Chief Mechanical Engineer

Professional Alternatives; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Professional Alternatives in Washington, DC is seeking a seasoned Engineering Leader to manage a multi-tenant portfolio and drive facility performance across properties. You will lead engineering staff, set performance targets, and coordinate with leasing and property management teams to ensure reliable operations and energy efficiency.

The role requires extensive experience in property mechanical repair, supervisory leadership, and knowledge of GSA requirements.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• 15+ years in property mechanical repair or equivalent.
• 10+ years supervisory experience in facilities operations.
• DC-specific engineering license preferred.
• EPA Section 608 certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership, direction, and support to staff for engineering management across properties.
• Deliver high level technical leadership and champion problem solving to achieve technical excellence.
• Participate in acquisitions due diligence and lead cost-reduction initiatives where possible.
• Coordinate across portfolio to maintain consistent engineering standards and reporting across properties.
• Oversee financial goals, repairs, maintenance, and capital budgets for properties.
• Ensure preventative maintenance systems are used to optimize staffing and costs across the portfolio.
• Collaborate with property management to promptly address tenant and safety issues.
• Support leasing efforts by assisting management teams as needed.
• Ensure safety and compliance with local, state, and federal codes and environmental policies.
• Oversee vendor contracts and external contractors for engineering services.

Skills

Leadership

Hiring

Training

Performance evaluation

Engineering management

Energy management systems

Building automation systems

GSA compliance

Safety compliance

Staff mentorship

Education

High school diploma or GED

15+ years related experience in property mechanical repair

10+ years supervisory experience

DC engineering license preferred

EPA Section 608 certification preferred

Tools

MS Word

Outlook

Excel

Job description

Direct Hire; Competitive Salary plus bonus

Washington, DC

• Employee Management: Provide leadership, direction, and support to staff to facilitate the effective management of assigned properties. Manage engineering staff resources to include: hiring, training and development, and conducting and/or monitoring performance and evaluation process. Set direction for team goals. Ensure consistent level of engineering support across properties and monitor staffing levels. Ensure the engineering culture fosters a positive team partnership with management, development and leasing.
• Technical Leadership: Provide high level technical leadership and support to engineering staff. Champion learning and problem solving to achieve technical excellence.
• Corporate Initiatives: Assist ownership by participating in acquisition due diligence. Provide leadership for continuous improvement initiatives and other productivity or expense reduction initiatives, as they occur. Provide leadership and management for the successful bidding and completion of extraordinary expense projects, using consolidated bidding, or other cost reduction initiatives, where possible.
• Multi-Ownership Coordination: Serve as the primary engineering point of contact across the portfolio’s institutional ownership groups. Maintain consistent engineering standards, reporting, and communication despite differing ownership requirements and reporting preferences across properties.
• Property Performance – Financial: Responsible for participation in the management of the property’s financial goals and projections. This includes development, implementation and monitoring of repairs and maintenance, utilities, extraordinary expenses and capital budgets. Additionally, responsible for long-term maintenance and capital expenditure planning.
• Preventative Maintenance: Ensure that the work order system is used for continuous improvement measures, to strategically schedule and deploy workforce, decrease cost, and maintain buildings efficiently and effectively. Utilize proper execution of preventative maintenance systems to control and reduce capital. Set portfolio completion targets. Collaborate with property management to ensure that resource sharing is maximized across the properties.
• Customer Maintenance Issues: Collaborate with property management team to promptly address customer relation issues. Use work order system tenant request data to minimize the overall number of tenant request work orders and recurring work orders.
• Support Leasing: Actively support leasing efforts by assisting leasing and management teams as needed.
• Safety: Ensure overall safety of tenants as well as awareness and compliance with safety and environmental code and regulations. Maintain life safety and emergency procedures and programs per local codes; ensure compliance with local, federal, and state building, safety and environmental policies.
• Vendor Management: Collaborate with property management staff in optimization of vendor contracts for engineering services in compliance with purchasing guidelines. Oversee outside contractors to ensure building systems are properly maintained and utilized.
• Sustainability Program: Use systemic measures to promote energy awareness and conservation at properties. Champion consolidated energy conservation programs to achieve maximum results from tenants and staff. Drive the use of building systems to maximize the available technology, systems and programs to efficiently and effectively run buildings. Support the negotiation of energy contracts.
• GSA & Federal Tenant Compliance: Maintain full compliance with GSA lease requirements affecting building systems and operations, including Occupant Emergency Plan (OEP) coordination, applicable system testing and maintenance, indoor air quality standards, and life-safety system performance. Serve as the portfolio’s technical liaison to GSA’s Building Manager, Facility Security Committee (FSC), and other federal tenant representatives on engineering matters; elevate lease interpretation or compliance questions to the Director of Property Management rather than responding independently. Ensure engineering staff and contractors with routine access to government-leased space complete required identity verification and background investigation processes in accordance with government tenant requirements.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by Supervisor.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty of the job satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties of the job.

• Education and Experience:
• High school diploma or general education degree (GED).
• 15 plus years related experience and/or training or equivalent combination of education and experience in property mechanical repair in office buildings.
• 10 plus years of supervisory experience as senior engineer or equivalent position in facilities operation. This includes strong employee relation skills, coaching skills and training skills and proven ability to lead by example.
• Certification/licensing based on local, state and federal requirements or as Supervisor assignment.
• Prior experience in a large, multi-tenant commercial office portfolio; experience with GSA or other federal government tenants preferred given the portfolio's tenant mix. DC-specific engineering license (e.g., Third Class Stationary Engineer or higher) and universal EPA Section 608 CFC certification preferred.
• Positions with routine, unaccompanied access to government-leased space require completion of applicable identity verification and background investigation processes, and continued employment is contingent on obtaining and maintaining the required suitability determination.
• Skills
• Excellent understanding of electrical, plumbing, life safety systems, and the mechanical systems of a building.
• Ability to operate Energy Management Systems and supervise Fire/Life Safety components.
• Working knowledge of building automation systems (BAS) and emergency generator/power distribution systems.
• Familiarity with GSA-specific lease terminology and maintenance requirements.
• Proficiency with industry standard software applications, such as Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel, accompanied by the ability to learn and utilize custom software programs.
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to respond and address tenant requests.
• Ability to understand and follow directions from Supervisor.
• Ability to read blueprints and equipment manuals.
• Working knowledge of computers, spreadsheets, document creation and e-mail.
• Must have solid understanding of emergency preparedness for catastrophic events planning and execution.
• Personality Traits:
• Ability to work in a team-oriented, high-pressure setting with willingness to pitch in as necessary
• Proven customer service and problem-solving skills
• Ability to mentor and develop junior engineers/maintenance technicians

Security & Suitability:

Portfolio properties are anchored by federal government tenants. Positions at these properties – and any engineering staff reporting to this role with routine, unaccompanied access to government‑occupied space – are subject to government-directed identity verification and background investigation requirements. Continued employment in this role is contingent on obtaining and maintaining the required suitability determination at each applicable property.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, stand, talk, see, smell, hear and adapt to all conditions to report findings, assessments and recommended solutions. The employee is frequently required to use hands and fingers to handle or feel objects, tools or controls. The employee is often required to reach with hands or arms, climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch and/or crawl.
• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and regularly lift and/or move up to 50 pounds or more.
• The employee frequently works in an electrical environment and around high-pressure equipment.
• The employee frequently works on a ladder and in outside weather conditions.