About the Role
The Hard Services & Technical Manager is responsible for the effective management, maintenance, safety, reliability, and performance of all assigned building engineering systems, infrastructure, and hard facilities management services across a mixed-use waterfront destination. This role oversees MEP systems, critical utilities, planned and reactive maintenance, specialist contractors, statutory compliance, energy efficiency, and asset lifecycle management within public spaces, commercial facilities, and associated infrastructure. The successful candidate must blend strong engineering knowledge with commercial awareness and operational leadership to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective operations while minimizing service disruptions and protecting asset value.
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Key Responsibilities
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Technical & Hard Services Management
- Oversee all assigned mechanical, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, fire and life-safety, BMS, ELV, and other building engineering systems.
- Ensure the reliable operation and maintenance of critical plant, utilities, infrastructure, public areas, and associated facilities.
- Develop and implement preventive, reactive, and predictive maintenance strategies.
- Monitor equipment performance, identify recurring failures, and implement corrective actions to minimize downtime.
- Ensure maintenance activities are properly planned, documented, and executed in accordance with approved standards and manufacturer recommendations.
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Asset Management & Infrastructure
- Maintain accurate asset registers, maintenance records, equipment histories, and technical documentation.
- Establish asset criticality assessments and lifecycle replacement plans.
- Identify infrastructure risks, equipment deterioration, and opportunities for reliability improvements.
- Coordinate technical interfaces between common-area systems, tenants, specialist attractions, and other operators.
- Support technical reviews, refurbishment projects, commissioning, and handover of new or upgraded systems.
- Coordinate and approve all related fit-outs, technical submittals, and works for ongoing and upcoming tenants.
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Compliance, Health & Safety
- Ensure compliance with applicable UAE and Abu Dhabi regulations, statutory inspections, technical standards, and authority requirements.
- Maintain compliance records, certifications, testing schedules, and corrective action registers.
- Enforce permit-to-work, lockout/tagout, risk assessment, and safe working procedures.
- Ensure fire and life-safety systems are maintained, tested, and operational.
- Lead technical incident investigations and coordinate emergency response, service recovery, and business continuity measures.
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Contractor & Service Provider Management
- Manage hard services contractors, specialist vendors, and maintenance service providers.
- Establish and monitor SLAs, KPIs, maintenance standards, and contractual obligations.
- Conduct technical inspections, audits, and performance reviews to ensure quality and compliance.
- Review technical proposals, quotations, variations, and maintenance plans.
- Hold contractors accountable for service quality, response times, safety, and timely closure of defects.
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Budget & Cost Management
- Prepare and manage annual maintenance and hard services operating budgets.
- Monitor expenditure, investigate cost variances, and identify cost-saving opportunities.
- Develop capital expenditure plans for asset replacement, refurbishment, and infrastructure upgrades.
- Optimize maintenance costs without compromising safety, compliance, or asset reliability.
- Review equipment lifecycle costs and recommend investments that improve long-term operational performance.
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Energy & Operational Efficiency
- Monitor electricity and water consumption and identify opportunities to reduce utility costs.
- Optimize HVAC operations, BMS controls, equipment schedules, and energy performance.
- Implement practical energy-efficiency and sustainability initiatives.
- Use CMMS, BMS, and performance reports to monitor maintenance compliance, asset reliability, and operational trends.
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Team & Stakeholder Management
- Lead and develop technical teams, engineers, supervisors, and maintenance personnel.
- Coordinate with operations, security, HSE, tenants, attraction operators, and other stakeholders.
- Ensure adequate technical coverage during operating hours, weekends, public holidays, and emergencies.
- Provide regular management reports on asset performance, maintenance, compliance, expenditure, and technical risks.
Required Skills and Competencies
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Building Services Engineering, or a related discipline.
- Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in facilities management, technical operations, or building engineering, including at least 5 years in a managerial or senior supervisory role.
- Proven experience managing complex facilities such as mixed-use developments, retail destinations, hospitality, entertainment, or other high-footfall environments.
- Strong knowledge of MEP systems, HVAC, BMS, fire and life-safety systems, maintenance planning, and asset management.
- Experience in contractor management, budgeting, statutory compliance, and capital expenditure planning.
- Familiarity with UAE and Abu Dhabi regulations and authority requirements.
- Experience with CMMS platforms, energy management, and technical performance reporting.
