Infrastructure Director / Principal Engineer

HVAC Recruitment Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

HVAC Recruitment Limited is seeking an Infrastructure Director / Principal Engineer to lead the strategy and lifecycle of critical M&E infrastructure across a major facility. You will act as the senior technical authority for end-to-end engineering development and performance.

The role requires extensive senior-level expertise in M&E or building services, with accountability for resilience, capital planning and long-term upgrades. Chartered engineer status is advantageous but not essential.

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience within M&E or Building Services Engineering
• Strong technical knowledge across electrical and/or mechanical infrastructure
• Experience managing complex or business-critical engineering environments
• Excellent understanding of asset lifecycle, infrastructure resilience and CAPEX planning
• Experience delivering major plant replacement or engineering upgrade programmes
• Strong knowledge of engineering compliance, statutory requirements and safe systems of work
• The technical credibility to challenge consultants, contractors and engineering teams
• Experience managing substantial budgets
• Strong commercial and stakeholder-management skills
• Ability to translate complex engineering issues into clear recommendations for senior leadership

Responsibilities

• Lead the M&E infrastructure and asset lifecycle strategy
• Own critical electrical, mechanical, HVAC, water, controls and building services systems
• Ensure engineering resilience, availability and operational continuity
• Identify infrastructure risks, capacity issues, asset obsolescence and future investment requirements
• Develop long-term CAPEX, plant replacement and infrastructure upgrade programmes
• Lead input into major engineering projects, refurbishments and plant replacement
• Review engineering designs, specifications and proposed technical solutions
• Oversee installation, commissioning, testing and handover of major works
• Provide technical leadership on compliance, governance and safe systems of work
• Lead investigations into major engineering failures and root-cause analysis
• Manage consultants, contractors and supply-chain partners
• Control operational and capital engineering budgets
• Drive energy-efficiency, sustainability and carbon-reduction initiatives
• Use asset and building-performance data to improve reliability and performance
• Advise senior stakeholders on technical risk and investment priorities

Skills

M&E infrastructure

Building services

Asset lifecycle

CAPEX planning

Engineering governance

Stakeholder management

Education

Chartered Engineer status (advantageous)

Engineering qualification

Job description

We are recruiting an Infrastructure Director / Principal Engineer for a highly regarded, specialist M&E and building services organisation.

This is a senior technical leadership position with overall responsibility for the strategy, resilience, lifecycle and performance of critical M&E infrastructure across a major facility.

The business is engineering-led, growing and well established within the commercial property and building services market. It combines traditional engineering expertise with modern building technology, data and energy-management solutions, and offers considerably more autonomy than many larger corporate FM organisations.

The Opportunity

You will act as the senior technical authority, taking end-to-end responsibility for the site's engineering infrastructure and its long-term development.

This will include:

• Leading the M&E infrastructure and asset lifecycle strategy
• Taking technical ownership of critical electrical, mechanical, HVAC, water, controls and building services systems
• Ensuring engineering resilience, availability and operational continuity
• Identifying infrastructure risks, capacity issues, asset obsolescence and future investment requirements
• Developing long-term CAPEX, plant replacement and infrastructure upgrade programmes
• Leading technical input into major engineering projects, refurbishments and plant replacement
• Reviewing engineering designs, specifications and proposed technical solutions
• Overseeing installation, commissioning, testing and handover of major works
• Providing technical leadership on statutory compliance, engineering governance and safe systems of work
• Leading investigations into major engineering failures and root-cause analysis
• Managing and challenging consultants, contractors and specialist supply-chain partners
• Controlling operational and capital engineering budgets
• Driving energy-efficiency, sustainability and carbon-reduction initiatives
• Using asset and building-performance data to improve reliability and engineering performance
• Advising senior stakeholders on technical risk, investment priorities and infrastructure strategy

What We Are Looking For

We are interested in speaking with senior engineering professionals from M&E, Building Services, Critical Infrastructure, Facilities Management, Commercial Property or complex engineering environments.

You are likely to have held a position such as:

Engineering Director, Technical Director, Infrastructure Director, Principal Engineer, Head of Engineering, Head of Technical Services, Engineering Manager or Senior Technical Manager.

You should be able to demonstrate:

• Significant senior-level experience within M&E or Building Services Engineering
• Strong technical knowledge across electrical and/or mechanical infrastructure
• Experience managing complex or business-critical engineering environments
• Excellent understanding of asset lifecycle, infrastructure resilience and CAPEX planning
• Experience delivering major plant replacement or engineering upgrade programmes
• Strong knowledge of engineering compliance, statutory requirements and safe systems of work
• The technical credibility to challenge consultants, contractors and engineering teams
• Experience managing substantial budgets
• Strong commercial and stakeholder-management skills
• The ability to translate complex engineering issues into clear recommendations for senior leadership

A relevant engineering qualification is expected, with Chartered Engineer status advantageous but not essential.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is not a role where you simply inherit an engineering operation and maintain the status quo.

You will have genuine influence over how the infrastructure is operated, invested in and developed, with the authority to shape long-term engineering strategy.

The employer is technically focused, operationally driven and continues to invest in its people, engineering capability, technology and building performance.

For somebody coming from a large FM provider, consultancy, major estate or critical engineering environment, it offers the opportunity to move into a business where technical expertise has genuine influence and senior engineers are given the autonomy to make decisions.