Job Purpose

The Director, Program Spaces and Design leads the planning, design, development, and construction of Lili'uokalani Trust capital projects and owns the long-term strategy for the physical spaces in which LT programs serve kamalei and 'ohana. The Director holds clear decision authority to direct design firms, consultants, and contractors on the Trust's behalf. This role carries a dual mandate that flexes with project cycles. During active capital work, the Director drives projects from conception through closeout, including governance, budgeting, design management, due diligence, entitlement, permitting, and construction oversight. As capital work slows, the Director shifts focus to program spaces across LT: space planning, renovations, refreshes, and the ongoing alignment of facilities with program needs. The Director supervises the Manager, Program Spaces and Design and partners closely with the Director of Strategic Initiatives, program leadership, Real Estate, and Team Services.

Essential Responsibilities

Capital Project Leadership and Governance

• Serves as LT's point of decision authority on assigned capital projects. Directs design firms, consultants, contractors, and subcontractors in the execution of planning, design, and construction activities to accomplish project goals.

• Establishes and maintains project governance for each capital project: decision-making structure, escalation paths, meeting cadence, decision logs, and clearly defined kulana (roles and responsibilities) for all project participants.

• Collaborates with pertinent leadership to establish project goals and objectives, ensuring program plans inform design rather than the reverse.

• Oversees and directs planning, design, and construction of assigned projects from conception to completion and closeout, including schematic design, design development, construction documents, bidding, and construction administration.

• Responsible for the creation, management, and reporting of project budgets, cost scenarios, schedules, and implementation plans. Develops preliminary cost estimates for prospective projects to evaluate viability and consistency with program objectives. Leads value engineering processes, presenting cost and trade-off options to leadership for decision.

• Manages all project due diligence workstreams, including environmental, archaeological and cultural, geotechnical, survey, and traffic studies. Sequences long-lead items early to protect the project schedule and budget.

• Leads consultant and vendor selection: develops and issues Requests for Proposals, evaluates competing proposals, and, in consultation with LT's legal counsel, drafts contracts and negotiates terms of agreements.

• Interacts with city and state officials, permitting agencies, design review and approval boards, and landowners to advance land entitlement, permitting, licensing, and inspection requirements.

• Ensures projects comply with applicable regulations, including city and state licensing departments, fair housing, zoning, building code, and HIOSH requirements, engaging specialized counsel and consultants as needed.

• Ensures project planning, architecture, and engineering work is aligned with the highest development and LT authority standards, holding all consultant work to the same standards.

• Keeps executives, trustees, and project stakeholders informed through a regular reporting cadence, documented decisions, and lessons learned. Prepares reports and presentations for executive team, Board of Trustees, and other stakeholders.

Program Spaces Strategy

• Owns LT's long-term program space strategy: assesses how physical environments serve programs over time and develops multi-year plans for renovations, refreshes, and new program environments across kīpuka.

• Oversees space planning, office and program layout, and maximum utilization of workspaces at LT locations, in collaboration with program leadership and facilities teammates.

• Partners with youth program and youth serviced teams to ensure spaces where frontline services are delivered are welcoming, functional, and appropriate for kamalei and 'ohana.

• Incorporates Team Services leads (People Operations, Information Technology, Administration, Facilities and Fleet, etc.) in the design and development of implementation plans for new and renovated spaces.

• Manages contractor and vendor relationships in the areas of facilities improvement, ensuring LT's good standing in the community.

Staff Administration

• Supervises the Manager, Program Spaces and Design, including work planning, coaching, and performance management. Prepares detailed, implementable project plans to be shared with the project team.

• Works alongside People Operations to identify staffing needs, recruitment approaches, and consultant capacity depending on project demands.

• Keeps track of project progression and provides scheduled and ad hoc reports to senior management and executives as required.

Risk Management

• Identifies and evaluates potential risks. Collaborates with authorities and LT's Risk Management team to propose, prepare, and implement risk management measures in accordance with project deliverables and continuous operations.

• Collaborates with LT's Risk Management and People Operations teams to ensure risk and compliance documents and files are up to date and available upon request by authorities of pertinence.

• In conjunction with safety and risk management measures, ensures all safety guidelines are followed on all construction sites.

Other Duties

• Contributes to the Trust's success by accepting new assignments, helping team members, learning new skills, and striving to improve team and organization results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Architecture, Building Construction, or Construction Management, or equivalent amount of related experience.

• Minimum of ten (10) years of proven experience in management of large-scale design and construction projects, including pre-construction planning, design, estimating, scheduling, budgeting, and contract management. Ability to budget, schedule, negotiate, and control costs.

• Proven experience serving as a decision authority on construction projects.

