Program Director, Planning and Facilities

Job Summary

The Program Director of Planning & Facilities for the School of Medicine (School) at CU Anschutz provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the School’s facilities, space planning, and related initiatives. Supporting the Dean and collaborating closely with School leadership, this position leads the planning, development, implementation, and management of facilities and space resources in support of the School’s missions of education, research, patient care, and community service.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Planning and Reporting (40%)

  • Lead strategic space and facilities planning for the School, providing executive-level analysis and recommendations to support long-range institutional, research, and programmatic growth.
  • Manage and maintain comprehensive space and facilities records, including space commitments, reassignments, agreements, and institutional space tracking systems.
  • Cookspace allocation and utilization analysis, strategic facilities planning, and the management of renovation and improvement projects.
  • Oversee The Clubs, a portfolio of shared administrative workspaces supporting more than 1,200 faculty and staff.
  • Represent the School in architect, engineer, and construction manager selection processes, ensuring facilities investments align with institutional priorities, strategic objectives, and operational needs.
  • Oversee the School’s space request and reassignment process, coordinating stakeholder meetings, site evaluations, space assessments, and test-fit analyses to support informed space allocation decisions.
  • Represent the School in the review, negotiation, and coordination of off-campus lease agreements and School-funded renovation projects, ensuring alignment with institutional space, financial, and operational objectives.

• Cross-Functional Engagement and Operations (25%)

  • Serve as the School’s representative on university, campus, and state-mandated facilities planning initiatives, including master planning efforts, space governance committees, and facilities-related working groups.
  • Advise School leadership and support faculty recruitment efforts by reviewing space commitments in recruitment packages and participating in executive search and recruitment committees for academic and administrative leadership positions.
  • Oversee facilities-related operational impacts affecting School-occupied spaces, including utility interruptions, decommissioning and demolition activities, and the coordination of mitigation strategies to minimize disruptions to research and academic operations.
  • Represent the School on campus-wide initiatives that support sustainability and operational efficiency, including My Green Labs, freezer procurement requirements, shared equipment programs, and asset management alignment.
  • Oversee the management of School resources, including equipment and furniture reuse programs, as well as incoming and outgoing laboratory transition processes.

Qualifications

• Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in planning, business administration, public administration, facilities management, construction management, or a directly related field from an accredited institution.
  • Six to eight (6-8) years of professional experience in a complex academic medical center with oversight of facilities management and/or space planning functions.

• Preferred Qualifications:

  • Project Management Professional (PMP) certification or formal project management training preferred.
  • Experience in an academic medical center, university, healthcare, research-intensive, or similarly complex environment.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and influence diverse stakeholders, build collaborative partnerships, navigate sensitive organizational and political dynamics, and present data-driven recommendations to executive leadership and key decision-makers.
  • Experience leading high-volume, complex projects involving strategic negotiations, consensus-building, risk management, budgeting, scheduling, and coordination of multiple internal and external stakeholders.
  • Experience with enterprise facilities, space management, and project management systems, including Archibus, WebSpace, AutoCAD, Smartsheet, Adobe Creative Suite, DocuSign, or similar applications.
  • Experience with research space management, utilization reporting, laboratory planning, space governance, occupancy transitions, relocation planning, and long-range institutional planning initiatives.
  • Direct experience supporting development and expansion initiatives within the Fitzsimons Innovation Community (FIC), including space planning, cross-organizational coordination, commercial lease negotiations, partnership agreements, and strategic growth initiatives.
  • Experience supervising and developing professional staff, including performance management, coaching, and team leadership.