Duke University

Description

ZRG has been engaged to recruit an Executive Director of Utilities & Engineering Services for Duke University.

For more details about this opportunity, please view the position profile by clicking on the cover image below.

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Position Summary:

The Executive Director of Utilities & Engineering Services provides strategic, operational, and financial leadership for Duke University’s campus-wide utility systems and engineering services. Reporting to the Vice President of Facilities, this role is responsible for ensuring the safe, reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective delivery of utilities and engineering support that enable Duke’s academic,research, healthcare, and residential missions.

The Executive Director leads a multidisciplinary organization responsible for central utility plants,distribution systems, energy management, engineering services, capital program support, and regulatory compliance across a complex, high-reliability campus environment.

Key Responsibilities:

• Set and execute a long-term vision for Duke’s utility and engineering services aligned with institutional priorities, climate commitments, and growth plans.
• Develop and implement utility master plans, infrastructure renewal strategies, and resiliency initiatives.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to university leadership on infrastructure risk, capacity planning, and investment decisions.
• Provide administrative oversight to ensure the seamless operation of unit.

Operations & Reliability

• Ensure safe, continuous,and resilient operation of campus utilities, including electricity, steam, chilled and hot water, domestic water, sewer, and stormwater systems to the University and Medical Center.
• Lead incident response, outage management, and business continuity planning for critical infrastructure.
• Establish performance metrics and continuous improvement programs focused on reliability, safety, and service quality.

Engineering & Technical Services

• Provide oversight strategic guidance of Engineering team including engineering standards, system design review, commissioning support, and technical guidance for capital projects and renovations.
• Provide governance for utility interfaces with new construction, major research facilities, and healthcare-related infrastructure.
• Promote standardization, asset management best practices, and lifecycle-based decision making.

Capital Program & Financial Stewardship

• Plan, prioritize, and manage a multi-year capital renewal and improvement portfolio.
• Develop and manage operating and capital budgets; optimize lifecycle costs and return on investment.
• Partner with necessary entities to deliver projects on schedule and within budget.

Energy Management & Decarbonization

• Advance Duke’s energy efficiency, electrification, decarbonization, and climate resilience goals.
• Leverage data,analytics, and emerging technologies to reduce energy use, emissions, and operating costs across all utility plants.
• Collaborate with the University’s Office of Climate and Sustainability on Campus climate initiatives.

Safety, Compliance & Risk Management

• Champion a strong culture of safety, regulatory compliance, and environmental stewardship.
• Ensure compliance with applicable codes, standards, permits, and utility regulations.
• Proactively identify and mitigate infrastructure, operational, and cyber-physical risks.

People, Culture & Partnerships

•  Lead, develop, and mentor a diverse team of engineering, operations, and technical professionals.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance culture.
• Build strong partnerships with campus stakeholders, local utilities, regulators, and peer institutions.
• Address personnel issues, including hiring, coaching, discipline, and matters related to union contracts.
• Identify skills gaps within staff, provide coaching and guidance, and participate in the annual performance appraisal process.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with collective bargaining unit.
• Advise senior leadership on all matters relating to their assigned unit.
• Act as a representative of Facilities Management in internal meetings, committees, and when engaging with external groups and individuals as needed.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the department leadership.

About Client:

Duke University was created in 1924 by James Buchanan Duke as a memorial to his father, Washington Duke. The Dukes, a Durham family that built a worldwide financial empire in the manufacture of tobacco products and developed electricity production in the Carolinas, long had been interested in Trinity College. Trinity traced its roots to 1838 innearby Randolph County when local Methodist and Quaker communities opened Union Institute. The school, then named Trinity College, moved to Durham in 1892,where Benjamin Newton Duke served as a primary benefactor and link with the Duke family until his death in 1929. In December 1924, the provisions of indenture by Benjamin’s brother, James B. Duke, created the family philanthropic foundation, The Duke Endowment, which provided for the expansion of Trinity College into Duke University. Duke maintains a historic affiliation with the United Methodist Church.

Younger than most other prestigious U.S. research universities, Duke University consistently ranks among the very best.

Duke’s graduate and professional schools — in business, divinity, engineering, the environment, law, medicine,nursing, and public policy — are among the leaders in their fields.

Duke’s home campus is situated on nearly 9,000 acres in Durham, N.C, a city of more than 250,000 people. Duke also is active internationally through the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore, Duke Kunshan University in China and numerous research and education programs across the globe. More than 75 percent of Duke students pursue service-learning opportunities in Durham and around the world.

Location: 

Durham, NC

Requirements

Education & Training

• BS degree in a Facilities Management related field. Engineering degree preferred.

Experience

•  Fifteen years’ experience in Facilities Management or related field including progressive leadership experience.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in a large, complex district utility systems in a mission critical environment.
• Strong customer service philosophy and ability to motivate staff in a changing environment.
• Experience in a higher education or similar setting preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

•  Excellent oral and written communication skills; ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences, including senior University management, faculty, staff from other departments, students, and others.
• Computer skills in MS Office.
• Analytical skills related to productivity.
• Ability to understand processes and procedures.
• Budgets.

Diversity & Inclusion

Duke University is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual's age, color, disability, gender, gender expression,gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Duke aspires to create a community built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and belonging. Their collective success depends on the robust exchange of ideas-an exchange that is best when the rich diversity of their perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences flourishes. To achieve this exchange, it is essential that all members of the community feel secure and welcome, that the contributions of all individuals are respected, and that all voices are heard. All members of their community have a responsibility to uphold these values.