Associate Director of Facilities

Associate Director of Facilities

Basking Ridge, NJ

The Pingry School, a prestigious K-12 coeducational, independent day school with a rich history dating back to its founding by Dr. John F. Pingry in 1861, stands at the forefront of academic excellence in the United States. With campuses located in Basking Ridge, Pottersville, and Short Hills, New Jersey, Pingry is celebrated for its academic programs, a student-written Honor Code that underpins our community values, and a comprehensive commitment to arts, athletics, community, and civic engagement. Our mission is to inspire in our students a lifelong passion for learning, personal development, and social responsibility, preparing them to be global citizens and luminaries of the 21st century. Rooted in relationships and guided by our foundational philosophy, Pingry is a vibrant community of more than 1,100 students hailing from over 90 towns across New Jersey and New York. At Pingry, we are united by a love of learning and a commitment to preparing students to navigate the complexities of the 21st century with confidence and integrity.

Position Summary The Associate Director of Facilities is responsible for the day-to-day management, maintenance, and ongoing development of The Pingry School's physical plant across its three campuses in Short Hills, Basking Ridge, and Pottersville, New Jersey. Reporting to the Senior Director of Facilities and Operations, this inaugural role provides hands-on and strategic leadership to ensure all campus facilities and grounds are safe, well-maintained, operationally sound, and aligned with the School's educational mission.

Launched at a moment of transition and growth for both the Pingry Facilities and Pingry Operations teams, the Associate Director of Facilities plays a central role in directly elevating team dynamics and supervisory effectiveness, coaching supervisors through performance challenges, change, and trust-building while resetting expectations in a way that is firm, fair, and sustainable. The role balances continuity with improvement, honoring institutional knowledge and relationships while strengthening accountability and structure.

Working closely with internal partners and external vendors, the Associate Director ensures consistent execution, regulatory compliance, and high-quality service in a complex, multi-campus environment. Beyond daily operations, the Associate Director serves as a key integrator of people, systems, and standards, supporting supervisor transitions, onboarding new leaders, and implementing clearer workflows, service expectations, and communication practices that reduce reactivity and increase predictability.

As a core member of the Facilities and Operations leadership team, the Associate Director supports both ongoing operations and capital improvement efforts, partnering with senior leadership to ensure continuity, readiness, and long-term sustainability. This role serves as a critical succession anchor for facilities leadership, providing depth, stability, and institutional knowledge as the department evolves toward its future-state model.

Candidate Profile

• You are a steady, people-centered facilities leader with a strong sense of service and professionalism. You bring experience leading facilities teams across multiple buildings or sites, including campuses, hospitality environments, municipalities, healthcare systems, stadiums, and other large institutions.
• You are comfortable operating in environments where reliability, responsiveness, and standards matter. You know how to prioritize work thoughtfully, allocate resources wisely, and make sound decisions in real time, especially when competing needs arise.
• You are a hands-on leader and a coach who knows how to earn trust while holding the line. You respect the craft, experience, and realities of frontline facilities work, and you believe deeply in clear expectations, follow-through, and accountability.
• You are comfortable addressing performance issues directly and fairly, guiding teams through change, and fostering a culture where professionalism, safety, and customer service are non-negotiable.
• You bring a systems-and-improvement mindset to facilities work. You value clear processes, documentation, and service standards, and you understand how strong systems, such as work order management, preventive maintenance programs, SOPs, and technology-enabled tools, reduce reactivity and support consistency. You may bring experience with project management, change management, continuous improvement, or facilities technology that strengthens how teams operate over time.
• You work well in partnership and across functions. You are comfortable collaborating to align facilities support with institutional priorities and see yourself as a close partner to other facilities and operations leaders, contributing to a coordinated leadership model rather than operating independently.
• You are drawn to mission-driven work and environments that value care, service, and community. You appreciate the unique rhythms and responsibilities of a school setting and understand that facilities work plays a critical role in the daily experience of students, faculty, and staff. You bring a positive, solutions-oriented presence and are willing to step in during peak periods, seasonal transitions, or challenging moments to ensure the community is supported.

Responsibilities

Facilities Operations & Asset Management Core stewardship of buildings, grounds, and infrastructure

• Lead day-to-day facilities management and maintenance across all three campuses, ensuring a supportive, safe, functional, and high-quality environment for students and staff.
• Manage and monitor building systems and campus infrastructure, including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, mechanical systems, cleanliness, and grounds care, proactively identifying and addressing maintenance needs.

People Leadership & Team Development Supervision, culture, and performance standards

• Directly supervise and mentor campus facilities supervisors and frontline maintenance, mechanical, and grounds staff; conduct regular check-ins; and ensure effective prioritization and completion of work orders and preventive maintenance.
• Establish clear supervisory norms, role clarity, and performance standards across facilities teams to support consistency, accountability, and fair workload distribution.
• Coach supervisors through change, delegation, and performance management, addressing gaps in communication, follow-through, and decision-making, and fostering a culture of accountability, professionalism, safety, and customer service.

Vendor Management, Compliance & Risk External partners, regulatory integrity, and safety

• Manage vendor and contractor relationships, including service contracts for boiler maintenance, waste management, pool maintenance, custodial services, fire, and security systems; coordinate schedules; and oversee on-site work to ensure adherence to scope, safety standards, quality expectations, and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable health, life-safety, environmental, and building code requirements across campuses; coordinate inspections, certifications, and permitting; and maintain required documentation.

Planning, Capital Support & Resource Stewardship Budgeting, prioritization, and long-term readiness

• Collaborate with the Senior Director of Facilities and Operations, Chief Financial and Operating Officer, and other colleagues to support capital improvement projects, renovations, and large-scale maintenance initiatives, ensuring operational readiness, effective coordination with campus stakeholders, minimal disruption to school operations, and a smooth transition from construction to ongoing maintenance, while capital execution and project delivery are led by the Construction Manager or external partners as applicable.
• Assist with the preparation and management of facilities operating budget lines; recommend maintenance and repair priorities based on condition, risk, and available resources.
• Monitor inventory levels and approve procurement of materials, equipment, and services in accordance with budgetary guidelines.
• Lead and enforce a unified facilities work order and ticketing system, ensuring clear intake, prioritization, documentation, escalation, and transparent completion standards across campuses.
• Establish, maintain, and continuously improve Facilities SOPs, service standards, and documentation practices to promote consistency, transparency, and accountability.

Campus Support, Communication & Emergency Response Service orientation and operational readiness

• Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Athletics, Events, Security, Technology, and Human Resources to strengthen systems and tools that support visibility, workload planning, and data-informed decision-making.
• Steward resources to align facilities support with institutional priorities, seasonal needs, and peak operational periods, including summer readiness and start-of-year transitions.
• Support school events by coordinating facilities setup and logistics, and ensuring appropriate safety measures and permits are in place.
• Serve as essential personnel for facilities-related emergencies, responding to urgent situations such as inclement weather, infrastructure failures, or security incidents as needed, including during non-standard business hours.
• Act as a primary point of contact for faculty, staff, and administrators regarding facilities-related needs, providing timely updates on work order status, project progress, and campus conditions.

Requirements

• Substantive prior experience in facilities management, building maintenance, or campus operations, preferably in a multi-campus or institutional environment, including experience leading, supervising, or directing facilities teams.
• Demonstrated experience directly supervising facilities supervisors and/or frontline maintenance teams, including performance management, coaching, and workforce development.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through transition, change, or stabilization, including addressing performance concerns, rebuilding trust, and resetting expectations and accountability structures.
• Proven ability to prioritize work, exercise sound judgment, and make decisions in a complex, fast-paced, multi-campus environment.