Associate Director of Building Maintenance Services

The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) seeks an experienced and collaborative leader to serve as its next Associate Director of Building Maintenance Services (Associate Director). Reporting to the Director of Facilities Management (FM), the Associate Director supervises, develops, and directs the superintendents for all skilled trades staff and supports a team committed to delivering exceptional customer service to the UCSB community. The Associate Director will oversee the physical plant maintenance and repair work for 168 instruction, research, recreational, and institutional support facilities covering over 4.1 million gross square feet of maintained space across a world-class institution to ensure facilities are safe, secure, and energy efficient. 

UCSB is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, culture of collaboration, and impressive slate of interdisciplinary research. A designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, UCSB ranked second for economic mobility in the New York Times list of “Top Colleges Doing the Most for the American Dream” and is among the top public universities in the nation, according to U.S News and World Report. In the 2023-2024 academic year, UC Santa Barbara enrolled about 22,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students across five colleges and professional schools. UCSB offers the benefits of a premier research university and an intimate undergraduate learning experience. The University is situated along the idyllic Santa Barbara and Goleta Coastline; the campus sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and is bordered by the Santa Ynez Mountains.

The Associate Director will be joining the Division of Design, Facilities & Safety Services, a division with an impressive reputation at UCSB, to continue to their good work while being creative with limited resources. Upon arrival, the Associate Director will take the time necessary to learn about the various needs of the team and campus community, find efficiencies and deficiencies with assessments, and then thoughtfully lead the Superintendents in setting and executing work plans and priorities, ensuring they tend to the highest needs while maintaining a high level of communication and transparency to improve and maintain relationships and customer service across the university. The team will be looking to this Associate Director to provide stable and strategic leadership, as the role has been largely vacant in the last couple of years after the previous Associate Director was promoted to the Director of Facilities Management, and he has held both roles intermittently for some time. The Associate Director will address a set of key opportunities and challenges, listed below and further detailed in the below document:  

1. Determine key priorities and a clear vision that will ensure a high level of service across the physical plant and world-class facilities
2. Develop partnerships with key stakeholders across campus through effective communication and transparency
3. Cultivate a culture of accountability, cost containment, and continuous improvement 
4. Foster a positive work culture focused on developing, recruiting, and retaining staff 

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Applications should be submitted via the UCSB job portal here. Inquiries, nominations, and referrals should be submitted electronically below. 

Lindsay Gold is leading this search with Luciano Zuniga and Julia Hochner.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.