Lucy Whitley

NAME Lucy Whitley
JOB Facilities/property manager
AREA OF WORK Facilities management
EMPLOYER WSP Group

Going into facilities management (FM) wasn’t something I’d planned but it turned out to be my best career move. I was temping as an FM administrator when a managerial role came up and I was offered the job.

Managerial responsibilities

My job is to ensure that my employer’s headquarter office, which accommodates 600 employees,
runs smoothly. The reception and hospitality team, postroom person, cleaners and day porter report to me. My duties can include anything from devising budgets and making sure there is adequate cover if one of my team is off sick to dealing with power cuts and organising fire drills so that client meetings aren’t interrupted. I may also cover for my line manager on other sites when needed.

I manage an office housing 600 employees.

We are currently planning to move offices and I am heavily involved with this. Even selecting the most environmentally friendly furniture and ensuring floorplans are correct are mammoth tasks when you are moving 600 people and it’s great to get experience of another aspect of FM.

Continual learning

I’ve been in my role for two years and I’m learning all the time, especially about technical aspects such as building systems. In terms of career development, my next step will be to manage multiple sites across a region.