[2022 - 2023] Director, Facilities & Real Estate

  • Full-time
  • Start Date: Immediate opening
  • Department: Regional Support and Leadership

Company Description

Organizational Overview

KIPP NC will build on a rich tradition of academic excellence and relentless fight for social justice present from the founding of both KIPP ENC and KIPP Charlotte. KIPP ENC is the second oldest KIPP region in the nation. In its 20 years of operation, KIPP ENC has been a cornerstone for students and families in rural Gaston and Halifax, operating two primary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. Over the past five years, it grew to serve even more students by opening up a middle school in Durham, an urban center in the center part of the state. KIPP Charlotte, which grew out of the strong traditions and academics of KIPP ENC, has supported students and families for the past 13 years, operating one primary school and one middle school in the largest city in North Carolina.

KIPP North Carolina will build upon the successes and experiences of KIPP ENC and KIPP Charlotte to provide inclusive school environments and an educational program that will enable our students to lead full lives and equip graduates to be future leaders and agents of change in North Carolina and beyond. KIPP NC also will continue to engage in direct, anti-racist work, and it will contribute meaningfully to the dismantling of structures of inequality within our organization, schools, and classrooms. KIPP NC will be committed to expanding our efforts to embed anti-racism in all of our activities and engagements within our classrooms and schools, across our organization, and throughout the State of North Carolina. All of this will be in a tireless effort to create classrooms that are homeplaces for our students, places where they feel safe, loved, validated, seen, and heard, places where all their beautiful identities will be affirmed and celebrated, and places where they will learn the academic knowledge and skills needed for college, career, and beyond.

Job Description

Position Overview

The Director of Facilities & Real Estate will plan, develop, and oversee, in close collaboration with school-based Directors of School Operations, the administration of all of KIPP NC’s physical plant facilities, custodial services, grounds, renovations, and capital improvement and maintenance activities, security, and the various contracted services needed to have excellent facilities. The Director of Facilities & Real Estate will plan and coordinate these activities with an eye toward identifying and improving efficiencies to maximize financial outcomes for KIPP NC. In the next few years, the Director of Facilities & Real Estate will help oversee and manage multiple large capital projects for KIPP NC, including the renovation of buildings, capital replacement projects, and large capital maintenance projects. Proven experience with all phases of capital improvement projects, both interior and exterior, will be critical to success in this role. The successful candidate will be comfortable with completing large scale projects from complicated financing issues to interpreting building schematics, blueprints and all manners of design and ground up construction. Additionally, the candidate must have extensive experience and a high level understanding of central plant operating systems (cooling towers, heat exchangers, boilers, chillers, pumping systems, BAS) and life safety systems (fire panel, wet/dry sprinklers, generators, etc.) and elevator maintenance. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Director of Facilities & Real Estate will support school-based DSOs in managing and supporting school-based facility staff and any contracted facility maintenance vendors. 

This is an ideal opportunity for a dynamic and visionary organizational leader to play a critical role in building and shaping a premier K-12 charter management organization committed to supporting all our students to graduate college and succeed in school and life.

 

Key Responsibilities

Team Development

  • Helps to build a strong, cohesive Facilities Team culture that reflects the core values of KIPP NC
  • Promote and develop the competencies of our technical and non-technical staff members.
  • Provide collaborative oversight, facilitate technical training and performance management for facilities staff and managers. 
  • Serves as a thought leader on cross-team projects, and support KIPP NC’s innovation efforts
  • Helps school-based Director of School Operations complete annual performance evaluations of their direct reports in Facilities
  • Manages all third-party facility maintenance vendors that will supplement KIPP NC Facilities crews with additional cleaning, upkeep, and maintenance projects (i.e., overnight cleaning crews, target facility improvement teams)

Compliance

  • Establish and implement an effective preventive maintenance program across the region.
  • Develops systematic, comprehensive and consistent processes that are practiced across the region.
  • Ensures compliance with administrative, legal and regulatory requirements of all governmental, accrediting agencies (DOH, L&I, Life Safety, OSHA) and educational facilities quality service standards, as they relate to Environmental Services, Maintenance and Life Safety to ensure that each site is inspection ready at all times
  • Coordinate efforts between the site operations team and contractors.
  • Oversees improvements, including collecting and reviewing vendor proposals, workmanship quality control and final acceptance and sign off of completed work
  • Provide regular status updates to Chief Operating Officer and other stakeholders on projects and outstanding property issues
  • Make recommendations to improve overall operating efficiencies, safety policies and practices

