Plant Operations Director

Pay Range:

The base pay range for this position is

$112,195.00-$175,302.00 Annual however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Job Title: Plant Operations Director

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8am - 5pm

Position Overview

The Director of Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for the organization’s facilities, maintenance, and plant operations functions, with an initial primary focus on developing a highly skilled, sustainable Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team and ensuring the successful transfer of institutional knowledge from experienced staff approaching retirement.

The Director serves as a key organizational leader in maintaining a safe, functional, reliable, and regulatory-compliant environment of care and works collaboratively with clinical and non-clinical leaders to support patient care, employee safety, operational continuity, regulatory readiness, and organizational reliability.

Essential Functions

• •Develop a detailed organizational transition plan and implementation timeline.
• •Define roles, responsibilities, reporting relationships, decision-making authority, and performance expectations for each leadership position.
• •Identify required leadership competencies and develop recruitment, selection, or succession strategies for future management positions.
• •Establish appropriate span of control and accountability across the department.
• •Develop standardized processes for communication, work prioritization, escalation, and resource allocation.
• •Create measurable performance expectations and departmental metrics.
• •Build a team capable of independently supporting the organization's infrastructure while maintaining appropriate access to specialized expertise when needed.
• •Establish a sustainable leadership structure that reduces reliance on individual leaders and supports organizational continuity.

Year One

During the first year, the Director will assess current staffing and skill requirements, recruit and develop up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2 with specialized expertise in HVAC, general construction, electrical, and plumbing, and establish a structured knowledge-transfer and succession-planning process. The Director will work closely with retiring/tenured maintenance staff and the Director of Facilities to capture critical organizational knowledge, systems expertise, preventive maintenance practices, regulatory requirements, and site-specific knowledge necessary to maintain safe, reliable, and compliant hospital operations.

1. Maintenance Engineering Level 2Team Development — Year One Priority

• •Develop and implement a comprehensive staffing plan for the Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team based on current and future organizational needs.
• •Recruit, select, onboard, and develop up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2 with specialized skills in:
• •HVAC and mechanical systems
• •Electrical systems
• •Plumbing
• •General construction and building maintenance

• •Evaluate current Maintenance Engineer Level 2 team competencies and identify critical skill gaps and areas of operational vulnerability.
• •Develop cross-training strategies to reduce reliance on individual employees and ensure adequate coverage of critical systems for call coverage.
• •Establish competency expectations, job responsibilities, training requirements, and performance standards for maintenance engineering positions.

2. Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning-Year One Priority

• •Lead a formal knowledge-transfer program for employees approaching retirement or otherwise possessing critical institutional knowledge.
• •Work directly with experienced maintenance personnel and the Director of Facilities to identify and document critical operational knowledge.
• •Establish opportunities for newly hired Maintenance Engineers Level 2 to work alongside experienced staff to facilitate hands-on knowledge transfer.
• •Identify single points of failure in organizational knowledge and develop mitigation strategies.
• •Maintain a succession plan for critical technical positions.
• •Ensure knowledge transfer occurs before retirement or departure of key employees whenever reasonably possible.

3. In House Construction Projects-Year One Priority

• •Identify construction projects that have typically been outsourced to bring in-house
• •Start at least 1-2 in-house construction projects utilizing the new Maintenance Engineer Level 2 staff and with current Maintenance staff by working in conjunction with the Director of Maintenance
• •Track expenses and labor savings with in-house construction projects to develop an ROI

Key First-Year Outcomes

By the end of Year One, the Director should have:

• •Built a sustainable Maintenance Engineering team with appropriate HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction, and general maintenance expertise.
• •Reduced organizational dependency on retiring employees through intentional knowledge transfer.
• •Documented critical systems and institutional knowledge necessary for continued operations.
• •Established competency and cross-training expectations for Maintenance Engineers Level 2.
• •Developed succession plans for critical technical positions.
• •Identified infrastructure and staffing risks requiring long-term attention.
• •Complete at least 1-2 in-house construction projects
• •Established the foundation for the future Plant Operations organizational structure.

Year Two: Future-State Plant Operations Development

During the second year, the Director will transition from primarily building the Maintenance Engineering Level 2 workforce to developing and implementing a long-term Plant Operations organizational structure and transition plan. The future-state department will be designed to provide coordinated oversight of maintenance, biomedical services, grounds, emergency management, safety, security, and environmental services. The Director will establish the leadership framework, accountability structures, workflows, performance expectations, and succession plans necessary to support a sustainable and high-reliability Plant Operations department.

4. Develop the Future-State Plant Operations Organizational Structure

During the second year, the Director will lead development and implementation of a transition plan to establish an integrated Plant Operations department with the following leadership structure:

Director of Plant Operations

→ Maintenance Manager

• •Maintenance Engineers
• •Biomedical Program
• •Grounds

→ Emergency Management & Safety Supervisor

Security Staff

→ Environmental Services Manager

Environmental Services Workers

5. Leadership Development and Succession

• •Identify high-potential internal candidates for future leadership positions.
• •Develop leadership development plans for Maintenance, Emergency Management/Safety, Security, Biomedical, Grounds, and Environmental Services functions.
• •Develop standardized documentation for:
• •Critical building systems
• •Equipment and infrastructure
• •Preventive maintenance requirements
• •Troubleshooting procedures
• •Emergency response procedures
• •Vendor relationships
• •Regulatory requirements
• •System-specific operational knowledge

• •Provide coaching, mentoring, and developmental opportunities to emerging leaders.
• •Establish succession plans for key Plant Operations leadership and technical positions.
• •Develop a structured transition plan that allows operational responsibilities to progressively shift from the Director to designated managers and supervisors.

6. Emergency Preparedness and Operational Resilience

• •Ensure maintenance and facilities personnel are prepared to respond to infrastructure failures and other operational emergencies.
• •Develop and maintain response plans for critical utility and infrastructure disruptions.
• •Participate in organizational emergency management and business continuity planning.
• •Ensure appropriate staff are trained to respond to emergencies involving utilities, HV