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 OverviewThe 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, HVAC, electrical systems, plumbing, structural issues, and other facility-related events.
• Support organizational efforts to maintain continuity of patient care during facility or infrastructure disruptions.

7. Facilities and Plant Operations

• Provide leadership and oversight for the safe, reliable, and efficient operation and maintenance of the organization's physical plant and infrastructure.
• Ensure critical building systems are maintained in accordance with manufacturer recommendations, regulatory requirements, organizational policies, and accepted industry standards.
• Oversee preventive and corrective maintenance activities.
• Establish priorities for maintenance projects, repairs, replacements, and capital needs.
• Monitor the condition and reliability of facilities infrastructure and develop recommendations for replacement, renovation, or improvement.
• Coordinate internal resources and outside contractors when specialized expertise is required.
• Promote standardization and reliability of maintenance practices throughout the organization.

8. Regulatory Compliance and Environment of Care

• Ensure Plant Operations activities support compliance with applicable regulatory, accreditation, life-safety, building, environmental, and occupational safety requirements.
• Maintain readiness for regulatory and accreditation surveys related to facilities, environment of care, utilities, emergency power, life safety, and related areas.
• Establish processes for identifying, tracking, and resolving deficiencies.
• Participate in Environment of Care and other organizational safety and regulatory committees as assigned.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and records related to inspections, testing, maintenance, corrective actions, and regulatory requirements.

9. Department Integration and Reliability

• Develop an integrated approach to Plant Operations that promotes communication and coordination among maintenance, biomedical, grounds, emergency management, safety, security, and environmental services.
• Establish common expectations for customer service, safety, reliability, accountability, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop departmental dashboards or performance measures to monitor:
  • Preventive maintenance completion
  • Work order performance
  • Equipment/system reliability
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Safety events
  • Response times
  • Staffing and competency
  • Environmental services performance
  • Security and emergency management activities
• Use data to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and risk reduction.

10. Financial and Resource Management

• Develop and manage departmental budgets consistent with organizational priorities.
• Evaluate staffing, equipment, service contracts, and capital needs.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary reliance on outside contractors while maintaining appropriate expertise and service quality.
• Develop long-term capital and infrastructure replacement recommendations.
• Monitor expenditures and resource utilization.

11. Leadership, Collaboration, and Culture

• Serve as a visible and accessible leader who promotes accountability, teamwork, safety, and operational excellence.
• Collaborate with clinical, administrative, quality, safety, risk, infection prevention, and other departments to identify and address facility-related risks.
• Establish a culture in which staff understand that reliable facilities and infrastructure are fundamental to safe patient care.
• Communicate effectively with executive leadership regarding operational risks, infrastructure needs, staffing, regulatory concerns, and long-term planning.
• Foster an environment of respect, professional development, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.

Key Second-Year Outcomes

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

• Implemented a transition plan toward the future-state Plant Operations structure.
• Established or identified leaders for the Maintenance Manager, Emergency Management & Safety Supervisor, and Environmental Services Manager functions.
• Defined clear reporting relationships and accountability.
• Developed leadership succession and development plans.
• Established departmental performance metrics and reporting.
• Integrated maintenance, biomedical, grounds, safety, security, emergency management, and environmental services into a coordinated operational framework.
• Positioned the department for long-term sustainability, reliability, regulatory compliance, and operational resilience.

About You!

 

This Job is For You if You Have:

• Experience in directing overall hospital operation of plant operations, maintenance, and construction, in addition to the safe and efficient operation of institution services systems in conformity with fire, safety, sanitary and medical regulatory requirements.
• A minimum of six (6) years of experience in plant operations; two of which MUST be in a supervisory capacity.
• High School diploma or equivalent.
• Proven experience in leadership and team management
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and strategically.
• Demonstrated ability to lead change and foster innovation.

A Wow if You Have:

• Bachelors of Science in Engineering or related field preferred or equivalent experience.
• Experience in a hospital or healthcare facility.
• Journeyman level in HVAC, general construction, electrical or plumbing fields.