Director of Facilities and Plant Operations

The Director of Facilities and Plant Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for facility services, plant operations, infrastructure reliability, and related construction and space-planning activities at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The director is responsible for maintaining a safe, reliable, compliant, and highly functional environment that supports patient care, team members, visitors, and hospital operations.

This leader oversees the day-to-day operation of the hospital’s complex physical plant and critical building systems, including electrical power, emergency power, mechanical systems, utilities, preventive maintenance, and other essential infrastructure. The director partners closely with hospital leadership, Facilities, Construction, Safety, Emergency Management, clinical departments, and external partners to ensure operational continuity, regulatory readiness, and effective execution of facility priorities.

The director contributes to the development and implementation of the hospital’s five-year facilities and construction plan and participates in capital planning, space planning, construction coordination, and related hospital committees. This individual evaluates facility needs, helps prioritize projects, supports renovation and construction activities, and ensures that infrastructure investments align with operational requirements and the hospital’s long-term strategic direction.

The successful candidate will be a highly visible, collaborative, and hands-on leader who can build trust with an experienced facilities team while developing a strong understanding of the hospital’s complex infrastructure. This leader will establish clear expectations, strengthen accountability, support the technical and leadership development of team members, and cultivate a culture of teamwork, responsiveness, safety, and service excellence.

The director maintains a high level of readiness for unannounced inspections by local, state, and federal agencies and accrediting organizations. This role also provides leadership for continuous improvement, change management, quality, human resource compliance, emergency preparedness, and activities that improve patient, staff, and visitor safety across the hospital campus.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required. Equivalent experience in facilities or plant operations leadership may be considered in lieu of the degree.

Experience

• Progressive facilities, plant operations, or engineering services leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment
• Experience supporting a Level I trauma center, tertiary care hospital, academic medical center, or comparably complex healthcare facility preferred
• Experience overseeing critical hospital infrastructure, including electrical power, emergency power, mechanical systems, utilities, and preventive maintenance programs
• Experience leading facility operations in an environment that requires continuous operational coverage and rapid response to infrastructure issues
• Construction, renovation, capital planning, or major facility project experience
• Experience contributing to long-range facility plans, space-planning initiatives, and capital project prioritization
• Knowledge of healthcare regulatory requirements, life safety standards, emergency preparedness, environmental and workplace safety practices, and survey readiness
• Experience leading and developing skilled facilities professionals, supervisors, managers, and technical team members
• Budget management, vendor management, operational planning, labor productivity, and performance measurement experience
• Demonstrated change leadership, human resource compliance, quality improvement, and problem-solving experience
• Strong communication, relationship-building, organizational leadership, and collaboration skills
• Ability to work effectively with hospital executives, clinical leaders, construction partners, regulatory agencies, and facilities subject-matter experts

Location

• Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sentara is currently reviewing market compensation for this role. Our Talent Acquisition team will be able to share more specific information during the recruiting process.

Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, located in Norfolk, VA, is a 525-bed tertiary care facility that is home to the only Level I Adult Trauma Center and burn trauma unit in Hampton Roads, and also serves as the primary teaching hospital for Eastern Virginia Medical School. In addition to the high-quality heart program at Sentara Heart Hospital, our facility is home to Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance and several other dedicated facilities and specialized services. As a recognized accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center, and Magnet hospital for nursing excellence, our hospital specializes in heart and vascular, neurosciences, neurosurgery, urology, oncology, spine care, advanced imaging, behavioral health, maternity, and women’s health, including a state-of-the-art neonatal intensive care unit.ed Imaging Center at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital is conveniently located in the heart of Virginia Beach and offers high-speed digital diagnostic equipment that provides faster and more precise results. The center provides one of the region's most advanced imaging technologies interpreted by board certified radiologists specializing in various areas of imaging.