Job Title
Technical Services Manager
Role Purpose
The Technical Services Manager is responsible for the safe, reliable, compliant, and customer‑focused operation of building engineering systems and associated building fabric within a shopping centre environment. The role focuses on technical assurance, operational performance, asset condition, and service continuity for both critical and non‑critical assets that support a safe, attractive, and fully operational retail destination.
Acting as the senior technical authority on site, the postholder ensures that mechanical, electrical, life safety, and building fabric elements operate in line with statutory obligations, manufacturer requirements, landlord standards, and agreed service levels, while supporting continuous improvement, resilience, and positive occupier and visitor experience.
This role is deliberately non‑financial in nature and does not include budget ownership, service charge management, or commercial financial accountability.
Key Responsibilities
Technical & Operational Leadership
- Provide day‑to‑day technical leadership for mechanical, electrical, life safety, and associated building systems across the shopping centre.
- Act as the primary technical escalation point for complex plant failures, system alarms, fabric defects, and abnormal operating conditions.
- Ensure all plant, equipment, and fabric elements are operated and maintained within design parameters, statutory requirements, and manufacturer specifications.
- Maintain oversight of critical systems including HV/LV, UPS, generators, BMS, fire systems, security interfaces, HVAC, and public‑facing infrastructure.
Compliance, Assurance & Safety
- Ensure full statutory compliance across all engineering and fabric‑related activities, including health & safety, fire safety, accessibility, and environmental requirements.
- Implement and maintain safe systems of work, permits, risk assessments, and method statements for engineering and fabric works.
- Ensure engineering and fabric documentation, O&M manuals, drawings, inspection records, and certification are accurate, current, and readily available.
- Carry out regular audits, inspections, and technical reviews of plant rooms, back‑of‑house areas, service corridors, roofs, and public areas to identify risk and drive corrective actions.
Planned & Reactive Maintenance
- Oversee delivery of planned preventative maintenance (PPM) and reactive works for engineering systems and building fabric to ensure asset reliability, safety, and presentation.
- Review maintenance trends, asset condition, and defect data to support proactive and condition‑based maintenance approaches.
- Ensure incidents, defects, alarms, and fabric failures are investigated, recorded, prioritised, and resolved effectively.
- Support the development, testing, and continuous improvement of operating procedures and emergency response plans relevant to a live retail environment.
Building Fabric Management
- Provide management and technical oversight of building fabric elements including roofs, façades, glazing, floors, walls, doors, loading bays, malls, service yards, and landlord areas.
- Coordinate fabric inspections and surveys, ensuring defects are identified early and managed in line with risk and operational impact.
- Oversee reactive and planned fabric repairs, ensuring works are completed safely, to an appropriate standard, and with minimal disruption to trading.
- Ensure fabric works comply with statutory requirements, fire strategy, accessibility standards, and landlord design principles.
- Maintain close coordination between fabric and M&E activities to ensure holistic asset performance.
Team & Contractor Management
- Provide direct leadership and technical guidance to site engineering teams, including shift and day engineers.
- Coordinate daily workloads, task prioritisation, and operational coverage to maintain service continuity during trading hours and out‑of‑hours periods.
- Direct and supervise contractors and specialist service partners undertaking engineering or fabric works, ensuring compliance with site rules, permits, and safe working practices.
- Identify training needs and support the development of technical and safety competence within the site team.
Retail Environment & Stakeholder Support
- Support the safe operation of the shopping centre during trading hours, events, peak periods, and seasonal activities.
- Provide technical support and assurance to centre management, retailers, and operational stakeholders regarding engineering and fabric matters.
- Coordinate works planning to minimise disruption to retailers, customers, and centre operations.
- Support incident response in public areas, ensuring safety, communication, and swift technical resolution.
Reporting & Communication
- Produce clear technical and fabric condition reports covering incidents, compliance status, asset condition, and operational risk.
- Maintain accurate shift logs, inspection records, and incident reports.
- Communicate engineering and fabric risks, defects, and improvement opportunities to senior stakeholders in a timely and professional manner.
- Provide authoritative technical input to support occupier engagement and landlord assurance.
Projects & Change Support
- Provide technical and fabric input into small works, refurbishments, asset replacements, and minor modifications.
- Support commissioning, handover, and integration of new or modified plant and fabric elements.
- Work collaboratively with project and centre management teams to resolve technical, safety, and operational challenges.
Interfaces
- Site engineering teams and supervisors
- Building fabric contractors and specialist service providers
- Shopping centre management teams
- Retailers and occupiers (as required)
- Health & Safety and Fire Safety representatives
- Client and operational stakeholders
- Project and transition teams
Skills & Experience
Essential
- Recognised apprenticeship or equivalent qualification in mechanical or electrical engineering.
- Strong experience working with business‑critical building services systems in a live operational environment.
- Demonstrable experience overseeing or coordinating building fabric maintenance and repairs.
- Proven ability to lead engineering teams and manage contractors on a complex site.
- Sound knowledge of statutory compliance, health & safety legislation, fire safety, and safe systems of work.
- Ability to interpret technical data, drawings, and system documentation.
- Strong organisational, communication, and problem‑solving skills.
- Computer literate with the ability to produce clear technical and condition reports.
Desirable
- Authorised Person status for HV or other critical systems.
- Formal Health & Safety qualification (e.g. IOSH, NEBOSH).
- Experience working within a shopping centre, retail, or other customer‑facing environment.
- Experience supporting refurbishments or fabric improvement works in occupied buildings.
Personal Attributes
- Proactive and methodical approach to technical and fabric risk management.
- Calm and decisive under pressure, particularly during incidents affecting public areas.
- Strong attention to detail with a focus on safety, compliance, and presentation.
- Collaborative team player with the confidence to challenge unsafe or non‑compliant practices.
Scope & Accountability
- Accountable for technical performance, safety, compliance, and condition of site engineering systems and building fabric.
- Line management responsibility for site engineering staff and day‑to‑day oversight of engineering and fabric contractors.
- No direct responsibility for financial management, budgets, or service charge control.
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