Associate Director, Operations Support

Kamehameha Schools Trustees of the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop dba Kamehameha Schools; Hawaii; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiʻi Campus, is seeking an Associate Director of Operations Support to ensure a safe, efficient, and well-maintained campus for haumana, faculty, staff, and the broader school community.

The role leads across Facilities, Grounds & Custodial Services, Security, Transportation, Emergency Preparedness, and Operational Standards of Care, shaping strategy and fostering a culture of service and excellence.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations (facilities, security, transportation).
• Experience leading multiple departments, functions, or workgroups.
• Proven success in budget stewardship, fiscal management, compliance oversight, program development, and organizational improvement.
• Experience leading and developing managers and supervisors, including performance management and succession planning.
• Strong knowledge of leadership principles, HR practices, employee engagement strategies, and operational management systems.

Responsibilities

• Innovative and collaborative management of safety, service quality, productivity, and costs to fulfill campus needs.
• Utilize KS resources—staff, vendors, and contractors—and determine optimal combinations to meet client service needs.
• Prepare, recommend, and manage annual budgets, authorize expenditures, and oversee daily operations of departments.
• Ensure compliance with safety, health, and environmental laws and KS policies.
• Meet with campus constituents to gather input, outline initiatives, address concerns, and represent KS positively.

Skills

Leadership experience

Budget stewardship

Fiscal management

Compliance oversight

Leadership development

Employee engagement

Operational management

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

Associate Director, Operations Support

Employee Type: Regular

Recruiting Start Date: 11-01-2025

Job Exempt? Yes

Recruiting End Date: Open Until Filled

Aloha mai! Mahalo for your interest in Kamehameha Schools. If you are looking for an opportunity to utilize your skills and talents and grow in your profession, while serving and strengthening our Native Hawaiian community, we would love to have you join our ʻohana!

Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiʻi Campus is currently looking for an Associate Director of Operations Support. This role is instrumental in ensuring a safe, efficient, and well-maintained campus environment that supports the success of our haumana, faculty, staff, and broader school community.

The Associate Director supports our Director of Operations by providing day-to-day leadership and strategic oversight across Facilities, Grounds & Custodial Services, Security, Transportation, Emergency Preparedness, and Operational Standards of Care. In partnership with department managers and campus leadership, this position helps shape operational strategy, strengthen organizational effectiveness, ensure sound fiscal stewardship, and foster a culture of service, accountability, engagement, and excellence. A key focus of this role is developing leaders, strengthening manager effectiveness, and promoting a positive work environment where team members feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work.

We are seeking a leader who:

• Leads with integrity, humility, and accountability.
• Builds trust, develops strong teams, and creates a culture of ownership and accountability.
• Demonstrates strong fiscal responsibility and thoughtful stewardship of resources.
• Invests in the coaching, training, and professional development of managers and emerging leaders.
• Actively promotes team member engagement, morale, recognition, and retention.
• Thrives in complex operational environments.
• Balances strategic thinking with practical execution.
• Values and encourages collaboration, continuous improvement, and service to others.
• Can navigate change while maintaining strong relationships across diverse stakeholder groups.

Ideally, someone with:

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations (facilities, security, transportation) within public works, education, hospitality, military, government, or related environments.
• Experience leading multiple departments, functions, or workgroups.
• Demonstrated success in budget stewardship, fiscal management, compliance oversight, program development, and organizational improvement initiatives.
• Proven experience leading & developing managers and supervisors, including performance management, leadership development, succession planning, and team effectiveness initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of leadership principles, human resources practices, employee engagement strategies, and operational management systems.

Job Summary

The Associate Director is a key member of the Operations Support leadership team, and as such, must possess the judgment, interpersonal skills, expertise, and accountability to lead the division in the absence of the Director.

Identifies, develops, analyzes, and implements new programs and initiatives that improve safety, increase service quality and reliability, and maximize overall value for KS.

Leads multiple work groups to execute daily services for transportation, facilities maintenance and repair, custodial services, grounds keeping, recreational facilities, dining, and a wide range of other service offerings that meet and exceed client expectations, streamlines business processes, and reduces costs or increases overall value.

Utilizes best practices management skills and models valued behaviors to motivate and guide the entire Operations Support workforce, manage individual and team performance, and resolve conflicts when they arise.

Prepares, recommends and manages annual budgets, authorizes expenditures, explains variances and oversees the daily operations of the departments.

Ensures compliance with all county, state and federal occupational safety, health and environmental laws, regulations and guidelines as well as with KS environmental, health and safety policies and procedures.

Meets with a wide variety of campus community constituents to gather input and feedback, outline new initiatives, address complaints and concerns, and represent KS in the best light.

Essential Responsibilities

Innovative and Collaborative Management

For all functions in the Associate Director's kuleana, innovates and develops standards for safety, service quality, productivity, individual and team performance, and costs to fulfill campus needs, and develops and executes the strategies for achieving them.

Utilizes a wide range of resources, including KS full-time, part-time, and on-call employees, vendors, and contractors, and must determine the optimum and appropriate combination of resources to meet client service needs and attain other value-added ob