Facilities Manager, London Commercial Estate

Purpose of the role

The Facilities Manager runs the London commercial office portfolio owned by Viridis Real Estate. The role holds statutory compliance and operational control of the buildings, delivers the landlord obligations set out in each lease, keeps service charge and FM spend inside agreed budgets, and makes sure health, safety and FM practice follows company policy and the law.

The role is based on the front desk of one of the London properties. This is deliberate. The postholder is the visible, on-site face of the landlord for occupiers, visitors and contractors, and the front desk is where tenant service is delivered, building access is controlled and the day-to-day running of the estate is seen and judged.

The role carries three things beyond day-to-day building operation. The first is tenant experience. The postholder runs front of house and building services so that occupiers receive a consistent, professional, hotel-standard service across every asset, and tenant satisfaction is measured and acted on.

The second is landlord and service charge control. The postholder delivers the landlord repairing, maintenance and statutory obligations under each lease, prepares and manages the service charge budget, and supports a reconciliation that tenants can follow and accept.

The third is asset value. The postholder works with the Viridis asset management team on capex planning, lifecycle strategy, energy performance and tenant fit-out control, so the buildings remain lettable, compliant and attractive to occupiers.

Key responsibilities

Compliance, health and safety

- Hold statutory compliance across every London commercial asset and keep a complete and current evidence file for each building and for each lease.

- Apply UK health and safety law, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, water hygiene requirements under L8 and HSG274, and asbestos management duties across the estate.

- Manage lift and lifting equipment (LOLER), electrical installation (EICR), gas safety, pressure systems, F-Gas and fire system inspection and testing on schedule.

- Close out actions arising from fire risk assessments, water risk assessments and health and safety audits within agreed timescales.

- Coordinate fire safety and emergency arrangements with occupiers, including fire wardens, evacuation drills, personal emergency evacuation plans and the building emergency plan.

- Check that contractors and tenant contractors follow safe working practice, permits to work and site rules, and challenge it on site when they do not.

- Make sure Building Managers carry out and record weekly fire alarm tests, emergency lighting checks and escape route inspections, and that the fire log book is current at every asset.

- Investigate incidents, report them inside the RIDDOR window and turn the findings into a change in practice.

Front of house and building operations

- Run the front desk at the base property and set the standard for front of house across the London portfolio, including reception, visitor management, access control, post and deliveries.

- Manage the Building Managers and Concierge Receptionists, including rotas, cover, presentation, training and service standard, and make sure every cover staff member is fully trained in all aspects of reception.

- Make sure each asset has trained first aiders and fire wardens on site during operating hours.

- Make sure each building is opened, closed and secured at the start and end of every working day.

- Manage building access and security, including access control systems, CCTV, key and fob control, out of hours arrangements and the security contractor.

- Lead the contract management of soft services, including cleaning, security, waste and recycling, washroom services, pest control and landscaping.

- Keep common parts, reception areas, washrooms, end of trip facilities and external areas to the agreed brand and presentation standard.

- Act as the first point of contact for occupiers on building matters and manage tenant communication, including planned works notices, building updates and occupier meetings.

- Make sure Building Managers visit each tenant at least weekly and issue a monthly tenant newsletter.

- Notify occupiers in advance of any planned downtime or suspension of services, and keep them updated during unplanned outages.

- Manage meeting rooms, amenity spaces and any shared tenant facilities, including bookings, set up and charging where applicable.

- Oversee any business centre, flexible workspace or meeting room operation within the portfolio, including the occupancy schedule, ancillary service revenue and the performance of any third-party operator.

Maintenance delivery

- Run the PPM programme against SFG20 and keep the schedules accurate for every asset.

- Make sure technicians and third parties progress, update and close reactive jobs accurately and within SLA.

- Monitor job scheduling on the CAFM system so work is planned inside SLA and hits the required KPI.

- Manage building services and plant, including HVAC, BMS, lifts, life safety systems and electrical and mechanical plant, so critical plant availability is maintained.

- Manage suppliers and subcontractors to Viridis requirements, including RAMS, insurance, accreditation, permits and site rules.

- Make sure maintenance and servicing regimes are followed so that equipment and plant warranties are not invalidated.

- Make sure Building Managers carry out preventative maintenance in common areas and keep communal toilets, kitchens and external areas clean, tidy and hygienic.

- Carry out monthly condition audits of common parts, plantrooms, roofs and external areas, and log defects on the CAFM system promptly.

Landlord obligations and tenant management

- Deliver the landlord repairing, maintenance and statutory obligations set out in each lease, and keep a compliance pack available on demand for each asset and each lease.

- Hold a working knowledge of the lease terms for each occupier and apply them consistently, including service provision hours, landlord and tenant demise and recoverability.

- Manage tenant fit-out and alteration works against licence to alter conditions, including document review, contractor assurance, inspection and sign off.

- Support tenant move-ins and move-outs, including handover, schedules of condition and technical input to dilapidations where required.

- Make sure new occupiers receive the building manual, rules and regulations and evacuation procedures at move-in.

- Support viewings of vacant space with the leasing team and letting agents, and make sure vacant units are presented to standard.

- Record and report tenant-caused damage and recover the cost under the lease where applicable.

- Acknowledge and progress commercial tenant service requests within agreed timescales and keep occupiers informed of progress.

- Run tenant satisfaction surveys and occupier forums, and turn the feedback into a dated action plan.

Service charge and financial control

- Prepare the annual service charge budget for each asset in line with the RICS professional statement on service charges in commercial property, and the terms of each lease.

