Group Facilities Manager & Health & Safety Lead

About the Role

Permanent - 39 hours per week 

Hybrid Working (Minimum 4 days per week working from our Distribution Centre in Kendal and Head Office in Windermere, will also require visits to the store estate)

We're looking for an experienced and forward-thinking Group Facilities Manager & Health & Safety Lead to take ownership of our facilities strategy, health and safety compliance, and business continuity planning across the Group.

This is a senior leadership role where you'll shape the future of our facilities function, ensuring our estate remains safe, compliant, efficient and fit for purpose. You'll lead multidisciplinary teams, manage key supplier relationships, oversee significant operational and capital budgets, and provide expert advice on all aspects of health, safety and environmental compliance. If you're passionate about creating safe, high-performing workplaces, enjoy building strong commercial partnerships, and thrive in a fast-paced retail environment, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll be Doing

As Group Facilities Manager & Health & Safety Lead, you will:

• Develop and deliver the strategic direction for Facilities, identifying innovation opportunities, challenging existing practices and ensuring our estate remains optimised for the future.
• Lead and continuously improve statutory compliance across the business, including Health & Safety, Environmental and Facilities legislation.
• Develop, implement and maintain policies, risk assessments, safe systems of work and training programmes covering areas such as: Health & Safety, Environmental compliance, ESOS & SECR, Waste management and recycling, COSHH, Legionella, Asbestos and Insurance inspections

• Act as the business's expert Health & Safety Lead, ensuring systems and processes remain compliant, practical and effective in reducing risk.
• Lead the Facilities, Health & Safety and Cleaning teams, providing coaching, support and leadership to direct reports including the Assistant Facilities Manager, Facilities Site Supervisor and H&S & Facilities Supervisor.
• Manage all Facilities operational (OPEX) and capital (CAPEX) budgets, ensuring effective financial control and value for money.
• Review and manage commercial contracts, negotiating with suppliers and contractors to achieve exceptional service and competitive pricing.
• Maintain comprehensive asset registers and lifecycle management plans, providing recommendations for future investment and replacement programmes.
• Develop and maintain robust business continuity plans, working collaboratively across the business and with external partners to minimise operational disruption.

About You

You'll be an experienced facilities professional with a strong understanding of health, safety and environmental compliance, alongside excellent leadership and commercial skills.

Essential Experience

•Minimum of 5 years' experience in a Facilities Management role.

•At least 2 years' experience in a senior Health and Safety role with strong working knowledge of UK Health & Safety legislation.

•Experience managing Building Management Systems (BMS), Mechanical & Electrical services and general building maintenance.

•Proven experience managing operational and capital budgets.

•Strong commercial negotiation skills with experience managing contractors and supplier relationships.

•Experience leading and developing high-performing teams.

•Experience using CAFM and Health & Safety Management Systems.

•NEBOSH qualification.

Skills & Capabilities

We're looking for someone who can:

•Interpret Health, Safety and Environmental legislation and apply it effectively across a large retail estate without unnecessarily impacting operational performance.

•Build strong relationships with colleagues, suppliers and contractors.

•Communicate confidently at all levels, both verbally and in writing.

•Demonstrate excellent attention to detail and organisational skills.

•Manage multiple priorities, delegate effectively and work independently when required.

•Analyse complex information and make commercially sound decisions.

•Solve problems creatively and pragmatically.

•Use Microsoft Office confidently, including intermediate Excel skills.

About Lakeland

Founded in the early 60s, with the same strong values of quality and customer care now as when we first started. From selling plastic bags for home freezing from the Rayner family garage in Windermere, to over 4000 kitchen and home products today, Lakeland has grown to the extent that we now send out thousands of parcels a day from our Kendal despatch centre, and we have stores nationwide, stretching from Aberdeen to Exeter, with more in the pipeline.

Benefits

There are many benefits to being part of the Lakeland team. Other than being part of a huge and happy working family, our colleagues are rewarded with a competitive salary, discretionary bonus scheme and a group personal pension plan.

There are 29 days’ paid holiday (including bank holidays) and generous discounts on our products. We offer a great retail environment, and the chance to be part of a team who like to work and socialise together