Director of Facilities
A Director of Facilities manages and plans the activities of the facilities department, overseeing maintenance of buildings, grounds, and equipment while leading safety, compliance, and budgeting. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Director of Facilities do?
The Director of Facilities manages and plans the activities of the facilities department, providing technical guidance and supervision to the team. The role develops programs to control, eliminate, and prevent injuries related to chemical, physical, and ergonomic factors in the workplace, alongside the day-to-day upkeep of buildings, grounds, and equipment.
It is an operations leadership role within the higher education sector, accountable for keeping the physical environment safe, compliant, and well maintained across the organization’s sites.
Facilities management is the coordinated upkeep of an organization’s buildings, grounds, and equipment, spanning maintenance, space planning, safety, and compliance. Space utilization is how effectively the available physical space is used. A work order is a logged request for a specific maintenance or repair task the director reviews and approves.
What does the Director of Facilities oversee?
Key responsibilities of a Director of Facilities
- Develop and oversee the maintenance program for buildings, grounds, equipment, and facilities.
- Manage space utilization and maintain relevant reports, and prioritize, schedule, and oversee maintenance and operational projects.
- Evaluate and recommend changes to facility plans and specifications, and ensure quality and responsiveness in maintenance and operations.
- Monitor project completion status, adjust resource allocation to institutional priorities, and approve work order requests with the most effective strategies.
- Manage equipment and supplies budgeting and procurement.
- Maintain compliance with government, accreditation, and regulatory standards, and perform inspections to ensure workplace safety and regulatory compliance.
- Implement worker safety measures and conduct related training and education programs.
- Provide direct supervision to facilities staff, and oversee hiring, training, performance appraisal, and disciplinary actions within the department.
- Manage departmental performance evaluations.
- Compile and analyze weekly and monthly reports for problem-solving and decision-making.
What qualifications does the role require?
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
- Minimum of two years of relevant experience or training.
- Direct supervision of facilities department staff, carried out in line with organizational policies and applicable laws.
- Ability to balance maintenance, safety, compliance, and budget priorities across the organization’s sites.
Why is the Director of Facilities role important?
Safe, well-maintained, compliant facilities are the foundation everything else runs on. A Director of Facilities keeps buildings and grounds functional and safe, manages cost through budgeting and procurement, and protects the organization from regulatory and safety risk.
Because the role blends hands-on operations with budget discipline and compliance, the strongest directors are as comfortable reading a regulation as they are scheduling a repair. They keep the physical environment invisible in the best sense, working so well that no one has to think about it.
A hiring note from Excelon
Facilities leadership is easy to overlook until something breaks. Through our higher education practice, we look for directors who can show a track record across maintenance, safety compliance, and budget management at once, since the role fails quietly when any one of those is neglected and the cost only shows up later.
The best facilities directors keep the physical environment invisible in the best sense, working so well no one has to think about it.
Related sample job descriptions
Director of Facilities: frequently asked questions
What does a Director of Facilities do?
A Director of Facilities manages and plans the activities of the facilities department, overseeing maintenance of buildings, grounds, and equipment. The role manages space utilization, projects, budgets, and procurement, maintains regulatory and safety compliance, and supervises facilities staff.
What qualifications does the role require?
This sample role requires a bachelor’s degree in a related field and a minimum of two years of relevant experience or training, along with the ability to direct department staff and maintain compliance with government, accreditation, and regulatory standards.
What does facilities management involve?
Facilities management is the coordinated upkeep of an organization’s buildings, grounds, and equipment, including maintenance, space planning, safety, regulatory compliance, and budgeting, so the physical environment supports the organization’s work safely and efficiently.
Does the role include safety and compliance duties?
Yes. The role develops worker safety programs, conducts safety training and inspections, and maintains compliance with government, accreditation, and regulatory standards, including controlling chemical, physical, and ergonomic workplace hazards.
Why is this role important?
Safe, well-maintained, compliant facilities are the foundation everything else runs on. A Director of Facilities keeps buildings and grounds functional and safe, manages cost through budgeting and procurement, and protects the organization from regulatory risk.
Hiring a Director of Facilities?
Excelon Associates places facilities and operations leaders at schools, colleges, and multi-campus organizations across the United States through our higher education recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL.
More Sample Job Descriptions
Templates you can adapt for your own roles.