Associate Director, Trades & Grounds

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Glendale (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee is seeking an experienced Associate Director, Trades & Grounds to lead a diverse, highly skilled facilities operation spanning roughly 9.1 million gross square feet across the Kenwood Campus and satellite locations.

The role provides senior leadership for electrical, plumbing, HVAC/mechanical, carpentry, painting, locksmith, grounds, and related services, while aligning priorities, service standards, and workforce planning with institutional goals and safety

Qualifications

• Experienced facilities leader with strong knowledge of building systems, maintenance practices, safety requirements, and multi-trade operations.
• Experience with grounds and snow/ice management, CMMS, construction, asset management, or facilities operations in a large university, research, healthcare, industrial, governmental, or similarly complex environment is highly desirable.

Responsibilities

• Directs trades and operations across electrical, plumbing, HVAC/mechanical, carpentry, grounds, and related services; leads supervisors and technical staff.
• Oversees maintenance planning, CMMS/work-order processes, and asset management; coordinates outages and emergency response.
• Directs safety, accessibility, emergency management, and regulatory compliance within assigned operations.
• Provides operational leadership for capital renewal, construction, asset management, and long-range facilities planning.

Skills

Facilities leadership

Building systems knowledge

Maintenance practices

Safety compliance

Multi-trade operations

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Position Title

Associate Director, Trades & Grounds

Job Category

Limited

Employment Type

Regular

Job Profile

Physical Plant Associate Director (Inst)

Job Duties

The University is seeking an experienced Associate Director, Trades & Grounds to lead a diverse, highly skilled facilities operation supporting approximately 9.1 million gross square feet across the Kenwood Campus and satellite locations.

The Associate Director provides senior leadership for electrical, plumbing, HVAC/mechanical, carpentry, painting, locksmith, preventive maintenance, grounds, landscape, snow and ice management, elevators, and related services. The position leads supervisors, skilled trades, technical staff, and grounds personnel while establishing priorities, service standards, workforce plans, and accountability for safe, reliable, efficient, accessible, and sustainable operations.

Key responsibilities include directing preventive, corrective, deferred, and emergency maintenance; overseeing CMMS/work-order processes; managing contractors, budgets, equipment, and resources; coordinating outages and emergency response; and providing operational leadership for capital renewal, construction, asset management, accessibility, energy management, sustainability, and long-range facilities planning.

The ideal candidate is an experienced facilities leader with strong knowledge of building systems, maintenance practices, safety requirements, and multi-trade operations. Experience with grounds and snow/ice management, CMMS, construction, asset management, or facilities operations in a large university, research, healthcare, industrial, governmental, or similarly complex environment is highly desirable.

Join a team whose work directly supports the University’s academic, research, residential, clinical, public-service, and administrative missions.

25% Operations Leadership

• Provides enterprise-wide leadership, direction, coordination, and accountability for trades, grounds, and facilities operations supporting approximately 9.1 million gross square feet across the Kenwood Campus and satellite locations; establishes priorities, service standards, resources, and accountability for safe, reliable, efficient, accessible, and sustainable operations.
• Directs multiple trade and operational units, including electrical, plumbing, HVAC/mechanical, carpentry/building repair, painting, locksmith, preventive maintenance, grounds, landscape, and related services; leads supervisors, lead workers, and technical staff with clear expectations for readiness, productivity, workmanship, and customer service.
• Establishes operational priorities based on life safety, regulatory and accessibility requirements, asset condition and criticality, mission impact, customer needs, weather, institutional priorities, and available resources; oversees service requests and escalations, resolving competing and high-impact facilities concerns with campus stakeholders.
• Exercises delegated authority for staffing, assignments, performance management, training, employee development, and labor-management matters; develops workforce, succession, organizational, and resource plans responsive to changing campus needs, workload, seasonal demands, technology, and specialized skills.
• Ensures appropriate operational coverage during routine operations, events, severe weather, emergencies, and periods of heightened campus activity; establishes standards for safety, accountability, professionalism, inclusion, teamwork, customer service, and continuous improvement, and represents Facility Services in institutional planning, committees, and emergency-management activities.

15% Maintenance Planning, Work Management, and Asset Reliability

• Leads maintenance planning and work management to maximize safety, reliability, useful life, and operational performance; develops annual, seasonal, and long-range plans and prioritizes work based on asset criticality, condition, risk, regulatory requirements, mission impact, and life-cycle considerations.
• Directs preventive, predictive, corrective, deferred, and emergency maintenance and ensures effective Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)/work-order processes; establishes standards for workmanship, maintenance procedures, documentation, equipment history, critical spares, and technical operating information.
• Monitors backlog, preventive-maintenance compliance, response times, labor utilization, recurring failures, and other performance indicators to improve reliability and resource allocation; identifies single-point-of-failure, supply-chain, and extended-lead-time risks and develops mitigation strategies.
• Coordinates planned shutdowns, outages, and facilities-side response to utility and infrastructure interruptions, working with utility, plant, and other responsible units to maintain continuity of critical building services and minimize operational impacts.
• Supports facility-condition assessments, repair-versus-replace and renewal decisions, and life-cycle recommendations; ensures new and renovated facilities and equipment are incorporated into asset records, warranties, maintenance programs, and operating procedures.

15% Grounds, Snow/Ice, and Campus Exterior Operations

• Leads year-round grounds, landscape, snow and ice management, and campus exterior operations, establishing service standards for grounds and exterior spaces.
• Develops and maintains comprehensive snow and ice operations addressing accessible pedestrian and emergency routes, entrances, parking, transportation routes, and other critical areas.
• Establishes readiness procedures for weather monitoring, staffing, equipment, materials, communications, escalation, and contractors, and coordinates staff response to snow, ice, flooding, severe weather, and other events affecting campus operations.
• Oversees maintenance of sidewalks, pavement, drainage, stormwater infrastructure, site furnishings, exterior lighting interfaces, signage, and related campus exterior assets.
• Develops seasonal operating plans and evaluates staffing, equipment, contractor performance, and resource needs to ensure effective and reliable service delivery.

10% Safety, Accessibility, Emergency Management, and Regulatory Compliance

• Leads safety, accessibility, emergency response, and regulatory compliance within assigned operations, ensuring adherence to applicable building, trades, fire, and safety codes.
• Establishes safe work practices and coordinates with Environmental Health and Safety on inspections, training, incident investigations, corrective actions, compliance programs, and required licenses, certifications, and qualifications.
• Directs facilities response to severe weather, flooding, fire/life-safety incidents, equipment failures, utility interruptions, building failures, and other critical events.
• Establishes emergency-response, escalation, staffing, and contingency procedures and supports University emergency management, business continuity, and disaster recovery.
• Integrates accessibility and operational resilience into maintenance, operations, emergency response, and project decisions, including identification of critical assets, vulnerabilities, and recovery priorities and provision of temporary accommodations when needed.

10% Projects, Renovations, Contractors, and Construction Coordination

• Provides operational and trades leadership for renovation, renewal, deferred maintenance, small-project, and capital activities, collaborating with planning, project management, engineering, architecture, and Facility Services units on scopes, schedules, budgets, phasing, and operational requirements.
• Provides technical expertise throughout planning, design review, construction, commissioning, and turnover, emphasizing maintainability, code compliance, accessibility, energy performance,