Group Facilities Management Director

Babcock International Group; Plymouth; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Babcock is seeking a Group Facilities Management Director to provide strategic leadership of Facilities Management across a global, defence and engineering organisation. You will shape standards, governance and supplier strategies while driving operational excellence across a multi-site estate.

In this pivotal role, you will lead transformation efforts, ensure safety and compliance, and deliver value for national security programmes and critical infrastructure.

Qualifications

• Senior leader with experience in facilities management across a complex organisation.
• Experience in defence, government, or highly regulated environments.
• Strong supplier management, framework agreements and governance.
• Solid understanding of hard and soft facilities management, safety and risk.
• Proven ability to develop operating models and improve performance governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic direction and maturity of the Facilities Management function across the organisation.
• Drive governance, performance standards and supplier management across all FM domains.
• Shape long-term operating models, supplier strategies and commercial frameworks.
• Influence senior stakeholders during a major FM transformation programme.
• Ensure safety, compliance and risk management across facilities operations.

Skills

Senior leadership

Facilities management

Supplier management

Governance

Safety & compliance

Education

IWFM qualification

RICS qualification

CIBSE qualification

IOSH/NEBOSH certification

Job description

Job Title: Group Facilities Management Director

Location: Hybrid, UK

Compensation: Competitive Salary + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF

Shape the Future of Facilities Management Across a Global Defence and Engineering Organisation

At Babcock, we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Group Facilities Management Director at one of our main UK sites including London, Warrington, Bristol, Devonport, Leicester or Rosyth.

The role

As Group Facilities Management Director, you will provide strategic leadership for Facilities Management across a complex global organisation. This is a rare opportunity to influence the future direction of facilities management at enterprise level, leading the development of standards, governance, supplier strategy, and operational excellence across a diverse estate.

Joining us during a pivotal phase of transformation, you will help shape and mature the Facilities Management function, ensuring it delivers safe, effective and sustainable outcomes across defence, aerospace and engineering environments. Your expertise will directly support critical programmes that help protect national security, maintain essential infrastructure, and create long‑term value for our customers and communities.

Day‑to‑day, you will be responsible for:

• Leading the strategic direction and maturity of the Facilities Management function across the organisation.
• Driving consistency, governance, assurance and performance standards across Hard Facilities Management, Soft Facilities Management, Workplace Services, Compliance and Capital Projects.
• Shaping long‑term operating models, supplier strategies and commercial frameworks to maximise value and service delivery.
• Influencing senior stakeholders and providing expert guidance during a significant facilities management transformation programme.
• Ensuring facilities operations maintain the highest standards of safety, compliance, risk management and operational performance.

This role is full time, 37.5 hours per week and provides hybrid working arrangements.

Essential Experience of the Group Facilities Management Director:

• Significant senior leadership experience in facilities management within a complex, multi‑site organisation at enterprise or group level.
• Experience working in defence, government, military, infrastructure, engineering or other highly regulated and security‑sensitive environments.
• Strong commercial acumen with experience of supplier management, framework agreements, outsourced service models and performance governance.
• Strong understanding of Hard Facilities Management, Soft Facilities Management, compliance, safety and risk management.
• Demonstrable success in developing operating models, governance frameworks, organisational capability and performance improvement initiatives.

Qualifications for the Group Facilities Management Director:

Essential qualifications are not specified; however, the following professional qualifications would be advantageous:

• Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management qualification (IWFM).
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors qualification (RICS).
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers qualification (CIBSE).
• IOSH or NEBOSH certification.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Standard (BPSS) and Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at Babcock

We’re Babcock — a global FTSE organisation with over 26, people working together to make a difference.

Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we’re building a future that lasts — not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work‑life balance.

We call that lifetime engineering.

Join us and see how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident committed employer.