Managing Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Safety

Overview

The Managing Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Safety is responsible for leading a team of network directors and ensuring all schools maintain high performance across the entire network. This team includes directors of facilities, maintenance, and safety. The Managing Director plays a crucial role in identifying areas where facilities and safety management could be more effective, compliant, and scalable. They collaborate with their team to design and implement initiatives to address these needs. In partnership with other network team members, they work to standardize facilities practices across the schools and support the development and improvement of data, processes, and other facilities systems. Additionally, they create strategies for professional development programs for all facilities, maintenance and safety staff, manage key external relationships, and support school-based staff to achieve operational goals.

Why extraordinary professionals teach at Ascend

Ascend is the largest Brooklyn-based public charter school serving over 5,000 K-12 students in 17 schools. We exist to serve every student – to help them embody their inherent excellence by providing rich, joyful learning experiences that unlock a life of boundless choice.

Access to education is a social justice issue. As educators, we center justice and live out our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (DEIA) by ensuring that our students have the skills, tools, and confidence they need to thrive today and in the future. We are proud to have a workforce that mirrors the diversity seen in our students. Working at Ascend provides a community focused on developing an environment of support and belonging. Educators collaborate closely and encourage each other to achieve great outcomes.

Our schools honor, nurture, and challenge the whole child. Ascend fosters critical thinking skills and a love of learning through an inquiry-based learning approach, Responsive Classroom model, and anti-racist education. We are deeply committed to advancing educational equity for all of our students. Students at Ascend benefit from a rich and rigorous liberal arts curriculum that nurtures natural curiosity about the world and guides them to think critically and independently.

For more information on Ascend Public Charter Schools’ model, approach, and core values, please visit our website.

Responsibilities

• Security and Safety Oversight
• Oversee and manage Director of Security, accountable for organization-wide security and safety strategy
• Ensure all Ascend campuses maintain compliance with local laws, permitting regulations, and Certificates of Occupancy.
• Ensure all Ascend campuses meet Ascend safety standards and limit any exposure to risk or incidents as a result of
• Establish staff development plans and a robust training program that includes topics such as customer service, workplace safety, best building practices, equipment use and emergency management.
• Serve as liaison and maintain positive relationships with law enforcement agencies in the community.
• Institute and enforce emergency operating procedures.
• Lead training priorities and network requirements for safety and security
• Liaise with NYPD and build partnerships between Ascend and NYPO
• Serve as a point for escalation for police-involved incidents or follow-ups
• Facilities Management and Oversight
• Oversee and manage Director of Facilities and responsible for network facilities strategy and outcomes
• Manages the internal and external facilities teams across all campuses, including hiring, scheduling, training, coaching and evaluation
• Ensures that all campus facilities remain in compliance with vendor/inspector/government agency building regulations and leads accountability visits
• Oversees all facilities contracts, payments, negotiations, and budget management for maintenance against standards, including deferred maintenance strategy and planning
• Designs and facilities processes to respond to facilities needs and requests in a timely manner, which is done in partnership with Ascend’s facilities team
• Oversees quality of all external facilities vendors and management
• Maintenance Management and Oversight
• Oversee and manage Director of Maintenance and responsible for network maintenance strategy and outcomes
• Manages the internal and external custodial teams across all campuses, including hiring, scheduling, training, coaching and evaluation Ensures that all campus maintenance remain in compliance with inspector/government agency building regulations and leads accountability visits
• Oversees all budget management for maintenance against standards, including deferred maintenance strategy and planning
• Designs and maintenance processes to respond to school needs and requests in a timely manner, which is done in partnership with Ascend’s facilities team
• Oversees quality of custodial team and management

Staff and reporting relationships

The Managing Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Safety directly manages the Director of Security and the security organization, as well as the Director, Facilities and Maintenance and the facilities organization. In addition, the Managing Director collaborates closely with the General Counsel, Schools and Finance teams in service of their goals.

The Managing Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Safety will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer.

Qualifications

The Managing Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Safety, should have:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience required; MBA or Master's degree in a related field, or previous senior level leadership preferred
• Previous experience overseeing facilities, maintenance, or security, with school experience preferred
• Success in developing and supporting managers of people; proven track record in talent multiplication
• Success in vendor and budget management - effectiveness at motivating and influencing others to act, strong management skills
• A mindset of excellence; attention to detail, and insistence on quality
• Creativity and a solutions mindset—ability to recognize areas for improvement and develop initiatives to move the organization dramatically forward operationally
• Systems-thinking; capacity to envision, plan and implement new systems and practices that better support school operations
• The ability to juggle multiple obligations and initiatives; exceptional organizational skills, and attention to detail
• Maturity, humility, strong work ethic, sense of humor, and “roll-up-my-sleeves” attitude
• Passion and commitment to urban education and our mission of closing the achievement gap
• Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs of Ascend Learning

Compensation

Initial salary offers for this position range from $140,00 - $180,000. Salaries are determined using an equitable compensation scale that accounts for years of experience and levels of attained education.

Diversity at Ascend

Ascend is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.