Managing Director

HVAC Recruitment Limited; Manchester; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Executive benefits

Long-term incentive plan (MIP)

Job summary

HVAC Recruitment Limited advertises a senior role overseeing a profitable Mechanical Building Services and FM business. The Managing Director will drive performance, strategy and expansion, leveraging autonomy and investment to scale the operation.

The role requires strong P&L control, leadership of a seasoned team and close engagement with major clients and frameworks. The opportunity includes leading growth from £17–£18m revenue towards £20m+ and pursuing acquisitions, with a clear emphasis on

Qualifications

• Significant P&L responsibility and experience running a £20m+ business or division.
• Strong Mechanical / HVAC / M&E bias and project delivery understanding.
• Experience building, scaling or restructuring a senior leadership team.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of overall performance, strategy and leadership of the business.
• Lead M&E/HVAC project delivery and recurring revenue growth.
• Identify margin drift, labour inefficiencies and commercial risk; manage the strategic plan.
• Develop and strengthen the senior leadership team and key client relationships.
• Drive organic growth, market expansion and integration of acquisitions.
• Set up a scalable structure to support growth beyond £20m, £30m and more.

Skills

P&L management

Strategic leadership

M&E/HVAC industry knowledge

Stakeholder management

Growth strategy

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/engineering

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

M&E | Mechanical Building Services | FM | Projects | Maintenance

This is a rare opportunity to take full operational leadership of an established, profitable and growing £17m–£18m Mechanical & Electrical and Facilities Management business, with the backing and investment to scale significantly beyond its current size.

The business has an excellent reputation, a strong leadership team and an established client base spanning major FM providers, public-sector organisations and long-term frameworks.

Following a recent change in ownership, we are now looking for an experienced Managing Director to take genuine responsibility for running the company and lead its next phase of growth.

This isn't a turnaround and it isn't a heavily controlled corporate MD position.

You'll inherit a successful business, an experienced team, strong client relationships and a healthy pipeline — but with the autonomy and investment to make a genuine impact.

The Opportunity

The business currently generates approximately £17m–£18m revenue, combining substantial Mechanical & Electrical project activity with an established £4m–£5m FM and maintenance operation.

Projects range from high-volume smaller works through to £1m–£5m M&E schemes, with particular strength across mechanical building services, decarbonisation and technically complex projects.

There is now a clear strategy to take the business beyond £20m, supported by organic growth, increased recurring maintenance revenue and targeted acquisitions.

An acquisition within the Air Conditioning/HVAC sector is already being pursued as part of that strategy.

As Managing Director, you will have genuine autonomy and full responsibility for the performance and development of the business.

Your remit

You will take ownership of:

• Full P&L, budgeting, forecasting and commercial performance
• Overall leadership and strategy of the business
• Performance of Mechanical & Electrical projects
• Continued development of FM and recurring maintenance revenue
• Identifying margin drift, labour inefficiencies and commercial risk
• Developing and strengthening the senior leadership team
• Key client and framework relationships
• Business structure and operational efficiency
• Organic growth and new market opportunities
• Integration of future acquisitions
• Building a business capable of scaling through £20m, £30m and beyond

Importantly, you won't be expected to personally build every element of the FM operation.

The longer-term structure is likely to include a dedicated senior FM leader responsible for accelerating recurring maintenance growth, allowing the Managing Director to concentrate on the performance and strategic direction of the overall company.

Who we're looking for

We're particularly interested in speaking with senior leaders from the Mechanical Building Services, HVAC, M&E Contracting and Facilities Management sectors.

You may currently be a:

Managing Director | Divisional Managing Director | Operations Director | Regional Director | Business Unit Director | General Manager

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Significant P&L responsibility, ideally within a £20m+ business or division
• A strong Mechanical / HVAC / M&E bias
• Genuine understanding of M&E project delivery and commercial performance
• Experience of substantial projects alongside high-volume smaller works
• Understanding of Facilities Management, planned/reactive maintenance and recurring revenue
• Strong financial and commercial acumen
• Experience building, structuring or scaling a business
• Ability to lead an established senior management team
• A commercial, entrepreneurial approach rather than reliance on large corporate support functions

This role is unlikely to suit someone whose career has been exclusively traditional FM with limited exposure to M&E projects.

Likewise, we're not simply looking for an outstanding Project Director. You need to understand how to run the business behind the projects.

Leadership style. Culture is extremely important.

The existing business has been built around a firm, fair, supportive and accountable leadership style, resulting in excellent staff retention.

We're therefore looking for someone confident enough to lead without needing to dominate.

You'll need credibility in the boardroom, commercially with clients and equally with the operational teams delivering the work.

Why consider it?

For the right person, this offers something relatively unusual.

You get the autonomy and influence normally associated with owning an SME, but with the financial backing, acquisition capability and longer-term opportunity of being part of a significantly larger growth strategy.

The successful individual will be taking control of an established business rather than starting from scratch, with the opportunity to materially increase its scale and value.

There is also the potential to participate in a significant long‑term Management Incentive Plan (MIP) aligned with the wider group's growth and future value creation.

Package

£120,000 – £150,000 basic salary (or more potentially), dependent upon experience and track record, plus executive benefits and long-term incentive potential.

The salary range is deliberately broad. We are more interested in finding the right person than forcing the appointment into a predetermined salary bracket.

If you're currently running a substantial M&E/FM operation but want greater autonomy, genuine P&L ownership and the opportunity to build something considerably bigger, we'd like to speak with you.