Director of Facilities

United World College (UWC) South East Asia is a mission-led international school widely recognised as a global leader in International Education. As a member of the UWC movement internationally, our College in Singapore has two campuses - one on Dover Road and the other in Tampines. Our two campuses have 6,000 students, 1,200 employees and 1,500 allied employees (service partners). Both our campuses have Residential Communities (Boarding Houses).

The Director of Facilities and Operations reports into the Chief Operating Officer, and is responsible for the smooth functioning of the College facilities, building operations and school operations. They ensure that these support the Mission of the College and the delivery of the Learning Programme.

Building operations and School operations include the development and maintenance of the physical campus, and provision of services such as housekeeping, security, catering, transport, event management and environmental health and safety.

The role of the Director of Facilities and Operations is to ensure the effective provision of systems and facilities to deliver the operational needs of the College facilities in a sustainable, efficient and compliant manner. This role plays a pivotal role to ensure that the College runs effectively.

A strong systems thinker with an excellent understanding of the workings of the College, they are able to work closely with all stakeholders (vendors, students & parents) to ensure that the facilities and their attendant systems are available and effective to support the day to day operations of the College. The following report to this role: the Deputy Heads of Facilities and Operations (Dover & East), the Environmental Health and Safety Manager (EHS), Building Management Manager, Sustainability Manager, The Facilities and Operations Administrative Manager and the PA to the Director of Facilities and Operations.

Main Responsibilities

• Oversight of the following functional areas: Facilities operations, Construction / Maintenance, Housekeeping, Transport & Logistics including Bus Services for students, Food Services, Security, The College Shop, Reception, Environment Health & Safety, Built Environment Sustainability
• Develops a Departmental Strategic Plan that is aligned with the College Strategic Plans
• Ensure a safe and seamless provision of physical facilities and associated operations that is focused on customer satisfaction and efficient and sustainable working practices
• Develops and drive a positive departmental culture in line with the values and mission of the College
• Provides leadership to team members at all levels, including opportunities for coaching and development, to maximise work output, work quality and employee engagement.
• Provides effective team and project management duties, including overseeing project completion timelines, monitoring project costs, and ensuring College requirements are met
• Plans and allocates appropriate resources
• Fiscal management of staffing cost, operating and capital budgets and associated P&L accounts, including developing multi-year capital work plans and budgets keeping in view the needs of new campus development
• Proactively identify patterns and problem areas, and implements effective solutions to increase efficiency
• Takes responsibility and initiative in smooth running of all business operations and identifying and managing risk across the College
• On-going planning and assessment of departmental effectiveness. Continuously re-shaping departmental best practices to provide highest stakeholder satisfaction
• Strong liaison across other departments to ensure effective delivery of services
• Work with the Head of Risk Management and the EHS Manager to develop and maintain a College wide Environment, Health and Safety framework, ensuring emergency procedures, risk assessment, specialty spaces (such as Science, Design & Technology, Arts) are audited and all related needs are fulfilled as expected by local authorities.
• Working with other College leaders particularly the Learning Leadership Team (LLT) and the Operational Leadership Team (OLT), to oversee planning and forecasting of the annual events calendar to ensure capacity of College events.
• Maintains strong relationships with any third-parties (vendors, agencies etc) that the department works with regularly to ensure smooth procurement and delivery of products and services
• Maintain strong relationships with all internal as well as external stakeholders or UWCSEA community
• Understand the various regulatory needs and ensure compliance to relevant rules, regulations and statues across all related functions
• Manage inventory and assets including periodic facilities and equipment condition assessments
• Implement and direct the building maintenance / repair contracted services to ensure that the departmental building maintenance / repair service standards are consistent with College administrative policies and procedures and contract agreements
• Work collaboratively with procurement team to plan appropriate sourcing methodologies for goods and services based on college's process and policies in an effective manner. Must be able to prepare, execute and manage a range of contracts effectively.
• Project-based administration including but not limited to: Prepare cost estimates, consults with professional service partners / experts; interfaces with control agencies; originates documents for service agreements, special repair construction and maintenance contracts; supervision and execution of projects; conducts pre-bid job showings; coordinates, inspects and evaluates the work of service partners; approves expenditures related to the rehabilitation and maintenance of campus facilities.
• Ensure that the following health and safety processes are carried out
• Work closely with various Singapore Authorities and local inspectors on all requirements including and not limited to renovations and new construction, fire code requirements, elevator inspections, water tank inspections, food safety audits, vector control and fire safety infrastructure testing
• Analyse data from various collection points to seek areas of improvement. Curate the data inputs and come up with strategic as well as operational recommendations to continuously raise the service standard and enhance the overall community experience
• Envision and provide strategic direction to remain a leader in the area of Facilities and operations, evidenced with national level accreditations such as SLE Platinum Green, Gold standard in Accessibility, PUB Gold, Community in Bloom and SG Clean and similar
• Work with the IT team to ensure that operations are leveraging the latest digital technologies and fully integrated with the digital infrastructure
• Provide guidance to student projects and ensure that the Facilities and Operations team contributes actively towards experiential learning of the student community.

Person Specifications

• Degree and relevant professional qualifications
• Strong Understanding of Facilities and Operations Regulations
• 10 years or more experience in a similar senior leadership role in Facilities and Operations in a large scale organisation, ideally in the education sector
• Excellent Communications Skills
• Strong interpersonal and influencing skills with a collaborative mindset
• Intercultural competence and the ability to work comfortably in a diverse multicultural context
• Effective management of resources
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Financial and Business acumen
• Exceptional leadership skills - results oriented and team oriented at the same time
• Strong stakeholder skills to garner credibility with all levels of the organisation
• Deep Project and Change Management skills
• Dependable, committed and willingness to be on call at anytime

The UWC Mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and culture for peace and a sustainable future. We are committed to creating a community in which all members feel safe and secure, and know that their authentic selves and individual differences are accepted with respect and care. At UWCSEA, we acknowledge that diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) is an ongoing and evolving process and strive to create and sustain a sense of belonging for all members of our community, past, present and future. All qualified applicants, including those who identify as a part of marginalized group(s) and individuals with (dis)abilities are all encouraged to apply. Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the students in our care and expects all applicants to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices and all appointments are subject to interview, satisfactory references, identity and criminal record checks.