Senior Director - Buildings and Grounds

The Senior Director, Buildings & Grounds provides enterprise leadership for facilities operations supporting HumanGood’s Life Plan Communities. The role establishes the strategy, standards, governance, systems, and leadership practices necessary to maintain safe, reliable, compliant, attractive, and marketable community environments.

Reporting to the designated executive leader, the Senior Director leads regional and corporate Buildings & Grounds resources and provides executive oversight of capital planning, physical-plant risk, major projects, Grand Rounds accountability, maintenance-management systems, reporting, and facilities leadership development. The role works across organizational functions to align facility investments and operating practices with resident safety, asset stewardship, financial priorities, regulatory requirements, and long-term organizational strategy.

Primary Duties & Essential Functions: 

• Lead the enterprise Buildings & Grounds function for Life Plan Communities, establishing strategic priorities, operating standards, service expectations, communication practices, performance measures, and accountability across the portfolio.
• Direct, coach, develop, and evaluate regional and corporate Buildings & Grounds leaders; establish clear priorities and ensure effective support of community operations and leadership.
• Develop and oversee annual and long-range capital-planning practices, including facility-condition assessment, deferred-maintenance identification, project prioritization, spend timing, funding implications, asset-lifecycle considerations, and escalation of major physical-plant risks.
• Evaluate competing capital needs across the portfolio and provide executive recommendations that balance resident safety, compliance, infrastructure condition, operational continuity, marketability, financial capacity, and organizational strategy.
• Provide executive oversight of major construction, renovation, infrastructure, and equipment-replacement projects, including governance, scope, budgets, schedules, vendor practices, reporting, risk escalation, and closeout expectations.
• Establish consistent practices for bidding, contractor qualification, project documentation, change control, cost reporting, contract coordination, insurance verification, quality review, and project completion in partnership with Finance, Procurement, Legal, and Operations.
• Lead the Grand Rounds facility-review process, including standards, schedules, reporting, action planning, completion requirements, sign-off, escalation of unresolved findings, and portfolio-level analysis of recurring issues.
• Establish and monitor expectations for computerized maintenance-management systems, preventive-maintenance programs, asset information, project dashboards, capital data, open-project reporting, and executive-level facilities reporting.
• Review facilities and capital data to identify systemic risks, emerging trends, performance gaps, aging infrastructure, resource needs, and opportunities for enterprise improvement.
• Establish facilities-related frameworks for emergency preparedness, utility resilience, business continuity, severe-weather response, disaster recovery, and escalation of significant life-safety or operational events.
• Advance energy-management, sustainability, resource-conservation, and lifecycle-cost practices that improve reliability, support responsible asset stewardship, and reduce long-term operating risk.
• Establish or maintain facilities standards, playbooks, procedures, templates, and technical guidance that support regulatory readiness, safety, consistent execution, and effective community operations.
• Partner with Operations, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Risk and Safety, Information Technology, Sales and Marketing, Experience, Development, and community leaders to resolve complex facilities issues and advance organizational priorities.
• Provide executive leadership with clear recommendations, risk assessments, capital projections, project updates, decision alternatives, and other information necessary for informed business decisions.
• Develop Buildings & Grounds leadership capability through onboarding, mentoring, training, succession planning, functional meetings, shared practices, and continuous-improvement initiatives.
• Monitor the effectiveness of regional support and enterprise facilities programs; adjust priorities, resources, operating structures, and performance expectations as organizational needs change.
• Maintain current knowledge of facilities-management practices, construction and project governance, building technologies, health care facility requirements, sustainability, risk management, and regulatory developments.

