Director of Operations, Washington, DC

How to Apply

A cover letter and resume are important submissions for the hiring team to get a sense of your experience. A cover letter is required to be considered for this position. In the cover letter, please let us know how this position will align with your career aspirations and skills. Submit both a cover letter and resume as one file (because of system limitations).

For questions about this role or accommodation requests, contact [email protected]

Job Summary

The University of Michigan is establishing a flagship institutional hub in Washington, DC, located in an 11,600-square-foot multi-use facility at 1700 M St NW. The facility is designed to support classes, meetings, workspace, and high-profile university gatherings. As the Director of Operations, you will serve as the sole on-site operational lead, responsible for day-to-day facility management, stakeholder engagement, and delivering a seamless experience for a diverse range of users, including faculty, students, alumni, and university leadership. Reporting to the Provost's Office and operating in collaboration with its institutional co-sponsors, you will manage logistics, coordinate with property management and remote university partners, and build a reliable network of support resources to ensure consistent facility coverage. As part of this newly launched initiative, you will be uniquely responsible for developing a repeatable operational framework and site operations strategy. This is a term-limited appointment designed to support the launch and early operations of this new institutional hub.

Link to full job description.

Responsibilities*

• Lead day-to-day operations for a high-visibility university facility, ensuring spaces are clean, functional, safe, welcoming, and ready for meetings, classes, events, and daily use.
• Coordinate facility maintenance, custodial services, supplies, room configurations, vendor access, and building operations in partnership with landlords, service providers, and university units.
• Serve as the primary on-site point of contact for users, visitors, faculty, speakers, vendors, and campus partners, providing high-quality logistical, technical, and customer-service support.
• Support meetings, classes, and events through room setup, AV checks, signage, catering coordination, vendor logistics, troubleshooting, and post-event reset.
• Provide front-line support for core IT/AV systems, including Wi-Fi, displays, video walls, digital signage, conferencing technology, hoteling platforms, and room reservation tools; escalate complex issues to technical partners.
• Develop and manage on-site staffing and coverage plans, including temporary staff, event assistants, supplemental support, and coverage for evenings, weekends, or peak-use periods.
• Manage local purchasing, inventory, invoice routing, budget tracking, vendor billing, and operational spending in coordination with university finance and administrative partners.
• Enforce space-use policies, resolve scheduling or operational conflicts, and escalate safety, reputational, regulatory, or policy issues to appropriate leadership.
• Build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including university leadership, building management, vendors, municipal entities, public safety partners, and campus units.
• Track space usage, service requests, user feedback, staffing needs, and recurring issues to recommend operational improvements and support long-term planning.
• Support launch and activation activities, including move-in logistics, vendor onboarding, workflow testing, and development of a site operations strategy.

Required Qualifications*

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in operations, facilities management, hospitality, business administration, higher education administration, or a related field.
• 7 years of progressively responsible operations experience, including experience in facilities, events, hospitality, coworking/shared workspace, or another complex public-facing environment.
• 5 years of experience hiring, training, or directly supervising staff.
• Experience working in a newly launched or startup-like environment, with the ability to take broad goals and build organized routines, local service networks, and support pathways from scratch.
• Extensive experience supporting complex meeting, classroom, or high-profile event logistics
• Familiarity with digital tools like room reservation platforms, visitor software, and access control systems, alongside basic proficiency in content management platforms (e.g., WordPress) for light website updates.
• Demonstrated experience developing operational procedures, site documentation, training materials, checklists, and service standards.
• Experience being the primary on-site contact for external building staff, third-party vendors, and outside support teams.

Why Work at Michigan?

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, The University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

• Generous time off
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses

Modes of Work

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Work Locations

100% on-site in Washington, DC; remote work is not available. While the standard work week is Monday through Friday. The Director of Operations must be available to work non-traditional hours, including early mornings, evenings, and weekends, to support active events, classes, and off-hours vendor maintenance, utilizing a to-be-developed shared coverage model supported by supplemental staff or contracted vendors.

Application Deadline

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.

U-M EEO Statement

The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.