AVP Facilities Maintenance and Operations at Western Washington University

Are you an accomplished professional who will provide visionary leadership and champion an inclusive culture in support of the university's mission to plan, design, build, and maintain the university's facilities? Western Washington University (WWU) is recruiting an Associate Vice President for Facilities Development and Operations located in Bellingham, WA.This role has a strong focus on diversity and sustainability. You will provide strategic leadership for all aspects of the university's built environment, be a large part of creating a facilities master plan, and lead the university's 2 main facilities functions. Don't miss out on this opportunity to make an impact at WWU. Apply today!

Another Source's client, Western Washington University, is recruiting an Associate Vice President for Facilities Maintenance and Operations located in Bellingham, WA.

*Internally this position is titled AVP for Facilities Development and Operations

Here's a little about Western Washington University and the position they are recruiting for:

Western Washington University invites applications for the position of Associate Vice President for Facilities Maintenance and Operations. Western seeks an accomplished professional who will provide visionary leadership and champion an inclusive, diverse, service-oriented culture in support of our university mission to plan, design, build, and maintain the university's facilities. The individual in this position reports to the Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs (BFA) and is a member of the BFA Leadership Team.

Western Washington University, with over 16,000 students in seven academic colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students, and faculty. The main campus is in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 83,000 sited on the ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish Peoples, who have lived in the Salish Sea basin, throughout the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades watershed, from time immemorial. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western is the highest-ranking public, master's-granting university in the Pacific Northwest, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The division of Business and Financial Affairs supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement.

Summary of the Role

The Associate Vice President for Facilities Maintenace and Operation provides strategic leadership for all aspects of the university's built environment, including planning, capital budget, physical development, operations, preservation, and maintenance.

The individual will lead the university's two main facilities functions: Capital Planning and Development, and Facilities Management, now combined with this appointment. The decision to merge the units was made with the goal of further streamlining to ensure a smooth delivery of services including site acquisition, planning, budgeting, design, construction, operations, space management, maintenance and renewal of the university's buildings, infrastructure, and grounds. This individual will also be responsible for the strategic management of the public sector capital and operational financial systems to support these functions. An understanding of the skills and strategies necessary to develop and support public sector budget proposal requests and mixed resource capital projects.

It is essential that the AVP can manage, inspire, and lead a diverse team of dedicated professionals in skilled trades, planning, design, and support staff. The individual should have demonstrated experience in creating and maintaining a workplace that supports and respects accessibility, equity, inclusion, and diversity. The successful candidate should have the ability to lead a team across a broad grouping of functions and employee categories. Clear, persuasive, and proactive communications are critical to achieve the strategic goals of the unit.

Opportunities and Expectations for Leadership

The AVP will join Western Washington University at an exciting time. Western is recognized as the best master's-granting comprehensive institution in the Pacific Northwest and one of the best in the nation for the quality of its academic programs and emphasis on social mobility, research, and public service.

Recognizing the challenges facing our society, the university has developed an ambitious strategic plan (Strategic Plan 2018-2025) to advance inclusive student success, increase impact in Washington state and beyond, and enhance academic excellence. To that end, the successful candidate will bring innovative solutions to the following areas of opportunity.

Drive a vision of integrated service delivery

With two distinct cultures and operating practices, the opportunity for this role is to create one cohesive unit that provides integrated services to the university while retaining the strengths in both areas. This will require strong change leadership skills. It will also require the ability to engage various employee groups and enhance a culture of mutual respect and trust, continuous improvement, and operational excellence. The successful candidate will ensure that services offered by the unit are supported by the most appropriate systems, processes, and tools.

Foster a culture of collaboration

The AVP must have strong interpersonal skills, the ability to influence at all levels within the university and local community, and the capacity to function as an effective change agent. The successful candidate will model a collaborative way of working, both within the unit and with university stakeholders. This means that the individual must be very effective at cultivating and establishing trust and credibility with others. The successful candidate will model and promote a culture where accessibility, diversity, inclusion, and equity are highly valued and integrated in capital planning and facilities operations.

Lead efforts to advance accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI), which are fundamental principles integral to the success of Western Washington University.