Facilities Planning and System Design

  • Leads all phases of capital improvement projects with the teams responsible for long term planning (Architects, Engineers, Lenders, City Planners/Managers, etc.) to design and/or renovate campus buildings 
  • Manages all strategies and activities related to properly maintaining facilities within the region. 
  • Researches and recommends identify new approaches managing educational facilities
  • Creates and implements a communication plan for all facility strategies across multiple channels and with various stakeholders. 
  • Develops, delegates and manages all Environmental Services and Maintenance activities (HVAC, Electrical, Fire Protection Systems, Grounds and Building Maintenance, Life Safety, Security, Janitorial and System Engineering)

Strategic Vision and Technology Management

  • In close partnership with school-based Directors of Operations, monitors and supports school-based Facilities colleagues on day-to-day operational services, while driving standardization and efficiency across the state
  • Oversees the creation, training, implementation, and continuous improvement of standard processes and systems aimed at improving the statewide team’s performance on key performance indicators
  • Builds and cultivates a data-based and continuous improvement culture across school-based Facilities teams by conducting regular assessments of KIPP NC facilities and providing precise and effective feedback  
  • Launches and maintains a centralized ticketing systems to track facility issues and requests
  • Oversees a Facilities operating budget, and owns the development of the annual budget for the team
  • Cultivates and maintains close relationships with school-based Directors of Operations across the state to enlist assistance from school operations to ensure each facility meets school operations’ needs and high standards
  • Leads annual planning and goal setting activities for the school-based Facilities team and participates in those activities for the larger KIPP NC Regional Support Team
  • Participates in efforts to acquire new real estate to support growth plans, should any growth occur in the coming five years to accommodate current sites’ feeder patterns
  • Works closely with the startup teams for each new location to ensure any new campuses are launched effectively
  • Serves as a liaison between KIPP NC and contractors in the design and renovation of properties across the state
  • Oversees the budget identification, prioritization, and execution of capital maintenance and improvement projects with approval and support from a number of Regional Support Team colleagues, including the Chief Financial Officer, Chief of External Affairs, the Chief Operating Officer, and the Chief Academic Officer
  • Manages the execution of a statewide quality control program and audits of facilities-related services

KIPP North Carolina Leadership

  • Participates in KIPP NC operations leadership team that oversees the strategy for all KIPP North Carolina operations programming
  • Works with KIPP NC operations leadership to develop a vision and comprehensive long-term plan for the design of integrated, scaffolded K-12 schools
  • Recommends to the KIPP NC Chief Operating Officer system-wide goals; monitors and reports back to the Chief Operating Officer on the progress toward achieving those goals

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

KIPP NC’s Director of Facilities & Real Estate candidates will have the following:

  • A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students
  • An unwavering commitment to anti-racism, equity, and inclusion
  • A strong desire to collaborate with school leaders and Regional Support Team teammates in service to a new KIPP region growing out of two exceptionally strong ones
  • Minimum of 3-5 years of facilities/maintenance experience, with at least 2 years as a manager with budget ownership
  • 5+ years related technical and multi-site maintenance experience
  • Highly skilled at working with building trades, with emphasis on mechanical systems service, repair, and installation (Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC certified)
  • Outstanding leadership and management skills, particularly as it relates to building teams, working through others, promoting collaboration, managing conflict, goal setting, and holding people accountable
  • An entrepreneurial spirit and demonstrated success in building a program, department or organization
  • Ability to interact with a broad range of stakeholders with different interests and needs
  • Possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities; experience working within predominantly Black, Brown, and/or low-income communities
  • Understanding and willingness to work in both rural and urban communities, including exhibiting resourcefulness and willingness to travel up to five hours within North Carolina multiple days per week based on need
  • Must live in North Carolina; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, ideal, given the area’s equal distance from our schools in Charlotte, Gaston, and Halifax

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience in education and/or facilities/real estate 
  • Certified PMP
  • Ability to speak Spanish

Additional Information

Compensation

Salary range is $75k - $90k and is based on years of experience, educational attainment, and certifications.

About KIPP

KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, is a national network of free, open enrollment, college preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and life. There are 242 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 100,000 students. Nationally, KIPP students are graduating four-year colleges at three times the national average for low-income students.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Policy

KIPP North Carolina does not and shall not discriminate on the race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, disability, source of income, or status as a veteran in any of its activities or operations. 

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