Senior Associate Vice President for UW Facilities

Job Description

The University of Washington has an outstanding opportunity for a Senior Associate Vice President for Facilities to join their team.

Application Requirements

WittKieffer is assisting the University of Washington in this search, which will remain open until an appointment is made. Please submit applications, nominations, and inquiries to the search team through the WittKieffer candidate portal accessible here: Senior Associate Vice President for UW Facilities | WittKieffer.

About this Opportunity

The University of Washington is deeply committed to the stewardship of its natural and built environments. Reporting to the President, the Senior Associate Vice President for UW Facilities provides strategic and operational leadership for the University’s facilities organization and serves as the senior leader responsible for the reliable operation, maintenance, renewal, and improvement of the University’s physical environment.

The Senior Associate Vice President for UW Facilities leads the people, services, infrastructure, and capital delivery that enable the University of Washington’s academic, research, clinical, and public service mission. Reporting to the President, this leader builds trusted relationships across the University, develops a deep understanding of campus partners’ priorities, and translates those priorities into responsive services, actionable plans, and timely results. The position has leadership responsibility for core facilities functions, including building operations and maintenance, utilities and infrastructure, custodial and grounds services, transportation, and capital project planning and delivery, with responsibility for accelerating projects, stewarding complex financial resources, and developing compelling strategies to fund infrastructure renewal and institutional priorities. The Senior Associate Vice President must bring financial sophistication, entrepreneurial judgment, and a strong service orientation, working across organizational boundaries to resolve problems and advance the University’s goals.

The Senior Associate Vice President also serves as a principal institutional partner in capital and portfolio planning. Finance, Planning & Budgeting (FPB) leads the University’s enterprise-level strategic capital planning and financial framework. At the same time, UW Facilities brings deep expertise in asset condition, infrastructure needs, feasibility, lifecycle implications, cost, schedule, and delivery risk. Together, the functions support the President and Provost in setting priorities and translating those priorities into executable programs and projects.

The role is particularly important as UW advances its strategic direction toward greater operational excellence, stewardship, and integration of university-wide administrative functions. This profile reflects the current scope of the role. The Facilities portfolio may evolve over time to support institutional priorities. The Senior Associate Vice President will strengthen core operations, improve service, simplify processes, use data and resources more strategically, and build a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Operational leadership and service delivery - 25%

▪ Lead reliable, safe, efficient, and customer-focused delivery of core facilities services, including building operations and maintenance, utilities and infrastructure, custodial and grounds services, transportation, and other assigned functions.

▪ Establish clear service expectations, operating standards, and measures of performance for a large, distributed service organization.

▪ Maintain effective 24/7 operational readiness and ensure strong response to facilities incidents, infrastructure failures, and other events that threaten continuity of University operations.

▪ Strengthen the use of data to understand demand, cost, asset condition, productivity, service quality, and customer experience.

▪ Build disciplined approaches to prioritizing work where resources do not allow every facility's needs to be addressed immediately.

▪ Identify opportunities to simplify processes, reduce duplication, improve workflows, and make it easier for campus partners to work with UW Facilities.

▪ Embed continuous improvement into day-to-day operations and leadership practice.

Strategic leadership and institutional stewardship - 20%

▪ Provide strategic leadership for UW Facilities, translating

University priorities into clear operating plans, renewal strategies, implementation approaches, and resource requirements.

▪ Advise the President and other senior leaders on facilities condition, infrastructure risk, operational priorities, service performance, and major investment considerations.

▪ Partner with FPB and other institutional leaders in the broader capital and portfolio planning process, bringing Facilities expertise to decisions about asset condition, infrastructure need, feasibility, lifecycle implications, and delivery.

▪ Ensure Facilities plans and operations support academic, research, clinical, and administrative priorities.

▪ Build strong partnerships with UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, UW Medicine, and other institutional partners while recognizing differences in local facilities' responsibilities.

Capital project delivery and asset renewal - 20%

▪ Provide executive leadership for translating the University's capital priorities into executable programs and projects.

▪ Partner closely with FPB throughout the capital and portfolio planning process so that strategic and financial decisions are informed by asset condition, technical feasibility, lifecycle implications, cost, schedule, and delivery risk.

▪ Lead the planning, design, construction, and delivery of capital projects and major renovations within the Facilities portfolio.

▪ Ensure projects are delivered through disciplined approaches to scope, budget, schedule, design quality, sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and risk management. Establish clear milestones, decision timelines, and escalation paths; remove unnecessary handoffs and approval delays; and hold leaders accountable for timely decisions and delivery against agreed commitments.

▪ Integrate capital project delivery with facilities maintenance, renewal, and operations so investments improve the long-term performance and reliability of University assets.

▪ Provide senior-level reporting on project execution, delivery risk, and major capital work to University leadership and the Board of Regents as appropriate.

Financial strategy and development - 10%

▪ Provide responsible stewardship of Facilities operating, capital, self-sustaining, and recharge resources by leading an integrated, multiyear financial strategy across operating, capital, self-sustaining, and recharge resources.

▪ Ensure leaders understand the cost, service, and operational implications of major facilities decisions by explaining cost drivers, funding restrictions, financial risks, and the consequences of underinvestment in terms institutional leaders can act on.

▪ Develop persuasive investment cases connecting facilities needs to academic, research, clinical, and service outcomes.

