Plant Operations Director

Pullman Regional Hospital; Pullman (WA); On-site; USD 112,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Pullman Regional Hospital is seeking a Director of Plant Operations to provide strategic leadership for facilities, maintenance, and plant operations, with focus on building a skilled Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team and transferring institutional knowledge before staff retire. The role collaborates with clinical and non-clinical leaders to sustain a safe, reliable environment of care.

Year one emphasizes developing the team across HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction, and maintenance,

Qualifications

• Experience leading hospital facilities or plant operations.
• Ability to develop and implement staffing plans for specialized teams.
• Proven ability to manage multi-discipline maintenance operations and regulatory readiness.

Responsibilities

• Develop a staffing plan for the Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team.
• Recruit and develop Maintenance Engineers Level 2 with HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and construction skills.
• Lead knowledge-transfer and succession planning to capture critical institutional knowledge.
• Oversee in-house construction projects and track ROI to justify in-house work.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Facilities management

Regulatory compliance

Project management

Job description

Pay Range: The base pay range for this position is $112,195.00-$175,302.00 Annual however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Job Title: Plant Operations Director

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8am - 5pm

Position Overview

The Director of Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for the organization's facilities, maintenance, and plant operations functions, with an initial primary focus on developing a highly skilled, sustainable Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team and ensuring the successful transfer of institutional knowledge from experienced staff approaching retirement.

The Director serves as a key organizational leader in maintaining a safe, functional, reliable, and regulatory-compliant environment of care and works collaboratively with clinical and non-clinical leaders to support patient care, employee safety, operational continuity, regulatory readiness, and organizational reliability.

Essential Functions

• Develop a detailed organizational transition plan and implementation timeline.
• Define roles, responsibilities, reporting relationships, decision-making authority, and performance expectations for each leadership position.
• Identify required leadership competencies and develop recruitment, selection, or succession strategies for future management positions.
• Establish appropriate span of control and accountability across the department.
• Develop standardized processes for communication, work prioritization, escalation, and resource allocation.
• Create measurable performance expectations and departmental metrics.
• Build a team capable of independently supporting the organization's infrastructure while maintaining appropriate access to specialized expertise when needed.
• Establish a sustainable leadership structure that reduces reliance on individual leaders and supports organizational continuity.

Year One

During the first year, the Director will assess current staffing and skill requirements, recruit and develop up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2 with specialized expertise in HVAC, general construction, electrical, and plumbing, and establish a structured knowledge-transfer and succession-planning process. The Director will work closely with retiring/tenured maintenance staff and the Director of Facilities to capture critical organizational knowledge, systems expertise, preventive maintenance practices, regulatory requirements, and site-specific knowledge necessary to maintain safe, reliable, and compliant hospital operations.

1. Maintenance Engineering Level 2Team Development - Year One Priority

• Develop and implement a comprehensive staffing plan for the Maintenance Engineering Level 2 team based on current and future organizational needs.
• Recruit, select, onboard, and develop up to two Maintenance Engineers Level 2 with specialized skills in:
• HVAC and mechanical systems
• Electrical systems
• Plumbing
• General construction and building maintenance
• Evaluate current Maintenance Engineer Level 2 team competencies and identify critical skill gaps and areas of operational vulnerability.
• Develop cross-training strategies to reduce reliance on individual employees and ensure adequate coverage of critical systems for call coverage.
• Establish competency expectations, job responsibilities, training requirements, and performance standards for maintenance engineering positions.

2. Knowledge Transfer and Succession Planning-Year One Priority

• Lead a formal knowledge-transfer program for employees approaching retirement or otherwise possessing critical institutional knowledge.
• Work directly with experienced maintenance personnel and the Director of Facilities to identify and document critical operational knowledge.
• Establish opportunities for newly hired Maintenance Engineers Level 2 to work alongside experienced staff to facilitate hands‑on knowledge transfer.
• Identify single points of failure in organizational knowledge and develop mitigation strategies.
• Maintain a succession plan for critical technical positions.
• Ensure knowledge transfer occurs before retirement or departure of key employees whenever reasonably possible.

3. In House Construction Projects-Year One Priority

• Identify construction projects that have typically been outsourced to bring in-house
• Start at least 1-2 in-house construction projects utilizing the new Maintenance Engineer Level 2 staff and with current Maintenance staff by working in conjunction with the Director of Maintenance
• Track expenses and labor savings with in-house construction projects to develop an ROI

Key First-Year Outcomes

By the end of Year One, the Director should have:

• Built a sustainable Maintenance Engineering team with appropriate HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction, and general maintenance expertise.
• Reduced organizational dependency on retiring employees through intentional knowledge transfer.
• Documented critical systems and institutional knowledge necessary for continued operations.

Establis