Job Description

Branta are seeking an experienced, technically robust Hard Services Manager for a contract role in Newcastle for a business-critical, 6-month contract.

The successful individual will take operational ownership of the compliance, management, and strategic delivery of all building-related engineering services. You will be responsible for ensuring that statutory, mandatory, and organisational requirements are met while guaranteeing safe, reliable, and efficient mechanical, electrical, and building fabric services across the entire portfolio.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Operational & Technical Leadership

• Lead and manage all daily mechanical, electrical, and building fabric maintenance activities across a diverse multi-site estate.

• Oversee and optimize active planned preventive maintenance (PPM), reactive breakdown pipelines, and critical lifecycle asset replacement programmes.

• Ensure all critical building infrastructure (HVAC, electrical distribution, BMS systems, water hygiene, fire safety systems, and lifts) operates safely and in absolute alignment with UK legislation.

• Act as the estate's Authorised Person (e.g., AP Electrical, AP Mechanical, AP Pressure Systems, or Water) as required.

Compliance, Safety & Risk Mitigation

• Drive 100% statutory and regulatory compliance across the estate, ensuring strict adherence to Health & Safety at Work legislation, Electricity at Work Regulations, LOLER, PUWER, COSHH, and Water Safety (ACoP L8).

• Maintain pristine, audit-ready compliance files, asset registries, data logs, and comprehensive audit trails.

• Review, challenge, and sign off on contractor RAMS and implement strict safe systems of work (SSOW) and hot works permits.

Contractor & Team Management

• Supervise and mentor the internal engineering workforce (supervisors, technicians, and craft personnel), planning and prioritizing workloads to maximize floor efficiency.

• Manage, audit, and hold accountable specialist third-party engineering contractors against strict SLAs and KPIs.

• Support the wider team with procurement, localized tendering processes, and performance evaluations for specialist hard services vendors.

Commercial & Financial Control

• Administer fixed budgets for hard services, overseeing spend on planned works, reactive callouts, and minor capital upgrades.

• Track contractor billing, forecast financial requirements for the remainder of the contract term, and drive cost efficiencies.

• Contribute technical expertise to long-term capital investment schemes, estate resilience planning, and corporate decarbonization/sustainability goals.

The Ideal Candidate (Person Specification)

Qualifications & Technical Bias:

• A strong, time-served mechanical, electrical, or building services engineering bias.

• Recognized Authorised Person (AP) training credentials (electrical, mechanical, pressure, or water safety).

• Formal health and safety qualifications (IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH General Certificate).

• Professional engineering registration (IEng/CEng) is highly desirable but not strictly mandatory.

Experience Required:

• Significant, verifiable track record managing Hard FM services within a complex, multi-site corporate, educational, public, or healthcare estate.

• Exceptional leadership credentials with experience managing both directly employed mobile trade technicians and specialist tier-1 external subcontractors.

• Proficient in the deployment, tracking, and close-out of tasks within corporate CAFM systems.

• Deep, practical knowledge of UK statutory compliance parameters, building regulations, and asset lifecycle asset tracking.

• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to communicate technical risks and maintenance disruptions clearly to senior leadership and estate users.

Working Conditions & Additional Information

• Travel: Ability to travel efficiently between multi-site property locations across the North East region.

• Flexibility: Occasional evening or weekend oversight may be required to monitor major project works or system shutdowns. Participation in an out-of-hours on-call engineering escalation rota may be required.

To Apply

If you are an available, North East-based Hard FM leader looking for a an immediate start, apply online today or contact Astrid Camacho for more information.