Director, Facilities

Lila Sciences•Cambridge, MA

3h•$168,000 - $224,000

About The Position

Lila Sciences is looking for a strategic, hands-on Director of Facilities to lead the day-to-day and long-term management of multiple facilities. You’ll own a scalable facilities strategy, drive safety and compliance across sites, and oversee budgets, capital planning, vendor governance, and KPI reporting. This role is a cross-functional, cross-site leadership position with real responsibility for building and growing a world-class facilities team that scales with our growth and supports our scientific mission. What You'll Be Building Strategy & Leadership Define and execute a comprehensive facilities strategy across multiple sites that aligns with company growth, science programs, and operational risk posture. Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing facilities organization. Establish clear career paths, succession plans, and a culture rooted in safety, reliability, and continuous improvement. People & Team Management Directly manage and develop facility managers, supervisors, and support staff; create a positive, collaborative culture with a strong focus on employee experience and professional growth. Foster cross-functional collaboration with BD, tech, finance, legal, and HR to drive decisions and improvements. Safety, Compliance, and Quality Set and uphold enterprise-wide safety standards and facilities compliance across all sites; guide audits and corrective actions. Lead capital planning, lifecycle management, and EOL decisions for critical equipment using ROI-driven analyses. Financial Stewardship Oversee multi-site budgets, long-range capital planning, and KPI achievement; optimize total cost of ownership. Own the vendor management lifecycle, including RFPs, contract negotiations, SLAs, and performance reviews. Operations & Process Excellence Standardize and optimize maintenance processes with documentation, digital tools, and scalable playbooks; champion improvements with a strong emphasis on the employee and occupant experience. Implement governance, risk management, and compliance controls; ensure audit readiness and transparent reporting. Stakeholder & Client Liaison Be the primary touchpoint with clients, senior leadership, Facilities Org, and key business teams; translate facilities strategy into tangible business value. Partner with HR on workforce planning, safety training, and employee engagement initiatives. Project Delivery & Portfolio Management Lead major projects (renovations, expansions, high-impact maintenance) from scoping to closeout; manage schedule, budget, and risk. Align cross-site efforts to ensure consistent service levels and performance metrics. Performance Measurement & Improvement Define and track key metrics (safety, reliability, lifecycle spend, uptime, cost-to-serve, work-order throughput, client satisfaction) and use data to drive improvements. Nurture a culture of continuous improvement; lead post-implementation reviews and share learnings across sites.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Business, or a related field.
8–15+ years of facilities management experience, with a track record of leading multi-site operations in life sciences, physical sciences, or related industries.
Proven ability to design and implement scalable facilities strategies and to lead through ambiguity and rapid growth.
Experience managing large budgets, capital plans, and vendor ecosystems; strong ROI and financial acumen.
Demonstrated track record of cultivating a safety-first culture, robust reporting, and effective cross-functional collaboration at the executive level.
Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills; able to influence and mobilize diverse teams.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience in environments blending physical science and life sciences.
Familiarity with regulatory standards (OSHA/EHS, environmental compliance) and enterprise facilities software.

Responsibilities

Define and execute a comprehensive facilities strategy across multiple sites that aligns with company growth, science programs, and operational risk posture.
Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing facilities organization.
Establish clear career paths, succession plans, and a culture rooted in safety, reliability, and continuous improvement.
Directly manage and develop facility managers, supervisors, and support staff; create a positive, collaborative culture with a strong focus on employee experience and professional growth.
Foster cross-functional collaboration with BD, tech, finance, legal, and HR to drive decisions and improvements.
Set and uphold enterprise-wide safety standards and facilities compliance across all sites; guide audits and corrective actions.
Lead capital planning, lifecycle management, and EOL decisions for critical equipment using ROI-driven analyses.
Oversee multi-site budgets, long-range capital planning, and KPI achievement; optimize total cost of ownership.
Own the vendor management lifecycle, including RFPs, contract negotiations, SLAs, and performance reviews.
Standardize and optimize maintenance processes with documentation, digital tools, and scalable playbooks; champion improvements with a strong emphasis on the employee and occupant experience.
Implement governance, risk management, and compliance controls; ensure audit readiness and transparent reporting.
Be the primary touchpoint with clients, senior leadership, Facilities Org, and key business teams; translate facilities strategy into tangible business value.
Partner with HR on workforce planning, safety training, and employee engagement initiatives.
Lead major projects (renovations, expansions, high-impact maintenance) from scoping to closeout; manage schedule, budget, and risk.
Align cross-site efforts to ensure consistent service levels and performance metrics.
Define and track key metrics (safety, reliability, lifecycle spend, uptime, cost-to-serve, work-order throughput, client satisfaction) and use data to drive improvements.
Nurture a culture of continuous improvement; lead post-implementation reviews and share learnings across sites.