Director of Facilities & Campus Operations
2 days ago
New Orleans
Job Title: Director of Facilities & Campus Operations \n Department: Administration / Operations \n Reports To: Dr. Stanton McNeely, President \n FLSA Status: Exempt \n Location: On-site - University of Holy Cross, 4123 Woodland Drive, New Orleans, Louisiana 70131 \n \n Role Overview \n The Director of Facilities & Campus Operations provides strategic and hands-on leadership for the safe, reliable, attractive, and efficient operation of the University of Holy Cross campus. The Director leads facilities personnel and external service partners while building a proactive, service-oriented facilities program that anticipates needs, protects institutional assets, and supports the University’s academic mission and Catholic values. \n \n Core Competencies \n\n • Proactive stewardship- Notices emerging needs, acts early, and uses inspections and data to prevent service failures rather than merely responding to them.\n, • People leadership - Builds trust, develops staff capability, sets clear expectations, and holds the team accountable with fairness and consistency.\n, • Operational judgment- Balances safety, urgency, cost, campus impact, and long-term asset condition when establishing priorities.\n, • Service orientation- Communicates respectfully, follows through, and treats facilities work as a direct contributor to the student and employee experience.\n, • Financial discipline - Makes resource-conscious decisions, manages contracts carefully, and distinguishes immediate repairs from strategic capital needs.\n, • Mission alignment- Demonstrates respect for the University’s Catholic identity and supports a welcoming, community-centered campus environment.\n\n \n Core Responsibilities \n \n Facilities Leadership \n\n • Lead, coach, schedule, evaluate, and develop facilities, maintenance, grounds, custodial, and other assigned operations staff.\n, • Establish clear performance expectations, safety practices, work standards, communication routines, and accountability for staff and contractors.\n, • Foster a collaborative, service-minded team culture that treats faculty, staff, students, visitors, and vendors with professionalism and respect.\n, • Assess staffing, skill, coverage, and training needs; participate in recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and succession planning.\n, • Maintain a regular, visible presence throughout campus and model a proactive, solutions-oriented approach to facilities service.\n\n \n Proactive Maintenance \n\n • Develop, implement, and continuously improve a preventive and predictive maintenance program for campus buildings, grounds, utility systems, equipment, and life-safety systems.\n, • Conduct routine campus and building inspections to identify deferred maintenance, safety hazards, operational risks, appearance issues, and repair needs before they become urgent.\n, • Establish work-order priorities, service-level expectations, tracking practices, and follow-up procedures that improve response time and stakeholder communication.\n, • Maintain accurate records for maintenance history, warranties, inspections, equipment inventories, asset condition, and planned replacements.\n, • Use a computerized maintenance management system or similar tools to track work, analyze trends, plan labor and materials, and report on outcomes.\n\n \n Operations and Assets \n\n • Direct the maintenance, repair, and operational oversight of campus buildings, building systems, grounds, walkways, parking areas, furnishings, and related equipment.\n, • Oversee HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofing, building envelope, fire/life-safety, access, and other critical systems through internal staff and qualified contractors.\n, • Coordinate seasonal, weather-related, and special-event preparation, including readiness for classes, campus gatherings, public events, and holidays.\n, • Partner with campus leaders to support space utilization, furniture needs, office and classroom moves, minor renovations, and operational logistics.\n, • Maintain attractive, safe, accessible, and welcoming campus conditions that reflect institutional standards and community pride.\n\n \n Budget, Vendors, and Projects \n\n • Prepare and manage the annual facilities operating budget, including labor, supplies, utilities, maintenance contracts, equipment, and contingency needs.\n, • Develop multi-year forecasts for deferred maintenance, equipment replacement, capital renewal, and campus improvement priorities.\n, • Source, evaluate, negotiate, and manage vendors and service contracts; ensure work is competitively procured when appropriate, properly documented, completed to standard, and within budget.\n, • Develop scopes of work, specifications, bid materials, and cost estimates in collaboration with Finance, Procurement, and external technical resources.\n, • Lead or coordinate small to mid-sized renovation, repair, renewal, and capital projects from planning through closeout.\n, • Monitor contractor performance, site safety, workmanship, schedule, insurance, warranties, and final documentation.\n\n \n Safety, Compliance, and Resilience \n\n • Maintain compliance with applicable building, fire, environmental, occupational safety, accessibility, and public-health requirements.\n, • Oversee routine testing, inspection, recordkeeping, and corrective action for applicable life-safety systems and facilities-related compliance obligations.\n, • Partner with University leadership, security, risk management, and emergency-response stakeholders to maintain and improve emergency preparedness, business continuity, and incident-response plans.\n, • Establish facilities readiness plans for hurricanes, severe weather, flooding, utility disruptions, and other events relevant to the New Orleans area.\n, • Promote safe work practices, including appropriate training, personal protective equipment, contractor safety expectations, and incident reporting.\n, • Identify energy-conservation, water-efficiency, waste-reduction, and sustainability opportunities that reduce operating cost and strengthen campus stewardship.\n, • Comparable facilities roles assign accountability for life-safety systems, regulatory compliance, emergency planning, environmental practices, energy management, and continuity planning.[5]\n\n \n Campus Partnership \n\n • Serve as the primary facilities liaison to academic departments, student-facing offices, events, administrative departments, and senior leadership.\n, • Communicate facilities priorities, planned disruptions, project status, emergency updates, and service expectations clearly and promptly.\n, • Translate technical issues into practical recommendations that enable leadership to make informed operational and financial decisions.\n, • Develop key performance indicators and regular reports covering work-order performance, preventive-maintenance completion, asset condition, budget performance, project status, and customer service.\n, • Perform other related duties consistent with the needs of a small, mission-driven university.\n\n \n Ideal Candidate Attributes \n\n • Bachelor’s degree in facilities management, construction management, engineering, business, operations, or a related field; relevant combination of education, technical training, and progressively responsible experience may be considered.\n, • Five to eight years of progressively responsible facilities, building operations, maintenance, construction, or campus operations experience.\n, • At least three years of direct people-management experience, including supervision of maintenance, custodial, grounds, operations, or skilled-trades personnel.\n, • Demonstrated experience managing preventive maintenance, work orders, vendors, contracts, budgets, and operational projects.\n, • Working knowledge of building systems, including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire/life-safety, building envelope, and grounds operations.\n, • Demonstrated ability to inspect facilities, identify risks and deficiencies, prioritize work, and make sound operational decisions.\n, • Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, organizational, and customer-service skills.\n, • Ability to respond to after-hours emergencies and support weather or other campus emergency operations as needed.\n, • Experience in education, healthcare, hospitality, or another multi-building, customer-facing environment.\n, • Familiarity with CMMS, building automation systems, energy management systems, and Microsoft Office or comparable business tools.\n, • Experience with Louisiana building, fire, safety, accessibility, and environmental requirements.\n, • Relevant professional credential, such as Certified Facility Manager, Facilities Management Professional, Project Management Professional, or trade licensure/certification.\n\n