Director, Regional Operations and Maintenance

Director, Regional Operations and Maintenance

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Director, Regional Operations and Maintenance at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

The Director, Regional Operations and Maintenance is responsible for overseeing the maintenance, repair, and operational activities in one of two campus regions at Wayne State University. This role ensures that all facilities are safe, functional, and conducive to the educational and research environment. The Regional Director will lead a team of operations and maintenance professionals, manage budgets, and develop strategies to improve operational efficiency and sustainability.

• Hire, mentor and supervise the management team of associate directors, managers, supervisors and planners.
• Develop and implement a planned and preventive maintenance culture.
• Develop and monitor team goals and objectives including performance evaluations and job ratings.
• Develop and implement technical training to enhance the skills of the overall operations team.
• Foster a culture of safety, accountability and continuous improvement.

• Identify and manage facility capital upgrades and improvements with a focus on reduction and elimination of deferred maintenance.
• Collaborate with academic, administrative and faculty departments to align facilities management with institutional goals within the area of responsibility.
• Implement sustainability initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of campus operations.

• Oversee the maintenance and repair of buildings, grounds and equipment.
• Ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations including OSHA and environmental standards.
• Review the scope of work and perform field walk-downs to ensure a high level of safety, training and job plan compliance are met within district teams.
• Coach, motivate and lead teams to achieve high preventative maintenance success with the objective of 90% or greater planned scheduled compliance to weekly assignments.
• Review and manage backlog reports - developing planned and scheduled countermeasure and recovery tasks when scheduled items are missed.
• Manage campus commitment metrics for response to emergency, urgent, routine and PM tasks and report campus-wide KPIs on a monthly basis.

• Working with our Business Operations Administration (BAO) Team – prepare and manage the annual fiscal budget for facilities operations and maintenance.
• Track O&M costs by building, district and region, against annual budgets monthly.
• Monitor and approve requisitions for materials, labor and contracted services.
• Monitor and report on expenditures, including reduction of reliance on contracted services for routine repairs and replacements.
• Optimize resource allocations.
• Prepare and present reports to senior leadership.

• Partner with Design and Construction services project managers to coordinate and oversee construction, renovation and refurbishment projects.
• Liaise with contractors, architects and engineers.

• Ensure all facilities comply with health, safety and environmental regulations and policies.
• Conduct regular inspections and audits to identify and mitigate risks.
• Respond, develop and implement emergency response plans.
• Maintain a culture of safety first for all employees, staff, faculty and students across campus.

• Collaborate with academic and administrative departments to understand and meet their facility’s needs.
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students and external partners.
• Represent Facilities Planning and Management department in meetings and committees.
• Implement…