Associate Director, Trades & Grounds

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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.

Key Job Responsibilities:

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, safety, and life-cycle cost.
• Determines appropriate use of internal labor and contractors and oversees contractor and vendor performance, safety, quality, schedules, service levels, compliance, deliverables, documentation, renewals, and corrective actions.
• Coordinates shutdowns, building access, temporary services, commissioning, closeout, warranty review, training, and operational transitions; ensures completed projects are incorporated into asset records, maintenance programs, preventive-maintenance schedules, and operating procedures.
• Manages elevator service contracts and related projects through the service vendor.

10% Budget, Procurement, Materials, Fleet, and Resource Management

• Manages financial, material, equipment, fleet, and other resources in alignment with operational priorities, safety, reliability, accessibility, and service quality.
• Develops and monitors operating budgets, forecasts resource needs, reviews expenditures, and exercises delegated financial authority.
• Coordinates procurement of parts, materials, tools, equipment, services, contractors, emergency supplies, and seasonal materials; establishes inventory and critical-spares levels based on operational risk, lead times, and consequences of failure.
• Oversees life-cycle planning for vehicles, grounds and snow equipment, tools, and specialized maintenance equipment, including repair-versus-replace and life-cycle cost decisions.
• Supports multi-year operating, deferred-maintenance, capital-renewal, fleet, and equipment-replacement planning while identifying opportunities to improve resource utilization and control costs.

5% Performance, Service, Communication, and Continuous Improvement

• Uses performance information, stakeholder feedback, and emerging technology to improve facilities service delivery and operational effectiveness.
• Establishes and monitors measures for work completion, preventive maintenance, backlog, response time, productivity, safety, customer satisfaction, reliability, grounds service, and snow response; analyzes CMMS, asset, budget, staffing, safety, and service data to identify trends and inform decisions.
• Reviews staffing models, work processes, service levels, equipment utilization, contractor performance, and resource allocation; recommends and implements improvements in processes, technology, workforce utilization, and service delivery.
• Evaluates facilities technologies, including CMMS capabilities, asset data, remote monitoring, analytics, automation, and predictive maintenance tools; conducts post-event reviews following emergencies, severe weather, outages, and major projects and implements corrective actions.
• Builds productive relationships across University units and with faculty, researchers, staff, students, contractors, vendors, and regulatory agencies; communicates operational priorities, planned work, outages, emergencies, construction impacts, and service interruptions clearly and promptly while maintaining effective knowledge-transfer practices and accessible documentation.

5% Specialized Building Systems, Building Envelope, and Environmental Conditions

• Provides operational oversight for specialized building systems and components requiring technical expertise, licensing, certification, or coordinated service, including building automation and controls, fire/life-safety systems, specialized equipment, and related infrastructure.
• Oversees elevator and vertical-transportation services, including maintenance, inspections, testing, repairs, modernization, outages, and emergency response; coordinates alternative accessibility measures when service is unavailable.
• Coordinates key, lock, door, hardware, automatic-door, and building-access functions with Public Safety and other campus partners, including applicable physical-security interfaces.
• Coordinates maintenance and renewal of building-envelope components, including roofs, masonry, windows, flashing, sealants, doors, and exterior walls; ensures water intrusion, moisture, weatherproofing, deterioration, and indoor environmental concerns are identified, prioritized, documented, and addressed.
• Coordinates building-level infrastructure issues with central utility or plant operations when responsibilities cross organizational boundaries and ensures critical equipment and system documentation, operating procedures, warranties, and maintenance histories are maintained in applicable University systems.

5% Energy Management, Sustainability, and Building Performance

• Supports University energy, sustainability, resilience, and resource-conservation objectives through facilities operations, maintenance, and asset decisions.
• Coordinates with energy-management and sustainability partners to develop and implement strategies that improve energy and resource performance.
• Incorporates energy efficiency, sustainability, resilience, maintainability, and life-cycle cost into maintenance, equipment replacement, controls, projects, and long-range asset planning.
• Supports optimization of HVAC, building automation, lighting, water, and other systems within scope, including commissioning and operational improvements.
• Identifies conditions contributing to excessive energy or water consumption and recommends corrective actions and improvements to building performance.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High school diploma, technical diploma, or an equivalent combination of education and experience relating to the position.
• Six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in facilities maintenance, skilled trades, construction, grounds, physical plant, or a closely related field, with at least three (3) years in a supervisory or management role.
• Experience leading complex, multi-trade facilities operations, preferably with responsibility for supervisors and/or multiple operational units.
• Detailed knowledge of building systems, maintenance practices, preventive/predictive maintenance, repair methods, grounds and facilities operations.
• Ability to prioritize competing operational demands based on safety, urgency, accessibility, weather, mission impact, customer needs, risk, cost, and available resources.
• Experience using Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) or other comparable work order facilities technology.
• Detailed knowledge of workplace safety requirements and regulatory practices applicable to all aspects of facilities operations.
• Ability to interpret technical information, plans, specifications, equipment documentation, maintenance requirements, and applicable codes.
• Ability to lead employees, establish expectations, manage performance, resolve workplace issues, and develop staff.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to respond effectively to emergencies, severe weather, service disruptions, and other time-sensitive operational conditions.
• Experience developing or implementing maintenance strategies, emergency-response plans, operational work plans, or comparable facilities programs.
• Possession of a valid Wisconsin Driver’s license (or other such valid operator’s permit recognized by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation) and be able to meet or exceed the minimum requirements for driving on state business as detailed here: https://uwm.edu/risk-management/drivers/