• Experience with Hawai'i land entitlement, permitting, and design review and approval processes strongly preferred.

• Experience with program-serving or community facilities (early childhood, youth, family services) preferred.

• Cognizant of and well-versed in HIOSH compliance regulations. Advanced knowledge of construction management processes, means, methods, and quality standards.

• Must be very comfortable reading and understanding blueprints and drawings. Proficiency in Mac OS, general industry software, and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) required; proficiency in Asana and smartsheets preferred.

• Industry accreditations such as AIA, CPM, and PMP preferred.

LT strongly believes in hiring individuals reflective to the community it serves, including lived experiences, striving for representative diversity among its staff.

Job Competencies

• Ability to manage high pressure deliverables, deadlines, logistically complex processes and projects, and work across multiple units of the organization. Ability to influence others through setting of shared goals, communication, data sharing and transparency.

• Experience and knowledge of Change Management principles and practices that can be leveraged to effectively manage the "people side" of capital projects and space transitions, including moves, renovations and new program environments.

• Experienced negotiator who is able to cultivate and manage relationships with all team members, consultants, contractors and regulatory partners. Fosters and maintains an environment based on teamwork, commitment, accountability, cooperation, collaboration and direct, timely feedback.

• Strong interpersonal skills. Able to build a spirit of collegiality among a diverse array of professionals, from architects and engineers to program staff and executives. Comfortable meeting new people and engaging in new relationships. Seeks collaborative engagement to contribute to a common good. Regards conflict as valuable, trusting own abilities to manage interpersonal differences in productive ways.

• Sound judgment and decisiveness. Able to weigh cost, quality, schedule and program impact, make timely decisions within delegated authority and stand behind them. Knows when to decide and when to escalate.

• Able to translate technical design and construction matters into clear language for program staff, executives and trustees, and translate program needs into direction the design team can act on.

• Able to work independently with a high degree of accuracy and with highly confidential information, including budgets, contracts and personnel matters. Takes initiative and a proactive approach to accomplish tasks with a positive attitude.

• Able to work flexible hours, including nights and weekends, to meet key deadlines and construction milestones. Able to travel to meet strategic needs.

Key Required Competencies

• Aloha: awareness and approach to the work with compassion, empathy, and kindness.

• 'Imi Na'auao: a constant desire for seeking knowledge; lifelong learner.

• Po'okele: desire to perform in excellence

• Wiwo'ole: maintain a courageous, brave, and fearless mindset

• Pono: understand the appropriateness of time, place, reason, people, and tools

• Kuleana: bring a deep sense of responsibility and accountability

Organization Competencies

• Alignment with Queen's legacy: Understanding and appreciation of Queen Liliuokalani's story, her legacy and the Hawaiian Culture is foundational to staff's commitment to working with our Hawaiian children, families and communities. Demonstrates respect for and appreciation of Hawaiian values history, and culture, understanding its implication in one's work, in fostering meaningful relationships, and in embracing the community served.

• Ho`omau i ka `imi Na`auao (Continuous Learning and Improvement): Committed to creating and reinforcing an environment of continuous learning and improvement.

• Ho`ike i na Mana`o Pono (Effective Communication): Communicates with those we serve and each other in a consistent manner that results in mutual understanding, harmony, and action.

• No'ono'o loi (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving): Actively and skillfully understands, conceptualizes, applies, analyzes, synthesizes, and/or evaluates information and develops and supports fact-based analyses and recommendation

• Ho'o kumu a'e or `Imi hakuhia (Innovation): Identifies and integrates creative ideas into new or existing services and promotes effective problem-solving.

• Pilina Ho`ohana a me ka Hana Hilina`i (Building Relationships and Creating Trust): Manages relationships to create optimal opportunities and move the organization forward

• Alu Like I ka Hana (Teamwork): Works cooperatively and collaboratively with others throughout the organization in alignment with the organization's objectives.

• Ho`onui I ka `Ike (Capacity Building): Encourages personal growth by exhibiting trust and a belief in the capacity of others.

Travel Requirements

In alignment with our organizational competencies of Alu Like i ka Hana (Teamwork) and Ho'omau i ka 'Imi Na'auao (Continuous Learning and Improvement), this position will require occasional travel across the island, inter-island, and out-of-state depending on the needs of the team and the organization. While travel may not always be a need, the ability to travel when required remains a crucial aspect of this position to successfully contribute to our concerted efforts to carry out our Queen's legacy. This description reflects management's assignment of essential functions, it does not proscribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned. This job description is subject to change at any time.

Mental and Physical Demands:

Perform light physical work, including climbing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, and lifting weight of up to 25 pounds. Exposed to outdoor climate and diverse terrain

Terms and Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment, employee will be subject to LT's policies and procedures.