Job Description
Job Title
Position Title: Senior Director of Innovation and Sustainability
Location: Facilities Maintenance & Auxiliary Services
Salary: $89,301.00 - $120,819.00
Reports to: Executive Director of Facilities
Bargaining Unit: N/A
Benefits Eligible: Yes
Position Summary:
The Senior Director of Innovation and Sustainability models our core value of responsible stewardship, is passionate about the environment and committed to developing innovating ways of work to ensure District facilities and facility systems align with our commitments toward environmental sustainability.
The Senior Director of Sustainability and Innovation is responsible for overseeing sustainability ‘connections’ to curriculum, institutional behavior, and facilities, developing partnerships with constituents, community organizations and relevant agencies, designing and implementing sustainability programs, and coordinating with internal leaders to ensure sustainability initiatives are successful.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical or industrial engineering required. Master's degree preferred.
- A minimum of seven (7) years of related experience with a minimum of 2 years in a managerial capacity.
- LEED Accreditation is desired, but not required.
- The candidate must possess strong organizational, communication, interpersonal skills and knowledge of energy management and conservation, green infrastructure, infrastructural planning, strategic planning and budget management.
- Must have knowledge of building automation systems, HVAC systems operation, building construction and contracting.
- Previous experience with and knowledge of concepts of efficient building operation and conservation and sustainable development including: building automation system data analytics, green purchasing, energy conservation, solid waste recycling, green buildings, resource and water conservation, greenhouse gas reduction, renewable resources, government funding opportunities, and environmental reporting metrics.
- Must possess experience in planning, budget and financial management; must have experience communicating to senior leaders and the public regarding the long and short-term benefits and cost savings of sustainability efforts.
- Frequent in-district travel is required—must have reliable personal transportation. Periodic exposure to conditions in mechanical/boiler rooms, ceilings, roofs, and crawlspaces. Occasional irregular hours. This position is not eligible for telecommuting.
Essential Functions:
- Develop partnerships and work with community members and other government agencies to help integrate sustainable best-practices in the district.
- Ensure that the district's Sustainability Management Plan meets and exceeds the district’s goals of becoming a sustainable school district, while enhancing student achievement, reducing operating costs, and positively impacting the community.
- Inform and advise district administrators regarding sustainability programs.
- Implement programs, policies and activities that engage students, faculty, administrators, and a broad range of community stakeholders in embracing environmental sustainability best-practices.
- Implement programs that engage students, faculty, administrators, and a broad range of community stakeholders in embracing environmental sustainability best-practices.
- Act as the official departmental representative on energy and sustainability to outside agencies and the community to explain, justify, and garner support for sustainable initiatives.
- Oversees and collaborates with faculty on PK-12 educational and experiential sustainability initiatives, curriculum and co-curricular programs.
- Assists with coordinating delivery of instructional, inspirational sustainability sessions with students.
- Assists educators with organizing environmental clubs and programs.
- Partners closely with the Garden, Teaching Kitchen, and Greenhouse Coordinators
- Coordinates with Food Services, Facilities, and other offices to enable improvements in daily practices and district operations.
- Works closely with Communications Team to provide content for publications and social media and to promote the visibility of sustainability.
- Foster collaboration that will effectively build relationships and garner trust with departments and outside organizations to establish a Sustainability Management Plan.
- Is involved in local and national sustainability education.
- Develop utility budgets for district buildings; normalize utility consumption for variations in weather; and project future utility commodity costs based on market trends and economic indicators.
- Prepare regular reports to senior management for decision making. Purchase commodity futures at strategic times to minimize price, risk and volatility.
- Liaison to utility providers, regulators, officials, internal and external stakeholders. Coordinate with utility providers to resolve any problems. Coordinate utility efforts to ensure timely execution of capital projects.
- Identify energy conservation opportunities and develop energy conservation measures to reduce energy costs and support sustainability and energy conservation objectives.
- Seek out state and federal incentives for energy efficiency and renewable programs. Complete required documentation for related reimbursements.
- Provide management oversight of the sustainable initiatives to ensure cost savings and student, faculty, and administrator engagement
- Prepare reports on energy consumption in alignment with targeted goals and create metrics for savings on a monthly basis.
- Guide the strategic direction of the Building Management Systems (BMS). Develop, implement and nurture automated building management controls strategies that promotes energy conservation.
- Perform forecasting and cost/benefit analysis to enable executive district leadership to make informed decisions that focus on optimizing social and environmental impacts of sustainability program initiatives while reducing costs.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Security Clearance:
Internal Applicants
If you are a current Detroit Public Schools Community District employee, you do not have to submit to a new security clearance, unless your new role requires a different type of criminal background check.
External Applicants
In alignment with Michigan law, if you are hired to fill a position, you will be required to submit to a Detroit Public Schools Community District criminal background check. Information regarding required background checks will be shared at point of hire.
Method of Application:
Applicants must apply through the online application system. Only applications submitted through the online application system will be considered for any posted position and all applications require a resume to be considered.
Successful candidates are required to submit official transcript(s) at point of offer to hire. Teaching service outside of the Detroit Public Schools Community District must be verified by the applicant's prior employer(s) prior to hire. It is the applicant's responsibility to provide all documentation (including copies) as requested.
Applicants requesting assistance during the application process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email at [email protected] or phone at (313) 873-6897.
DPSCD does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, religion, height, weight, citizenship, marital or family status, military status, ancestry, genetic information, or any other legally protected category, in its educational programs and activities, including employment and admissions opportunities. Contact the Civil Rights Coordinator for more information at (313) 240-4377 or detroitk12.org/compliance.