▪ Identify and evaluate creative funding, financing, partnership, and service-delivery approaches, with attention to affordability, lifecycle cost, and risk.

▪ Strengthen financial planning, to include possible public-private partnerships, forecasting, transparency, and accountability.

▪ Partner with FPB and other University leaders to align Facilities' financial practices with University budgeting, capital planning, and administrative structures.

▪ Drive sustainable approaches to service delivery and resource allocation without compromising critical infrastructure, safety, or institutional mission.

Organizational leadership and workforce - 10%

▪ Lead and develop the Facilities senior leadership team and establish clear accountability across the organization.

▪ Create an organizational culture grounded in service, respect, collaboration, accountability, and operational discipline.

▪ Partner closely with UWHR as Facilities transitions from maintaining its own HR infrastructure to receiving HR support through the University’s integrated HR model.

▪ Build leadership capability and succession pipelines throughout Facilities, with particular attention to the specialized technical workforce required to operate a major research university.

▪ Develop productive relationships with labor partners in close collaboration with UWHR.

Enterprise partnership and institutional engagement - 15%

▪ Maintain regular, proactive engagement with campus leaders to understand emerging needs before they become urgent requests.

▪ Develop shared priorities and clear commitments for services and projects, including scope, cost, timing, and decision responsibilities.

▪ Resolve concerns across organizational boundaries and ensure partners receive timely answers and consistent follow-through.

▪ Use structured campus feedback to improve services and evaluate leadership performance.

▪ Represent UW Facilities in University governance and decision-making bodies and serve as a senior Facilities voice in institutional capital and portfolio discussions.

▪ Maintain a close partnership with FPB, including through the University’s capital governance processes, in support of coordinated recommendations to the President and Provost.

▪ Develop strong operating relationships with leaders responsible for Human Resources, Information Technology, Environmental Health & Safety, UW Medicine, research administration, emergency preparedness, sustainability, and other enterprise functions.

▪ Work across institutional boundaries to resolve issues that span organizational ownership.

▪ Communicate clearly with University leaders and stakeholders about facilities services, priorities, tradeoffs, performance, and risk.

▪ Represent Facilities before the Board of Regents and external agencies when appropriate.

Required Qualifications

To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Minimum Qualifications

▪      Bachelor’s degree in engineering, architecture, facilities management, construction management, planning, business, public administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

▪      At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in facilities operations, capital development, infrastructure, construction, or a related field within a large and complex organization.

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Manager.

Additional Qualifications

▪      Demonstrated senior leadership experience spanning both day-to-day facilities operations and capital project or asset renewal delivery.

▪      Significant experience leading large multidisciplinary organizations and senior leadership teams.

▪      Demonstrated experience managing complex operating and capital budgets.

▪      Experience overseeing major physical assets, infrastructure, building operations, construction, or capital programs.

▪      Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into operational priorities, service expectations, performance measures, and measurable results.

▪      Experience leading significant organizational or operational change while maintaining service continuity.

▪      Demonstrated ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries where responsibility and authority are distributed.

▪      Strong communication skills and experience advising senior executives on complex operational, financial, capital, and strategic issues.

▪      Experience developing productive relationships with employees, customers, institutional leaders, and other stakeholders.

▪      Demonstrated commitment to responsible stewardship of organizational, financial, and physical resources.

Preferred Qualifications

▪      Master’s degree in engineering, architecture, planning, facilities management, construction management, business, public administration, or a related field.

▪      Senior facilities leadership experience within a research university, academic medical center, government organization, or comparably complex institution.

▪      Experience overseeing a heterogeneous physical environment, including research, instructional, and highly specialized facilities.

▪      Experience in a unionized environment.

▪      Experience implementing enterprise asset-management, work-management, or other data-driven operational management systems.

▪      Demonstrated leadership in sustainability, energy management, resilience, or carbon-reduction initiatives.

▪      Experience improving customer service and operational performance within a large internal-service organization.

▪      Experience presenting major facilities, infrastructure, or capital matters to a governing board.

Working Environmental Conditions

Office and campus environment with regular presence across University facilities and project sites. Occasional travel to UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, UW Medicine locations, and other University sites as needed. The position may be required to respond to significant facility incidents or operational emergencies outside normal business hours.

Application Requirements

WittKieffer is assisting the University of Washington in this search, which will remain open until an appointment is made. Please submit applications, nominations, and inquiries to the search team through the WittKieffer candidate portal accessible here: Senior Associate Vice President for UW Facilities | WittKieffer.

New users should select "Register Here" to create an account before proceeding. After logging in, navigate to "Open Positions," then locate the role by entering the institution's name and clicking the search wheel. 

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:

Pay Range Maximum:

Other Compensation:

Benefits:

Shift:

Temporary or Regular?

FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):

Union/Bargaining Unit:

About the UW 

Working at the University of Washington provides a unique opportunity to change lives – on our campuses, in our state and around the world.  

UW employees bring their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to building stronger minds and a healthier world. In return, they enjoy outstanding benefits, opportunities for professional growth and the chance to work in an environment known for its diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. 

Our Commitment 

The University of Washington is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and welcoming community for all. As an equal opportunity employer, the University considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status consistent with UW Executive Order No. 81.

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu. 

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law.