Deputy Director, Facilities Operations

About the Role

The County of Santa Clara is a premiere public agency known for its high standard of excellence, strategic leadership, and innovative thinking. Serving over 1.9 million residents, it is the largest of the nine Bay Area counties and delivers critical safety-net services in health, public safety, social services, and housing. Santa Clara Valley Healthcare (SCVH) is the cornerstone of public healthcare in the region, providing compassionate, high-quality care through Valley Medical Center, Regional Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital, St. Louise Regional Hospital, and an extensive network of outpatient clinics.

We are seeking a dynamic, future-focused leader to serve as the Deputy Director of Facilities Operations, overseeing facility operations and infrastructure planning for Valley Medical Center and Regional Medical Center. This role offers a rare opportunity to modernize a highly technical, mission-critical environment, ensuring facilities remain safe, resilient, and fully operational to support exceptional patient care.

What Makes This Role Unique

• Scale, Diversity, and Complexity: Oversee an exceptionally broad and complex network of facilities, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, laboratories, administrative buildings, and 24-hour operational environments. Guide multidisciplinary teams across engineering, building systems, maintenance, environmental services, biomed engineering, telecom, and low-voltage infrastructure.
• Healthcare-Centered Scope: Operate in highly regulated, high-acuity healthcare environments where safety and reliability directly support patient care. Work at the intersection of healthcare delivery and infrastructure stewardship to ensure seamless, around-the-clock operations.
• Strategic Executive Partnership: Shape the County’s long-range facilities strategy and inform infrastructure investments that impact millions of residents. Your insights will influence decisions defining the County’s operational capabilities for years to come.
• Commitment to Equity and Community: Ensure facilities serve a community dependent on reliable, safe, and accessible public services, advancing the County’s mission to enhance equity and access to care.

Responsibilities

• Operational and Strategic Leadership:
  • Plan, direct, and evaluate all activities of the division to ensure seamless operations across multiple 24/7 facilities.
  • Develop and implement policies, workflows, and management practices to elevate service quality and operational reliability.
  • Lead long-range planning to anticipate infrastructure needs and inform capital and operational strategies.
• Healthcare, Safety, and Engineering Excellence:
  • Oversee regulatory compliance in high-acuity healthcare environments.
  • Guide engineering teams, EVS supervisors, low-voltage groups, biomed engineering staff, and telecom technicians.
  • Ensure adherence to OSHA and healthcare facility standards.
• People and Culture Leadership:
  • Lead, coach, and develop a diverse, multidisciplinary team, including union-represented trades and technical staff.
  • Foster a high-performance culture rooted in accountability, collaboration, and customer service.
  • Manage hiring, performance, discipline, and workforce planning within a public-sector environment.
• Data, Technology, and Innovation:
  • Utilize enterprise maintenance management systems to drive data-informed decisions.
  • Oversee lifecycle analyses, asset management, and cost-efficiency initiatives.
  • Improve efficiency through modernization, process redesign, and technological adoption.

Requirements

• Extensive facilities management experience in a large, complex public or healthcare organization.
• Demonstrated leadership overseeing engineering, trades, and technical support teams.
• Strong background in healthcare facilities, including regulatory compliance, safety, and technical systems.
• Proven success working in unionized environments.
• Expertise in budgeting, forecasting, asset management, and capital planning.
• Ability to build trust with leadership, staff, clinicians, and stakeholders.

What Success Looks Like

• In the first 6–12 months:
  • Strengthen engineering and facilities operations across healthcare and non-healthcare sites.
  • Improve communication, trust, and service quality with internal stakeholders.
  • Advance the use of data, metrics, and reporting to inform decisions and prioritize needs.
• In the long term:
  • Enhance the reliability, safety, and performance of County facilities.
  • Strengthen talent pipelines and develop future engineering and facilities leaders.
  • Drive innovation, improve customer experience, and support major capital planning efforts.
  • Build a facilities organization that is adaptable, resilient, and nationally recognized for excellence.

Benefits

• Strategic Financial and Retirement Benefits:
  • CalPERS pension with reciprocity across most California public agencies (2.5% @ 55 for Classic Members, 2% @ 62 for Non-Classic Members).
  • 457 Deferred Compensation Plan with both pre-tax and Roth options, up to IRS limits.
  • $325,000 in term life insurance plus $300,000 in accidental death and disability coverage.
  • Eligible employer under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.
• Executive-Level Health, Wellness, and Family Support:
  • Premium health insurance options (Kaiser, HealthNet, Valley Health Plan) with up to 96% County-paid coverage.
  • Fully covered dental (Delta or Liberty) and vision (VSP) plans for individuals and families.
  • Employee Assistance Program, Dependent Care Assistance, and Flexible Spending Accounts.
  • Access to wellness and leadership development programs designed to support executive performance and resilience.
• Leadership Mobility, Time Off, and Professional Growth:
  • 39 days of annual leave with a cash-out option, plus 13 paid holidays.
  • Relocation assistance to support seamless transitions.
  • Tuition reimbursement and internal executive development programs.

To learn more about benefits, visit the dedicated benefits page.