Facilities Technology and Automation Specialist

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POSITION SPECIFICS ​

The Office of Physical Plant (OPP) is seeking a Facilities Technology and Automation Specialist to improve facilities, maintenance, asset-management, project-delivery, and administrative processes through the strategic use of automation, machine-learning tools, enterprise data, business-process improvement, and approved facilities-management applications.

Reporting to the Director of Business Intelligence & Automation, this position serves as a bridge between OPP business units and enterprise technology providers. The specialist identifies operational needs, evaluates available solutions, coordinates implementation, supports adoption, and measures whether technology-enabled improvements reduce manual effort, improve process consistency, strengthen data quality, and enhance service delivery.

The successful candidate will work closely with maintenance, engineering, operations, finance, project delivery, planning, and administrative units to improve how information is captured, managed, shared, and used throughout the facilities lifecycle. The role applies advanced analytical and problem-solving methods to moderately complex operational issues and translates business requirements into practical, sustainable solutions.

This position does not develop software, enterprise technology platforms, reports, or dashboards. Instead, it identifies and implements approved automation and machine-learning tools; improves the business processes measured by existing reports and dashboards; supports data quality and system adoption; and partners with report, dashboard, and enterprise technology owners when changes to those products or platforms are needed.

Primary Responsibilities

Facilities Business Process Improvement

• •Evaluate existing facilities, maintenance, project-management, asset-management, and administrative processes to identify opportunities for increased efficiency, reduced manual effort, improved control, and better service delivery.
• •Lead moderately complex process-improvement initiatives that leverage approved automation and machine-learning tools within OPP's facilities domain.
• •Document current-state and future-state business processes, identify root causes of inefficiency, and recommend practical solutions that improve operational outcomes.
• •Develop standards and repeatable practices for efficient, consistent, and well-governed business operations across OPP.

Facilities Business Intelligence and Technology Strategy

• •Collaborate with OPP leadership to identify opportunities where automation, machine learning, process redesign, and facilities business applications can improve operations, asset performance, maintenance delivery, project execution, and customer service.
• •Develop and maintain a facilities technology and automation roadmap aligned with OPP strategic objectives and operational priorities.
• •Analyze existing operational data, performance measures, and process evidence to define use cases, establish baselines, identify trends and opportunities, and evaluate the effects of implemented solutions.
• •Apply statistical thinking and appropriate analytical methods to assess process performance, identify potential predictive or machine-learning use cases, and support evidence-based recommendations. The position uses existing reports and dashboards as inputs and does not develop them.
• •Assist in evaluating emerging automation and machine-learning technologies and determine their applicability, limitations, risks, and expected value for facilities-related business functions.
• •Serve as a liaison between OPP stakeholders and PSU Information Technology regarding technology initiatives, business requirements, integrations, security reviews, and platform constraints.

Automation and Machine-Learning Tools

• •Identify, evaluate, pilot, and coordinate implementation of approved workflow-automation, process-automation, machine-learning, and digital-collaboration tools that address documented OPP business needs.
• •Translate operational requirements into solution criteria, use cases, workflow designs, implementation plans, acceptance criteria, and measures of success.
• •Assist departments with configuration, testing, validation, implementation, and adoption of approved solutions; coordinate technical development or platform changes with the appropriate PSU IT or vendor resources.
• •Establish appropriate human review, exception handling, data use, security, privacy, and operational controls for automated and machine-learning-enabled processes.
• •Monitor implemented solutions and measure benefits, including time savings, process consistency, quality, risk reduction, service improvements, adoption, and return on effort.
• •Support the responsible use of machine-learning tools by documenting intended use, limitations, data dependencies, validation results, and required human oversight.

Facilities Data and Information Management

• •Promote effective use of enterprise data to support maintenance, operations, planning, project delivery, financial management, asset stewardship, and performance improvement.
• •Support data-governance initiatives that improve data quality, collection, stewardship, consistency, accessibility, and appropriate use across facilities business systems.
• •Collaborate with business areas to identify critical facilities information needs, data dependencies, and opportunities to improve data capture and management practices.
• •Support the definition and maintenance of data models, process measures, business rules, and data-quality checks needed for automation and machine-learning use cases; coordinate technical implementation with system owners.
• •Assist departments in using existing enterprise data resources and performance information to support informed operational decisions without assuming responsibility for report or dashboard development.

Facilities Business Systems Support

• •Collaborate with stakeholders using facilities and maintenance management systems, including IBM Maximo, Trimble Unity Construct, GIS platforms, Microsoft 365 solutions, financial and asset-management systems, and other approved enterprise facilities applications.
• •Assist with business-requirements gathering, process evaluation, workflow design, user-acceptance testing, system-configuration coordination, and operational improvements.
• •Identify opportunities for improved integration, data utilization, process controls, and information flow across facilities business systems.
• •Maintain clear documentation of business requirements, workflows, data dependencies, configuration decisions, testing results, operating procedures, and lessons learned.

Technology Governance, Security, and Compliance

• •Support governance activities related to automation tools, machine-learning solutions, facilities business systems, and enterprise data resources.
• •Help establish standards for the responsible, secure, transparent, and sustainable use of automation and machine-learning technologies within OPP processes.
• •Ensure business processes and proposed solutions align with University policies related to cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, records management, accessi