- Manage service charge expenditure against budget, issue a quarterly forecast and explain variance by line.

- Prepare the detail for the year end service charge reconciliation and support its issue to tenants within the lease timescale, with supporting evidence for every material item.

- Manage the non-recoverable FM operating budget for the London portfolio and report variance monthly.

- Maintain contract schedules for every asset and monitor supplier quality and pricing to make sure value is obtained.

- Make sure monthly utility readings are taken and recorded on the property management system for every asset.

- Manage insurance claim administration with the insurer and the asset management team.

- Raise purchase orders before works are instructed, process subcontractor paperwork promptly and keep expenses within agreed levels.

- Review operational efficiency with the Finance Manager and the asset management team, covering contractor usage, material cost and out of hours work.

Project works, London commercial estate

- Own the delivery of refurbishment, plant replacement, common part upgrade and landlord improvement works across the London assets.

- Write the scope, obtain competitive tenders and recommend award.

- Manage projects on site to programme, budget and specification, and keep occupiers trading through the works with the least possible disruption.

- Apply CDM duties and hold contractors to the site safety standard.

- Run handover and snagging, and close defects within the liability period rather than absorbing them into maintenance or the service charge.

- Report progress, spend and risk on each project to the Operations Director and the asset manager for each building.

Asset, lifecycle, capex and sustainability

- Work with the Viridis asset management team on capex planning and lifecycle strategy for the London commercial assets.

- Maintain 25-year lifecycle plans for every asset in scope and update them annually against current condition data.

- Produce costed business proposals with options, whole life cost and payback so capex decisions can be made on evidence.

- Develop and maintain sinking fund forecasts for each property and reconcile them to the lifecycle plan and the lease provisions.

- Keep the asset register accurate, including condition, age, warranty position and replacement date.

- Monitor energy, water and waste performance against the prior year baseline, support EPC and MEES compliance, and contribute data to ESG reporting and building certification.

- Provide technical due diligence input and FM mobilisation support to the Viridis acquisitions team on new commercial assets.

Portfolio FM consistency

- Work with the FM leads across the wider Viridis portfolio so compliance practice, PPM standards, contractor management and reporting are consistent across the portfolio.

- Agree common FM standards, templates and reporting formats and apply them at the London commercial assets.

- Share what works and what has failed and adopt practice from elsewhere in the portfolio where it is better than the current London method.

- Contribute to portfolio-wide procurement where scale produces a better price or a better contractor.

People and stakeholders

- Work within the Viridis Real Estate values.

- Set objectives and measure performance of the front desk team and on-site technicians through appraisals and regular one to ones.

- Manage, motivate and support the team to deliver the required standards, including staff based at assets the postholder does not work from.

- Cascade relevant information to the team and to occupiers promptly.

- Keep the building paper and electronic filing structure complete and consistent across every asset.

- Hold a professional working relationship with occupiers, managing agents, the asset management and acquisitions teams and other stakeholders, and attend the relevant meetings, working groups and forums.

- Prepare monthly reports for the Operations Director and the asset management team, and make sure the issues raised in them are dealt with.

- Keep a customer focused approach across the portfolio, recognising that occupiers are paying for a service and that the building reflects on their business as well as ours.

Person specification

Experience and knowledge, essential

- A recognised FM qualification: IWFM Level 4 or above, CIWFM, Chartered FM or an FM degree. Five or more years in an FM role will be considered in place of the qualification.

- Experience of running multi-tenanted commercial office buildings in London, or a comparable commercial asset class.

- Experience of running or managing a front of house, reception or building services team to a premium service standard.

- Working knowledge of commercial lease structures, landlord obligations and service charge budgeting and reconciliation, including the RICS professional statement on service charges.

- Working knowledge of UK health and safety law, fire safety, water hygiene, asbestos and lift safety regimes.

- Experience of managing tenant fit-out works and licence to alter processes.

- Experience of delivering refurbishment and plant replacement projects in occupied buildings.

- Confident with CAFM, BMS, access control and PPM scheduling tools, and with SFG20 and CIBSE Guide M 2023.

- A record of hitting financial targets and managing budgets.

- Experience of building and delivering lifecycle and capex plans, and of presenting them to an owner or investor.

- Experience of managing soft services contracts, including cleaning and security.

- An excellent level of spoken and written English.

Experience and knowledge, desirable

- NEBOSH General Certificate or equivalent.

- Legionella responsible person training to L8 and HSG274.

- Working knowledge of CDM 2015 duties as client or principal designer.

- Knowledge of energy performance, MEES, ESG reporting and building certification schemes such as BREEAM In-Use or NABERS UK.

- Experience of mobilising new assets and managing defects through the liability period.

- Experience of working with an institutional or private equity real estate owner.

- Experience of managing a business centre, flexible workspace or meeting room operation.

- A technical or trade background in building services.

Abilities and personal characteristics

- Polished, approachable and professional, comfortable being the visible face of the building to occupiers and visitors.

- Calm and professional under pressure, including out of hours incidents and tenant escalations.

- A good problem solver who is comfortable working alone and as part of a team.

- Organised, with attention to detail and a habit of recording what was done.

- Able to make decisions, deliver on commitments and hold contractors to account.

- Credible with an investor audience as well as with occupiers, front of house staff and contractors.

- Smart in appearance, with the ability to multi-task and prioritise.

- Builds good working relationships, co-operative and helpful within the team and between teams.

- Proactive, acting on own initiative and turning ideas into improved building performance.

- Commercially aware, with an understanding of what is and is not recoverable through the service charge.