operations as this demonstrates that individuals will be able to begin a new contract with little need for time consuming training.
What skills are needed to be a Facilities Manager?
To effectively carry out the role of a Facilities Manager, there are many hard and soft skills a person will need.
Strong leadership skills are desired as Facilities Managers must successfully guide a team of property professionals to ensure positive outcomes. Facilities Managers must also be able to communicate effectively with others in order to coordinate various stakeholders and address the needs of tenants.
Strong financial acumen is also highly sought after because accurate budget management and allocation is essential when it comes to overseeing property management and ensuring that projects stay within their assigned budget. Should a project be over budget, this can be costly to the private organisation or local authority that a Facilities Manager is working for.
In order to ensure the smooth functioning of property infrastructure, it is also crucial that Facilities Managers are technically proficient and able to use their initiative to solve problems that may occur out of the blue. For example, if a property suffers a maintenance issue and is no longer habitable for tenants, a Facilities Manager could help to provide tenants with a safe solution to the problem and ensure that they are not inconvenienced any more than they have been. Facilities Managers must have a solid understanding of building systems and maintenance protocols to ensure a high standard of service for tenants.
Strong attention to detail is also crucial for mitigating problems before they become a big issue and this is especially important when conducting inspections and ensuring that regulatory compliance is met at all times.
Where do Facilities Managers work?
Generally, Facilities Manager jobs are found at large corporate organisations, commercial property management companies, property development companies or facility management firms.
However, there are also often Facilities Manager roles available within public sector entities such as local government authorities, healthcare organisations or educational institutions.
Property jobs
If you’re searching for your next interim property job, why not take a look at the latest vacancies, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Property recruitment services
As property recruitment specialists, we support local authorities and private sector businesses nationwide with their temporary, interim and permanent recruitment needs.
If you’re struggling to fill a vacancy, why not get in touch with our property specialists, Chris Wilkinson or Joe O’Halloran on 01772 954200 to see how we can help?
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re a vibrant and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West.
We continually reimagine the recruitment process to challenge convention and defy expectations; from creating a better recruitment experience to remodelling employee engagement, we thrive off doing things differently and turning heads along the way.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