The successful candidate will have the skills and experience to apply these values across planning, design, contracting, and procurement processes. They will ensure that the ADEI lens is placed on project goals, objectives, and contractor selection as well as the impact to students, faculty, and staff. They will model and promote a culture where accessibility, diversity, inclusion, and equity are embedded in capital planning and facilities operations. They will help ensure that all unit employees have the support, tools, information, ability, and motivation to reinforce this culture. The AVP must be an exceptional developer of talent, motivated by facilitating the success of others.

Demonstrate a strong commitment to service improvement and excellence

The AVP will be a results-driven leader who can assess current systems, resources, practices, and processes to develop a vision for a modern and forward-looking facilities function that aligns with the university's sustainability action plan. The AVP will foster an environment of strategic thinking and apply data-based decision making. They will need to establish metrics to generate baselines and implement tools to evaluate results and assess impact. They will need to build and measure a set of key performance indicators, sharing outcomes with staff to identify areas to improve.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Architecture, Business Administration, Management, Public Administration, or related field.
• Demonstrated relevant experience in property procurement and management, development, design, construction, and operations with a minimum of 5 years in a senior leadership role in a complex organization.
• Proven record of leadership and collaborative skills in inspiring, leading, supervising, and developing a team of effective facilities planning and operational professionals.
• Demonstrated track record of integrity and success in leading organizations through transformative improvement, including capacity to originate change, impact results, and foster a continuous improvement environment.

• Ability to establish and maintain productive working relationships and to communicate effectively with diverse constituencies within the campus and the wider community.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to form and deliver a persuasive line of reasoning.
• Documented record of fostering an equitable workplace that is inclusive of internal and external stakeholders, with advocacy on behalf of those holding diverse cultural backgrounds and social identities.
• Understanding and supportive of forward-thinking approaches to ensuring environmental sustainability in facilities planning and operations.
• Experience in construction law matters, like partnering, mitigation, arbitration, and lawsuits.

• Extremely strong knowledge of the methods, practices and procedures of facilities planning, construction and design, maintenance, and operations, as well as capital outlay and funding policies and practices.
• Ability to read, interpret, and formulate plans and specifications, prepare cost estimates, analyze architectural plans, monitor the work of architects, engineers, and other personnel.
• Experience managing budget request processes as well as coordinating mixed funding for projects including foundation, grant, and public funds.
• Ability to develop and use automated information for space utilization and remodeling.
• Familiarity with construction procurement and real estate.

• General understanding of purchased utilities and renewable energy.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree in Engineering, Architecture, Business Administration, Management, Public Administration, or related field.
• State of Washington professional engineering or architecture license or the ability to obtain such license.
• Experience working in higher education.

• Experience with alternative construction contract delivery types, i.e., GCCM, CM at Risk, Design-Build, Progressive Design Build, Integrated Project Delivery
• Certifications or designations that align with the requirements of the position.
• Experience working within a collective bargaining environment.
• Strong track record in managing business and industry partnerships.
• Experience in establishing constructive relationships with elected and appointed community leaders.

• Experience working with a unionized workforce.

Application Instructions and Requested Document:

Initial screening of applications will begin immediately. The position is open until filled. Applications received by June 6, 2022 can be assured full consideration.

Application materials should include:

• Letter of interest that addresses how the candidate's experiences match the position requirements.

• Resume or curriculum vitae.
• Diversity statement. Western's strategic plan places Access, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) as a core value and a core goal of the institution. Please address what role the AVP has in advancing ADEI. In addition, please share an example of how your work has advanced ADEI at a previous institution or workplace.
• Five professional references (references will not be contacted without prior permission from the applicant).

For more information about WWU please visit: www.wwu.edu.

For more information about the Facilities Management and Capital Planning & Development departments please visit https://www.fm.wwu.edu/ and https://cpd.wwu.edu/ and the Division of Business and Financial Affairs at: https://bfa.wwu.edu/.

Western Washington University (WWU) is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained faculty and staff. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. In compliance with applicable laws and in furtherance of its commitment to fostering an environment that welcomes and embraces diversity, WWU does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and parenting status), disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status or genetic information in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions, and educational programs.

Another Source works with their clients, on a retained project basis, to maximize the recruiting process. We are committed to building inclusive candidate pools as we partner with hiring teams. As you read through the job posting and review the list of qualifications (required and/or preferred), please do not self-select out if you feel you do not meet every qualification. No one is 100% qualified. We encourage you to apply and share your story with us.