The Lead Facility Engineer is a senior, hands-on engineering leadership position responsible for taking ownership of a brand-new, state-of-the-art life sciences facility. Ideal candidates have previously served as a Chief Engineer, Lead Building Engineer, Engineering Supervisor, or Facilities Manager and combine strong technical troubleshooting skills with vendor management, service-contract review, RFP development, budgeting support, and facility operations leadership. This is a working role: the successful candidate will personally perform preventive maintenance and repairs within their qualifications while directing specialty providers when necessary. The position is the primary onsite technical contact, working closely with property management and supported by ABM engineering leadership.
Qualifications
- Seven or more years of progressively responsible building engineering or facilities operations experience preferred, including lead, supervisory, or management responsibilities.
- Practical troubleshooting experience with HVAC, pumps, BAS/controls, electrical, plumbing and emergency systems.
- Ability to interpret mechanical/electrical drawings, one-line diagrams, equipment manuals and maintenance specifications.
- EPA Section 608 certification preferred; relevant trade credentials and safety training desirable. Regulated or licensed work must be completed by qualified personnel.
- Experience with CMMS, vendor management, RFP and scope development, service contract review, budget support, warranties, and organized technical documentation.
Skills
- Proven leader with a hands-on working-engineer mindset, sound repair-versus-dispatch judgment, strong ownership, and ability to coordinate vendors and stakeholders independently.
- Organized, safety-conscious and effective with clients, laboratory stakeholders, contractors and technical support teams.
- Comfortable taking a new facility from commissioning and turnover into dependable steady-state operations.
Physical Requirements
Ability to walk the facility, inspect mechanical spaces and rooftops where authorized, climb ladders, work near operating equipment, and lift up to 50 pounds using safe practices. Occasional off-hour work and emergency response required.
Key Responsibilities
- Own day-to-day technical operations of HVAC, building automation, electrical distribution, plumbing, emergency power, life safety and infrastructure serving laboratory and administrative areas.
- Personally perform equipment rounds, preventive maintenance, inspections, work orders, diagnostics and minor corrective repairs within training and applicable licensing boundaries.
- Investigate alarms and system deficiencies, determine whether to repair, escalate or dispatch a qualified vendor, and verify satisfactory closeout.
- Support new-building commissioning and turnover; review O&M manuals, TAB reports, equipment schedules, warranties, training records and outstanding deficiencies.
- Field-verify asset identification, locations, safe maintenance access and, where practical, critical equipment electrical feeds and disconnects.
- Use the owner-provided CMMS to maintain accurate assets, PM schedules, work orders, inspection records, warranty information and service history.
- Attend available manufacturer/OEM training; understand sequences of operation and incorporate maintenance requirements into site procedures.
- Coordinate specialty contractors, review scopes and proposals, assist with bid requests, monitor vendor performance and recommend corrective action to authorized management.
- Troubleshoot potential warranty issues, document findings and coordinate with installers, the general contractor or OEM to protect owner warranty rights.
- Track scheduled regulatory inspections, permits and certifications, arranging appropriately qualified providers for required testing and licensed work.
- Coordinate planned outages, occasional after-hours PM and emergency response to protect critical operations and minimize occupant disruption.
- Follow site safety, lockout/tagout, access control and laboratory containment boundaries; escalate scientific equipment and laboratory certification work to authorized specialists.
- Communicate proactively with occupants, property management, contractors and ABM engineering leadership; take ownership of problems through resolution.
- Serve as onsite technical leader and primary engineering point of contact; independently prioritize work, communicate risks and take ownership of asset reliability and operational readiness.
- Review vendor contracts, service agreements and proposals for technical accuracy, scope gaps, maintenance frequencies, warranty terms and operational suitability; recommend approvals to authorized management.
- Oversee specialty service providers, coordinate schedules and shutdowns, monitor performance, verify work quality and reconcile service documentation against contracted requirements.
- Assist with maintenance budgets, forecasting, procurement recommendations, cost control, and capital repair or replacement planning; distinguish routine repairs from work requiring management authorization.
- Demonstrated vendor management experience, including writing scopes and RFPs, reviewing service contracts and bids, evaluating proposals, and supporting budgets and maintenance planning.