Director of Facility Operations

The Director of Facility Operations provides strategic and operational leadership across the university’s portfolio of physical infrastructure and capital assets in addition to emergency and environmental health and safety programs. Operating in a unique, highly collaborative urban environment, this role oversees building operations, maintenance, lifecycle asset management, maintenance strategies, emergency management and environmental health and safety.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role drives operational excellence while serving as a key partner across administrative and academic units. This high-performing leader will bridge strategy with operational execution and serve as a key point of contact for campus partners—most notably the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC), which owns and manages shared campus grounds and general use facilities. Additionally, this position directly leads a team consisting of two senior facilities managers, an environmental health and safety manager, a fiscal and office manager, and a forthcoming emergency manager, while also overseeing the third-party management company for our new residential hall.

The ideal candidate is an ambitious, proactive, and versatile professional who excels at complex problem-solving, data-driven decision-making, and demonstrated excellence in leadership.

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Operations, Maintenance & Property Management Oversight

• Direct day-to-day operations and maintenance programs across all university-owned, leased, and operated facilities to ensure safe, functional, and efficient environments for students, faculty, and staff.  Oversee third-party property managers, outsourced service providers, and specialized trade contractors. Establish performance benchmarks, manage service level agreements (SLA’s), and ensure, contract compliance, accountability and cost control across contracted services.
• Oversee the property manager contract for the university’s residence hall, ensuring property manager is delivering highly responsive and planned operations and maintenance, efficient turnover of spaces, and working collaboratively with Housing and Residence Life.  

2. Capital Planning, Lifecycle Management & Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

•  Develop and maintain a rigorous capital asset management plan with an intentional focus on maximizing useful life of capital assets and planned prioritization of capital asset investment,  Evaluate equipment conditions, perform asset lifecycle analysis, develop end-of-life asset replacement plan, develop rough order of magnitude estimates for the plan, prioritize and optimize capital asset replacement cycles.
• Prioritize, track, and execute the university’s preventative, deferred and controlled maintenance plan, integrating facility condition assessments into multi-year capital budget requests.  Develop financial and functional thresholds of assets to maintain vs. run to failure.  Apply preventative maintenance per code specified frequencies.  Utilize predictive maintenance techniques to extend the useful life of assets.
• Manage computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) corrective actions, repairs and work order requests.
• Act as the technical lead in determining the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for proposed capital developments, major renovations, and new academic/operational programs. Evaluate long-term utility, custodial, maintenance, and capital renewal costs prior to project approval.
• Collaborate with university leadership on capital intake processes and project readiness for upcoming facility openings.

3. Campus Partnership

• Partner closely with the Planning, Design, and Construction team through significant collaboration and coordination, ensuring Facilities Operations serves as a trusted, reliable partner across all campus physical environment initiatives.
• Build strong, trust-based relationships with university academic departments, student affairs, athletics, housing partners, and executive leadership to align Facilities Operations with institutional mission and enrollment goals.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact and liaison with the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) operational teams, coordinating shared building operations, infrastructure projects, ground maintenance, and tri-institutional spaces.
• Represent the university on campus-wide capital, safety, and facilities committees.

4. Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) & Emergency Preparedness

• Direct the university’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) program through the EHS Manager, ensuring full compliance with OSHA, EPA, state, and local regulatory standards.
• Promote a culture of safety across campus and partner directly with the AHEC Emergency Preparedness, Coordination, and Recovery Committee (EPCAR), engaging in monthly tri-institutional coordination to address campus-level emergency readiness, safety policies, and joint recovery strategies
• Build out the framework for the future Emergency Management function to ensure robust response protocols for campus crises, severe weather, and facility emergencies.

5. Financial Stewardship & Administrative Leadership

• Provide direct leadership, coaching, and performance management for Facilities Operations team.
• Foster a high-performance culture centered on proactive service delivery, rapid issue resolution, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Develop, manage, and monitor annual operating, maintenance, and capital expenditure budgets.
• Manage administrative office staff to ensure seamless departmental purchasing, work-order dispatching, contract administration, and customer service operations.

Leadership Skills & Attributes

• Proactive & Results-Driven: Anticipates needs, identifies risks before they escalate, and drives initiatives through to completion without requiring close supervision.
• Versatile & Adaptive: Thrives in a dynamic environment; seamlessly transitions between strategy and tactical problem solving.
• Exceptional Problem Solver: Possesses strong analytical capabilities to diagnose complex mechanical, structural, financial, or political challenges and implement lasting solutions.
• Ambitious & High-Performing: Demonstrates a personal commitment to excellence, continuous professional development, and raising the operational standard of the institution.
• Matrix Leadership: Demonstrates high political acumen and emotional intelligence needed to negotiate, collaborate, and succeed within a shared-campus or multi-institutional environment.

Competencies

• Champions CADRE values-based leadership and creates a positive workplace culture, by setting expectations, eliciting feedback and coaching across departments, ensuring accountability and excelling in conflict management.
• Aligns operations across teams by optimizing resources, maintaining compliance, and empowering leaders to deliver consistent, measurable outcomes.
• Translates University strategy into coordinated action by guiding decision-making, prioritizing initiatives, and adjusting plans to drive long-term progress.
• Builds cross-functional partnerships, sharing information widely and facilitating dialogue to break down silos and advance University goals.
• Creates a positive workplace culture of belonging by embedding equitable leadership and talent processes, fostering feedback and holding leaders accountable.
• Drives innovation by aligning initiatives to University priorities, anticipating change, and empowering leaders to implement sustainable improvements.

• equired Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Management, Engineering, Architecture, Public Administration, Business Administration, or a closely related field.
  • Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in facilities management, physical plant operations, or corporate/higher education space.
  • Demonstrated experience directly supervising, coaching, and mentoring a multidisciplinary team, with a strong track record of building collaborative culture, setting clear performance expectations, and driving team success.

  Important Note: Successful applicants will ensure their resumes clearly demonstrate that their work experience describes how they meet ALL required qualifications.

  
  

  Preferred Qualifications

  • Master’s degree in related field.
  • Experience in a higher education or public-sector environment.
  • Professional certifications such as Certified Facility Manager (CFM), Project Management Professional (PMP), or Professional Engineer (PE), Certified Energy Manager (CEM).
  • Experience evaluating and applying APPA level standards.
  • Experience with TMA.
  • Experience managing facilities operations within higher education housing or high-density residential environments.