Director of Facilities and Plant Operations

Sentara Health; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental, Vision plans

401k/403B with Employer Match

Paid Time Off

Tuition Assistance

Employee bonus potential

Job summary

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, VA seeks a Director of Facilities and Plant Operations to lead facility services and critical building systems. You will partner with hospital leadership to ensure safe, reliable and compliant operations, including capital planning and space planning aligned with strategy.

The role requires a hands-on leader who develops teams, drives readiness for inspections, and champions safety, quality and operational excellence across the campus.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; equivalent experience in facilities or plant operations leadership may be considered.
• Progressive facilities, plant operations, or engineering leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment.
• Knowledge of healthcare regulations, life safety standards, emergency preparedness and survey readiness.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for facility services and plant operations.
• Oversee electrical power, emergency power, mechanical systems, utilities and preventive maintenance.
• Partner with hospital leadership and external partners to ensure regulatory readiness and continuity.
• Contribute to five-year facilities and construction planning and capital project prioritization.
• Develop and maintain a culture of teamwork, safety and service excellence.
• Lead continuous improvement, change management, quality and HR compliance initiatives.

Skills

Facilities leadership

Regulatory compliance

Hospital operations

Budget management

Strategic planning

Team development

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

City/State

Norfolk, VA

Work Shift

First (Days)

Overview

The Director of Facilities and Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for facility services, plant operations, infrastructure reliability, and related construction and space-planning activities at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The director is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable, compliant, and highly functional environment that supports patient care, team members, visitors, and hospital operations.

This leader oversees the day-to-day operation of the hospital’s complex physical plant and critical building systems, including electrical power, emergency power, mechanical systems, utilities, preventive maintenance, and other essential infrastructure. The director partners closely with hospital leadership, Facilities, Construction, Safety, Emergency Management, clinical departments, and external partners to ensure operational continuity, regulatory readiness, and effective execution of facility priorities.

The director contributes to the development and implementation of the hospital’s five-year facilities and construction plan and participates in capital planning, space planning, construction coordination, and related hospital committees. This individual evaluates facility needs, helps prioritize projects, supports renovation and construction activities, and ensures that infrastructure investments align with operational requirements and the hospital’s long-term strategic direction.

The successful candidate will be a highly visible, collaborative, and hands‑on leader who can build trust with an experienced facilities team while developing a strong understanding of the hospital’s complex infrastructure. This leader will establish clear expectations, strengthen accountability, support the technical and leadership development of team members, and cultivate a culture of teamwork, responsiveness, safety, and service excellence.

The director maintains a high level of readiness for unannounced inspections by local, state, and federal agencies and accrediting organizations. This role also provides leadership for continuous improvement, change management, quality, human resource compliance, emergency preparedness, and activities that improve patient, staff, and visitor safety across the hospital campus.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required. Equivalent experience in facilities or plant operations leadership may be considered in lieu of the degree.

Experience

• Progressive facilities, plant operations, or engineering services leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment
• Experience supporting a Level I trauma center, tertiary care hospital, academic medical center, or comparably complex healthcare facility preferred
• Experience overseeing critical hospital infrastructure, including electrical power, emergency power, mechanical systems, utilities, and preventive maintenance programs
• Experience leading facility operations in an environment that requires continuous operational coverage and rapid response to infrastructure issues
• Construction, renovation, capital planning, or major facility project experience
• Experience contributing to long‑range facility plans, space‑planning initiatives, and capital project prioritization
• Knowledge of healthcare regulatory requirements, life safety standards, emergency preparedness, environmental and workplace safety practices, and survey readiness
• Experience leading and developing skilled facilities professionals, supervisors, managers, and technical team members
• Budget management, vendor management, operational planning, labor productivity, and performance measurement experience
• Demonstrated change leadership, human resource compliance, quality improvement, and problem‑solving experience
• Strong communication, relationship‑building, organizational leadership, and collaboration skills
• Ability to work effectively with hospital executives, clinical leaders, construction partners, regulatory agencies, and facilities subject‑matter experts

Location

• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sentara is currently reviewing market compensation for this role. Our Talent Acquisition team will be able to share more specific information during the recruiting process.

Benefits: Caring For Your Family and Your Career

• Medical, Dental, Vision plans
• Adoption, Fertility and Surrogacy Reimbursement up to $10,000
• Paid Time Off and Sick Leave
• Paid Parental & Family Caregiver Leave
• Emergency Backup Care
• Long-Term, Short-Term Disability, and Critical Illness plans
• Life Insurance
• 401k/403B with Employer Match
• Tuition Assistance - $5,250/year and discounted educational opportunities through Guild Education
• Student Debt Pay Down - $10,000
• Pet Insurance
• Legal Resources Plan
• Colleagues have the opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus ifestablished system and employee eligibility criteria is met.

Here at Sentara, we are committed to consistently enhancing our training, advancement tracks, work‑life benefits, and more. Our goal is to make you feel more excited to be here every day!

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital , located in Norfolk, VA, is a 525-bed tertiary care facility that is home to the only Level I Adult Trauma Center and burn trauma unit in Hampton Roads, and also serves as the primary teaching hospital for Eastern Virginia Medical School.

In addition to the high-quality heart program at Sentara Heart Hospital, our facility is home to Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance and several other dedicated facilities and specialized services. As a recognized accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, our hospital specializes in heart and vascular, neurosciences, neurosurgery, urology, oncology, spine care, advanced imaging, behavioral health, maternity, and women’s health, including a state‑of‑the‑art neonatal intensive care unit.

Sentara Health is an equal opportunity employer

and prides itself on the diversity and inclusiveness of its close to an almost 30,000-member workforce. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging is a guiding principle of the organization to ensure its workforce reflects the communities it serves.

In support of our mission "to improve health every day", this is a tobacco‑free environment.

For positions that are available as remote work

Sentara Health employs associates in the following states:

Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.