Business Unit Director – Healthcare North

Equans is looking for a Business Unit Director to join our Sustainable FM North team on a permanent basis, responsible for Healthcare contracts. This is a full-time role working 37.5 hours per week, based in the North of England. On offer is a competitive salary, company vehicle or allowance, bonus and benefits package.

Reporting to the Managing Director, Public Sector North, the Business Unit Director will provide senior leadership for the Healthcare FM region across North of England. The role is accountable for safe, compliant and resilient delivery of hard and soft FM services in live healthcare environments, ensuring service continuity, statutory and contract compliance, and a clear focus on patient safety and experience.

As the most senior operational lead within the healthcare team, the post holder will set and deliver regional strategy aligned to Equans objectives, drive operational excellence and continuous improvement, and build high-performing teams and supply chain partnerships. The role will develop and sustain executive-level relationships with NHS Trusts, PFI stakeholders, clinical and estates leaders, and internal partners to protect and grow the portfolio through the PFI expiry period and beyond.

The portfolio comprises complex, multi-site PFI healthcare contracts across hospital locations in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester (circa £90m revenue), alongside lifecycle, defect remediation and project delivery activity (circa £20m+) delivered within operational clinical settings.

The post holder holds full accountability for P&L performance, governance and risk management, and for assuring that all work is planned, authorised and delivered safely with robust control of change, minimising disruption to critical services and maintaining full compliance at all times.

What will you deliver?

• Member of the Sustainable FM North Senior Executive team, setting strategy in conjunction with colleagues aligned to the BU purpose and vision.  As the most senior operational role within the team the role will include occasionally deputising for the Managing Director as required. 
• Health and Safety leadership – The post holder will be proactively and visibly leading on the importance of Health and Safety, they must ensure that risk is effectively identified, assessed and controlled; that incidents, near misses and unsafe conditions are reported and investigated promptly with learning shared; and that performance is monitored, reviewed and continually improved. Safety must be integral to decision-making, commercial planning and operational delivery, with an unwavering focus on preventing harm to colleagues, clients, end users and the public.
• Customer relationship management – Builds and sustains trusted, executive-level relationships with NHS Trust, PFI and key stakeholder leaders, acting as the escalation point and ensuring service delivery consistently meets contractual requirements, patient-focused outcomes and customer satisfaction targets.
• Healthcare market leadership – Provides visible sector leadership, shaping and communicating EQUANS’ healthcare FM proposition as established by the Healthcare market community, understanding regulatory and operational change requirements, and positioning the business as a safe, compliant and innovative partner in live clinical environments.
• Full financial accountability including profit and loss – Holds end-to-end accountability for P&L and cash performance across the portfolio, delivering margin improvement, effective cost control, robust forecasting, and strong governance of WIP, debt, lifecycle and project spend.  Effectively manages risk and opportunity across the North Healthcare portfolio.
• Technical compliance – Ensures full statutory, contractual and technical compliance across hard FM, driving an effective assurance regime (including audits, risk registers and corrective actions) and maintaining safe systems of work within critical healthcare environments.
• People leadership – Leads, inspires and develops senior operational leaders and wider teams, building capability, succession and a high-performance culture founded on safety, accountability, inclusion and great customer service.
• Regional business development – Identifies, qualifies and converts growth opportunities across existing customers and new prospects, strengthening pipeline and win plans, and supporting retention and transition strategies through PFI expiry and contract change.
• Divisional and UK BU engagement – Works collaboratively across the Division and UK Business Unit to align strategy, share best practice, mobilise specialist support, and ensure consistent governance, reporting and performance delivery.  Support divisional and BU objectives including Perform and jardinage initiatives across the region.
• Social and environmental value – Embeds social value and sustainability into service delivery and decision-making, driving measurable outcomes (e.g., decarbonisation, waste reduction, local employment and skills) aligned to customer priorities and EQUANS commitments.
• Innovation – Champions innovation and digital enablement to improve safe, compliance, service resilience and user experience, identifying and scaling new ways of working (e.g., predictive maintenance) that deliver measurable outcomes for patients, clinicians and customers.
• Operational excellence – Drives a disciplined operating model across the region, setting clear performance standards and KPIs, strengthening governance and assurance, and delivering continuous improvement that enhances productivity, quality and compliance.

What can we offer you?

On offer is a competitive salary, car or car allowance, bonus and benefits package, which includes;

• 25 days annual leave (+ public holidays)
• Life Cover 
• Private Medical Insurance
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• Gym membership discounts 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Holiday purchase scheme
• 2 corporate social responsibility days per year
• Broad range of learning opportunities, such as professional qualifications, collective/individual training, and personalized support programmes
• Attractive Employee Referral Rewards Scheme
• Access to our growing employee networks including AccessAbility (representing those with physical and mental disabilities), Encompass (representing the LGBTQ+ community), RISE (representing people from ethnic backgrounds), WOMEN Together(representing women in Equans), Working Parents, Veterans and Reservists, and Young Professionals.
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app

Who are we looking for?

• Senior leadership experience across multi-disciplinary Facilities Management operations.
• Extensive healthcare sector experience with strong understanding of acute facilities requirements.
• Strong customer and stakeholder management, with a track record of growth across existing and new accounts.
• Proven delivery of multi-site, multi-service contracts and/or projects.
• Strong commercial acumen with demonstrable P&L, balance sheet and cash management.
• Strong risk and opportunity management capability.
• Significant change management experience, including service improvement and innovation.

Who are we?

Equans is a world leader in energy services with nearly 100,000 employees working in more than 50 countries, with an annual turnover of over 17 billion euros.  

In the UK & Ireland, Equans is a provider of technical, FM, regeneration and energy services – with specialist capabilities in smart buildings, green mobility, district & embedded energy and decentralised renewables.

Equans’ 13,500 UK & Ireland employees combine these activities to help businesses, public sector organisations and government to embrace the energy transition towards net zero, and also the digital & industrial transitions that are redesigning the way we move, work and live.

Equans is a Bouygues group company.

What’s next?

If this role is of interest to you, please click below to register, apply, and track your progress! A member of our Resourcing Team will review your application and be in touch.

As part our commitment to better reflect the markets within which we operate, we encourage applications from women, ethnically diverse individuals and people with disabilities, along with all candidates who identify with protected characteristic groups under the Equality Act 2010. 

At Equans we’re committed to delivering a culture where everyone’s voice is heard and supported. We know the value a diverse workforce creates, delivering better results for our people, customers, and stakeholders. Diversity and inclusion is at the core of what we do, should you join Equans you’ll find a welcoming and open workplace where you’re supported and encouraged to be your true self at work. 

You’ll also have access to our growing employee networks including AccessAbility (representing those with physical and mental disabilities), Encompass (representing the LGBTQ+ community), RISE (representing people from ethnic backgrounds), WOMEN Together (representing women in Equans), Working Parents, Young Professionals and Veterans and Reservists Network (VaR).

For this role, you must have evidence of the right to work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer a re-location package with this job role.  Certain roles may require applicants to undergo a Disclosure check, as noted in the role requirements.

The Equans Resourcing Team supports this job advert. Agency involvement is not required. All related enquiries must come to the resourcing team not direct to Equans Managers.