Facilities Engineering Planning Director
The University of California, San Diego
About this position
Position Description
The Facilities Engineering Planning Director will provide expert-level guidance at the intersection of healthcare engineering, campus planning, and capital program delivery. This role serves as a trusted internal consultant to executive leadership, capital program management teams, and external design and construction partners, ensuring that UC San Diego Health facilities are reliable, future-ready, cost-effective, and infused with the Design Standards that the Facilities Engineering Planning Director will help develop and evolve. As the region’s only academic medical center, UC San Diego Health is engaged in a historic transformation of its clinical campuses, including the Hillcrest Medical Campus Redevelopment and major ambulatory growth such as the La Jolla Outpatient Pavilion, along with other growth throughout the System. These initiatives modernize infrastructure, replace aging facilities, and enable the future of academic, clinical, and community care delivery while maintaining continuous operations for high-acuity services. This role brings deep technical and operational expertise in the complexities of planning and building modern hospitals — including infrastructure resilience, regulatory compliance, lifecycle cost optimization, and adaptability to emerging care models in California and the San Diego region. A unique understanding of the UC San Diego Health System facilities, existing and planned, is critical to this role. As well, experience in all phases of capital improvement and the ability to synthesize best practice out of lessons learned, for use in design standards and planning of future facilities, will be necessary to maintain the informed growth and necessary stewardship of UC San Diego Health System’s built environment. Key Responsibilities Strategic Facilities & Engineering Consulting• Serve as an internal technical consultant and advisor on healthcare facilities planning, engineering systems, and infrastructure strategies for major capital projects.• Provide expert interpretation and application of California healthcare regulatory requirements (HCAI/OSHPD, seismic, licensing, utility redundancy, emergency preparedness).• Advocate for high-reliability hospital design, ensuring systems support patient safety, operational continuity, and long-term maintainability.• Approval rights for:o Proposed processes affecting design standardso Milestone submission documents o Deviations from approved documents and standardso Alternative equipmento Shop Drawingso Operational sequence for MEPo Material specifications for architectural and engineering systems, including materials and equipmento Other submittals identified and delegated by the CAO Capital Program & Campus Planning Support• Support large-scale initiatives such as the Hillcrest Medical Campus Redevelopment, a multi-phase, decades-long transformation replacing and modernizing more than 60 acres of active medical campus infrastructure.• Participate in planning and delivery of ambulatory expansions including the La Jolla Outpatient Pavilion, designed to expand licensed outpatient capacity and support continued growth in clinical demand.• Collaborate with Campus Program Management to develop and maintain campus-wide building and engineering standards aligned with a modern academic medical center. Design & Construction Engagement• Provide consultative guidance to external architects, engineers, builders, and specialty consultants, ensuring alignment with UCSD Health’s technical standards, operational needs, and lifecycle expectations.• Review design concepts, engineering narratives, and system strategies with a focus on function, reliability, flexibility, and total cost of ownership.• Support constructability reviews and transition planning from design through activation. Future-Ready Healthcare Infrastructure• Promote infrastructure solutions that are resilient to climate impacts, regulatory change, evolving technology, and new models of care.• Ensure facilities are adaptable for future growth, clinical transformation, and California healthcare policy and demographic realities.• Balance innovation with operational practicality, ensuring facilities are built to function reliably on day one and for decades thereafter. Strategic Alignment with UC Climate & Carbon Goals• Integrate carbon reduction, energy efficiency, and electrification readiness into capital planning, design decision making, and campus standards for hospital and outpatient facilities.• Support UC objectives related to carbon neutrality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and elimination of new fossil fuel infrastructure where feasible, while ensuring patient safety and continuous operations.• Balance sustainability targets with the unique demands of healthcare, including 24/7 operation, life safety systems, clinical redundancy, and emergency preparedness.• Promote infrastructure solutions that support long-term climate resilience, including adaptability to grid evolution, climate stressors, regulatory change, and future clinical models of care.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in a related area and seven or more years of relevant experience, or equivalent combination of experience, education and training. Expert knowledge and skill for specialized research needs in space planning and highly developed skills to effectively translate needs to professional architects and engineers. Significant experience supporting hospital, academic medical center, or complex healthcare facilities planning and delivery. Demonstrated expertise in healthcare engineering systems (MEP, utilities, life safety, resilience). Deep understanding of hospital operations, regulatory environments, and lifecycle cost considerations. Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to executive, clinical, and non-technical stakeholders. Systems thinker with a strong bias toward function over form. Trusted advisor mindset with credibility among engineers, planners, clinicians, and leaders. Skilled at navigating complexity, ambiguity, and competing priorities in active healthcare environments. Commitment to UC San Diego Health’s mission of patient-centered care, innovation, and community service. Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated ability and skills in working collaboratively and influencing others. Expert knowledge of architectural or engineering concepts. Highly developed skills to multi-task and effectively prioritize large project work. Expert ability to assess processes or services to make improvements in project management.