Associate Director of Real Estate & Facilities

Uncommon Schools starts and manages outstanding urban charter public schools that close the achievement gap and prepare low-income students to graduate from college.

At Uncommon Schools, our classrooms are named after colleges because that's where our students are headed. We are a nonprofit network of public charter schools in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Our 52 college prep schools consistently rank among the highest performing in their home states for three reasons:

• We know all students have what it takes to go to college. We are fiercely committed to cultivating the intellectual curiosity and grit that will spur their success in the classroom and in their communities.
• We create and constantly fine-tune our systems to help teachers teach and students learn.
• We know that without great teachers and leaders, nothing else matters. We also know there's no limit to learning. That's why people development is at our core.

Reports to: Senior Associate Director of Facilities; Works closely with all members of the Real Estate & Facilities Team.

ROLE
Uncommon's Real Estate & Facilities Team is responsible for ensuring the leasing, acquisition, development, financing, renovations and ongoing maintenance/compliance of high quality facilities for Uncommon's schools.

The Associate Director Facilities will work closely with the members of the Real Estate & Facilities Team to manage school building renovation projects. Tasks related to these projects may include, but are not limited to: 1) Providing support for the coordination of activities related to the renovation of school facilities located in Boston, MA, Newark and Camden, NJ, and in Brooklyn, Rochester, and Troy, NY. 2) Developing project work plans and/or management systems that increase project efficiencies for facility management and maintenance. 3) Providing project/administrative support to members of the Real Estate/Facilities Team on other select projects. The position offers, among other opportunities, a chance to manage short-term construction projects and school fit outs for K-12 schools. The individual hired for this role will work under the supervision of the Senior Associate Director of Facilities to ensure that critical stages of each project are executed on time and on budget and to the highest degree of quality. In addition, this individual will oversee the development and administration of some important portfolio-wide systems and services, which may include the administration of building audits, and the administration of design standards for selected building components. Above all, this role demands a flexible team player that "sweats the small stuff" and for whom no project is too small.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provides project management leadership for select school facility projects, which may include:
  • Pre-development activity coordination with appraisers, environmental companies, surveyors, architects, engineers, etc.
  • Coordination with school leaders to identify and incorporate specific programmatic and scope needs
  • Developing budget and cost estimates required to facilitate project approvals.
  • Monitoring construction methods for compliance, developing cost estimate schedules, managing project budgets and vetting vendors/contractors
  • Construction bidding management and coordination, including contract development in coordination with legal counsel
  • Construction management oversight
  • Support the collection, documentation and dissemination of data as needed for specific projects, including the development of materials and communication for key project stakeholders (e.g. lenders, school boards, donors, etc.)
  • Progress reporting on budget and schedule for individual projects to the team and to individual school leaders.
• Oversees and manages the development of select design standards and systems that will improve the lifecycle of building components across Uncommon's building portfolio, which may include:
  • Coordination of standard building component installations and inclusions
  • Implementation of building audits
  • Tracking and coordination of building capital projects and preventive building maintenance
• Performs various administrative and other related duties as assigned and required by the role.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Required knowledge, skills, and abilities:
  • Passionate commitment to the mission of Uncommon Schools.
  • Very strong organizational skills; strong attention to detail and follow-through.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • High level of proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office programs, specifically to create and maintain user friendly Excel budgets and PowerPoint presentations.
  • Ability to work independently and in a team setting.
  • Upbeat, positive and personable.
  • Ability to create and maintain systems that enhance organizational efficiency.
  • Strong problem-solving, critical-thinking, analytical, and strategic planning skills.
  • Ability to successfully handle multiple projects concurrently.
  • Willingness to perform hands-on work as well as assist in strategic projects.
  • Demonstrated ability to be flexible, self-directed and take initiative.
  • Demonstrated ability to be an effective communicator across multiple audiences and mediums (e.g. verbal, written, e-mail)
  • Ability to learn quickly and to be effective in a fast-paced, dynamic, entrepreneurial environment.
  • Willingness to travel.
  • Willingness to work some nights and weekends, as required.
  • Willingness to take on various administrative responsibilities.
• Minimum educational level:
  • Bachelor's degree required.
• Experience:
  • At least two years of work experience in facility/real estate project management, urban planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, construction management or asset management.
  • Familiarity interfacing and coordinating with architects, engineers, surveyors, contractors, etc.
  • Identifying construction scope and developing project budgets in Microsoft Excel.
  • Knowledge of and experience within education sector preferred.
• Belief in and alignment with Uncommon's core beliefs and educational philosophy is non-negotiable.

COMPENSATION
We offer a generous compensation package. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including a dedicated work space, laptop computer, email, high-speed internet access, and all necessary supplies.

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Please note that your application will not be saved until you click "submit" at the end of the application question set. Unfortunately, you will not be able to save your resume or answers as you go along. Please take this into consideration. You are welcome to open the application, copy and paste the questions into a Word Document, and then copy and paste your answers into our application once they are complete. Additionally, if you leave your application before beginning the question set, you will need to upload your resume again in order to move forward with the process upon returning. Thanks in advance for the time you are taking to apply to Uncommon Schools.