Decision Authority & Scope

• Serves as the senior functional leader for Buildings & Grounds operations across HumanGood Life Plan Communities.
• Directly supervises assigned regional and corporate Buildings & Grounds leaders and establishes priorities, performance expectations, work assignments, development plans, and accountability.
• Establishes the operating cadence, reporting structure, technical standards, templates, escalation practices, and functional support model for the Buildings & Grounds function.
• Exercises substantial independent judgment in evaluating portfolio risk, prioritizing facilities needs, allocating functional resources, guiding regional leaders, and making recommendations regarding capital investments and major projects.
• Influences enterprise capital planning, project prioritization, operating and capital budget assumptions, expenditure timing, vendor strategy, and organizational response to significant physical-plant risks.
• May approve expenditures or commitments within delegated authority but does not independently approve board-level projects, execute contracts, or authorize funding beyond established limits.
• Makes or recommends decisions concerning the selection, development, performance management, promotion, corrective action, and separation of assigned team members in accordance with organizational policy.
• Escalates significant resident-safety concerns, compliance deficiencies, infrastructure risks, project failures, budget exposures, unresolved Grand Rounds findings, and matters requiring executive or board action.
• Final approval of capital funding, contracts, legal positions, major policy changes, compensation actions, and board-level commitments remains with the designated organizational authority.
• Scope includes enterprise support of the Life Plan Community portfolio and may change as the number, type, location, or operating model of communities evolves.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in facilities management, construction management, engineering, architecture, business, real estate, operations, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and substantial relevant experience.
• Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in facilities management, construction or project management, capital planning, asset management, building operations, or related multi-site operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading managers, directors, technical professionals, or other facilities leaders across multiple locations or a complex operating portfolio.
• Significant experience developing and prioritizing capital plans, evaluating deferred maintenance, managing major projects, and advising executive leaders regarding facility risk and investment decisions.
• Comprehensive understanding of building operations, infrastructure planning, project governance, preventive maintenance, contractor management, regulatory compliance, safety, and emergency preparedness.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex technical, financial, operational, contractual, and facilities information and convert findings into clear executive recommendations.
• Experience establishing enterprise or multi-site standards, systems, reporting structures, performance measures, and accountability processes.
• Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change, develop leaders, resolve complex problems, and influence decisions across functions and levels of leadership.
• Strong financial acumen, including capital planning, budget development, forecasting, cost analysis, project reporting, and evaluation of financial and operational tradeoffs.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Proficiency with standard business applications and familiarity with computerized maintenance-management systems, asset-management systems, construction or project-management platforms, and executive dashboards.
• Ability to travel regularly across the Life Plan Community portfolio, including overnight travel.
• Valid driver’s license and acceptable driving record when operating a personal or company vehicle is required to perform assigned duties.
• Ability to provide after-hours executive support for significant facility, life-safety, utility, weather, or project matters as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in facilities management, engineering, construction management, business administration, real estate, operations, or a related field.
• Senior facilities leadership experience within senior living, health care, hospitality, residential, educational, nonprofit, or another complex multi-site service environment.
• Experience leading capital planning and asset-management strategy across a large, geographically dispersed portfolio.
• Experience overseeing occupied-space construction, infrastructure replacement, major renovation, or projects in regulated residential or health care environments.
• Experience developing facilities governance models, technical standards, playbooks, inspection programs, project controls, or enterprise performance-reporting systems.
• Experience leading organizational implementation or optimization of computerized maintenance-management systems, asset databases, capital dashboards, or facilities analytics.
• Experience developing facilities leaders, succession plans, functional career paths, or enterprise training programs.
• Certified Facility Manager, Certified Health Care Facility Manager, Project Management Professional, Facility Management Professional, Sustainability Facility Professional, or another relevant facilities, construction, engineering, project-management, or safety credential.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• Work is performed in a hybrid office and community environment, including remote or Customer Support Center settings and onsite at Life Plan Communities.
• Community visits may involve resident and health care areas, mechanical rooms, rooftops, grounds, parking areas, construction zones, utility spaces, and other indoor and outdoor locations.
• Regular travel throughout the Life Plan Community portfolio is required, including air travel, driving, and overnight stays.
• The position generally works during standard business hours but may require evening, weekend, holiday, or after-hours availability for significant facility, life-safety, utility, weather, project, or operational escalations.
• Work requires regular use of computers, mobile devices, and standard office equipment and the ability to read and interpret technical, financial, contractual, regulatory, and operational information.
• The role requires the ability to move throughout buildings and campuses; sit for extended periods; stand or walk during site visits; climb stairs; and navigate mechanical, construction, and outdoor environments.
• Must be able to occasionally lift, carry, push, or pull up to 20 pounds.
• Work may involve exposure to weather, temperature variation, noise, dust, cleaning products, construction activity, uneven surfaces, moving equipment, and other conditions normally associated with facilities operations.
• Visual and auditory ability must be sufficient to assess facility conditions, review detailed documentation, communicate effectively, and recognize alarms or safety concerns.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Location:  candidates must be located in a state in which HumanGood operates (CA, PA, WA, OR, ID, NV, AZ, MA). This role requires regular travel across the Life Plan Community portfolio.  

Compensation: 190-220K depending on experience and location + performance-based bonus

Equal Opportunity Employer
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