Director of Central Services, Facilities Management

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

The University of Minnesota (the University or UMN), the state’s land-grant university and one of the most prestigious public research universities in the nation, seeks a collaborative, strategic leader to serve as its next Director of Central Services (CS) in the Facilities Management (FM) division. This is a significant management opportunity for an experienced professional to provide direction and strategic leadership to a comprehensive and diverse organization for the technical, professional, and service teams that support a vibrant 1,200-acre campus with 23 million square feet of state-of-the-art buildings located in 280 buildings in the heart of Twin Cities. 

The Director will use their expertise to oversee the strategic direction and operational management of FM’s Central Services units comprised of University Construction, Specialty Shops, Landcare, and Waste Recovery Services, consisting of approximately 250 employees with an annual budget of $25M. The next Director will be tasked with managing customer relationships, providing strategic guidance, and cultivating highly skilled internal staff members and internal processes within available budgets to deliver effective, efficient, sustainable outcomes that support the University’s mission. 

Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, the Director of Central Services will be responsible for the seamless delivery of facilities services. The Director works in tandem with FM leadership to ensure the operational effectiveness of the Facilities Management division through the establishment and implementation of short and long-range departmental goals, objectives, strategic plans, policies, and operating procedures that support and enable learning and discovery, community and care, and economic and environmental sustainability in a dynamic academic and research environment. In doing so, the Director will be expected to address the following opportunities and challenges, detailed below:   

• Enhancing cross-departmental alignment and innovation in Facilities Management
• Maintaining and further developing partnerships with key internal and external stakeholders across campus through effective communication and transparency 
• Driving financial excellence through strategic budgeting and cost management 
• Overseeing and continuously improving operations for all CS units
• Developing and supporting CS’s talent management chain
• Strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within CS, FM, and University-wide

The University of Minnesota has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national search firm, to assist in this important search. Rebecca Kennedy is leading this search with Gigi Mensah.

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries and nominations should be directed electronically and in confidence to the Isaacson, Miller website, while all applications must be completed via the University of Minnesota's Institutional Job Portal.