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in facilities management, construction management, engineering technology, landscape/grounds management, business administration, or a related field.
• Managing grounds operations and comprehensive snow and ice management in a northern climate.
• Experience in a large university, R1 research institution, healthcare, industrial, governmental, or similarly complex environment.
• Supporting various research laboratories & facilities (animal, dining, etc.) , clinical environments, residence halls, or other high-reliability operations.
• Experience with elevator/vertical-transportation services, contracts, and regulatory requirements.
• Experience with building automation, HVAC controls, electrical distribution, plumbing, hydronic systems, fire/life-safety systems, and complex building infrastructure.
• Experience with campus accessibility, physical access, and building-security interfaces.
• Experience with building-envelope maintenance, water intrusion, moisture management, and indoor environmental conditions.
• Experience with energy management, building performance, sustainability, commissioning, or retro commissioning.
• Experience with asset management, facility-condition assessment, preventive/predictive maintenance, and life-cycle planning.
• Developing and managing operating budgets, deferred-maintenance programs, and capital-renewal plans.
• Experience with construction project management (procurement, coordination, & administration).
• Managing facilities fleet, grounds equipment, snow-removal equipment, or specialized operational equipment.
• Working within a unionized skilled-trades environment.
• Journeyman-level experience or appropriate trade certification in one or more major building trades.
• Knowledge of applicable building codes, NFPA standards, OSHA requirements, accessibility requirements, environmental regulations, and University/state requirements.
• EPA Refrigerant Handling Certification or other trade-specific licenses or certifications appropriate to assigned facilities.

Compensation: $135,000 - $145,000 (Final salary offer will be determined based on qualifications and experience)

How to Apply: Interested applicants are required to apply online and submit a resume and a one-page cover letter explaining your interest in the Associate Director, Trades & Grounds position.

In the cover letter, highlight how your relevant leadership experience, technical knowledge, and accomplishments have prepared you to lead complex facilities, trades, and grounds operations. Include one or two specific examples demonstrating your ability to prioritize competing demands, promote safety and reliability, improve operations, and support the needs of a diverse institutional environment. Where possible, identify measurable results and distinguish your individual contributions.

Note: Applications missing any of the required documents listed prior to the application deadline will be marked as incomplete and will not be considered. The application deadline for best consideration is Sunday, November 29, 2026. The search will continue until an appointment is made.

In instances where the Search and Screen Committee is unable to ascertain from the candidates' application materials whether they meet any of the qualifications, they will be evaluated as not meeting such qualifications. Additional documents submitted aside from a cover letter and resume will not be reviewed.

This position does not offer visa sponsorship. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. Selected candidates will be required to verify eligibility to work in the United States by completing the required I-9 form upon hire.

Finance & Administrative Affairs is required to conduct Post-Offer Pre-Employment screenings on the selected candidate for this role. Employment is contingent upon successfully passing the screening.

Finalist candidate(s) being considered for hire will be required to provide three professional/supervisor references through an external reference checking tool. References will not be contacted prior to candidates being notified.

Contact Information: Questions regarding this position can be directed to Angelee Vang ([email protected])

Reasonable Accommodations
Pursuant to university policy, UWM provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment. Employment opportunities will not be denied because of the need to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual with a disability. If you need assistance or accommodation in applying because of a disability, please contact [email protected] or 414-229-4463. This job announcement and other material on this site will be made available in alternate formats upon request to an individual with a disability.

Confidentiality of Applicant Materials
UWM is a State agency and subject to Wisconsin’s Open Records Law. UWM will not, however, reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing except as may be required by Wisconsin’s Open Records law. In certain circumstances, the identities of “final candidates” and/or the identity of the appointed applicant must be revealed upon request.

CBC and Reference Check Policy
Employment will require a criminal background check. UWM takes the prevention of sexual misconduct seriously. As such, you and your references will be required to answer questions regarding any past findings of sexual violence and sexual harassment or any pending allegations of sexual violence or sexual harassment.

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report (Clery Act)
For the UWM Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports (i.e., Clery Report), which includes statistics about reported crimes and information about campus security policies, see http://www.cleryact.uwm.edu/, or call UWM’s Dean of Students Office, Student Union 345 at (414) 229-4632 for a paper copy.

Employment Authorization
In compliance with federal law, all persons at the time of their start date will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

UW is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other bases protected by applicable federal or State law and UW System policies. We are committed to building a workforce that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills, and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.