Director, Real Estate & Facilities

First Command Financial Services•Fort Worth, TX

4d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Real Estate & Facilities provides leadership for First Command’s real estate portfolio, corporate campus, physical workplace environment, facilities and grounds operations, physical security, emergency preparedness, and capital improvement program. The role develops and executes strategies that align space, facilities, and the employee experience with business objectives. It advises senior leadership on real estate, occupancy and space planning, risk, capital, and facilities service-delivery decisions, while ensuring that facilities, projects, leases, vendors, and workplace programs are governed and documented effectively, operated responsibly, and positively affect the people experience. The Director leads Real Estate & Facilities managers and functional teams, including mail room, imaging, and supply, and provides indirect oversight of contractors, consultants, service providers, and contingent workers. The role sets priorities, delegates authority, coaches leaders, and remains accountable for department performance and succession readiness. It is accountable for developing and administering operating and capital budgets, project budgets, forecasts, expenditure approvals, cost controls, and financial reporting, subject to current company approval limits. The position requires daily on-site work, regardless of the broader enterprise hybrid work environment. The Director must be prepared to work flexible indoor and outdoor hours and respond to urgent facility, security, weather, or life-safety matters outside normal business hours, including being on call 24/7 for emergency issues.

Requirements

At least 10 years of progressive corporate real estate, facilities, construction, workplace, or property-management experience, including leadership of a complex facilities function and cross-functional capital initiatives.
Preparedness to work flexible indoor and outdoor hours and respond to urgent facility, security, weather, or life-safety matters outside normal business hours; on call 24/7 for emergency issues.
Ability to work on-site daily, regardless of the broader enterprise hybrid work environment.
Ability to assess and synthesize information and make well-informed decisions.
Strong collaboration and ability to influence effectively regardless of positional authority.
Clear, confident, and credible communication skills.
Holistic thinking and understanding of how contributions fit into broader business and people/culture strategy.
Professional composure when balancing complex, ambiguous, high-visibility, and confidential matters.
Strong servant leadership, financial judgment, negotiation, and contract-management capabilities.
Analytical and problem-solving skills.
Ability to develop people and maintain accountable teams.
Ability to create and maintain productive partnerships across organizational boundaries.
Leads and acts in accordance with First Command’s core values of courage, love, and effectiveness.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in business, real estate, facilities management, architecture, engineering, construction management, or a related field.
Experience successfully leading workplace transformation, capital projects, and adaptable workplace programs that support employee experience, safety, and business needs.
One or more recognized industry credentials, such as IFMA Certified Facility Manager (CFM), BOMI Real Property Administrator (RPA) or Facilities Management Administrator (FMA), CoreNet Master of Corporate Real Estate (MCR), or a recognized project-management credential.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead enterprise real estate, facilities, workspace, and campus strategy, including long-range space planning, occupancy planning, capacity modeling, and portfolio recommendations.
Advise executive and senior leaders on workspace strategy, employee experience, capital priorities, facility risk, lease matters, and the operational impacts of business decisions.
Lead workplace modernization, renovations, construction, furniture programs, phased moves, temporary-space planning, and return-to-workplace initiatives from concept through closeout.
Act as a business owner within applicable project governance, covering scope definition, budgets, schedules, procurement, change control, inspections, punch lists, approvals, documentation retention, warranties, and project closeout.
Direct real estate activities, including market evaluation, broker coordination, lease negotiation and administration, tenant strategy, occupancy reporting, landlord obligations, and assignment or amendment activity.
Establish and communicate standards for space, furniture, signage, wayfinding, conference rooms, shared workspaces, campus appearance, amenities, and consistent employee and visitor experiences.
Provide strategic oversight and continual evaluation of physical security, access control, surveillance, alarms, vendor access, parking controls, investigations support, and related policies, contracts, systems, and audit responses.
Lead emergency preparedness, evacuation planning, severe-weather readiness, crisis-management support, business continuity coordination, training, drills, and communication protocols.
Develop and administer operating and capital budgets, forecasts, expenditure approvals, financial controls, project cost tracking, invoice reconciliation, and management reporting.
Establish and maintain formal sourcing, RFP, vendor evaluation, contract, service-level, insurance, lien-waiver, and performance-management practices for facilities suppliers and contractors.
Ensure compliance with applicable building, life-safety, accessibility, environmental, security, records, procurement, and company policy requirements; coordinate remediation of audit and control observations.
Lead and develop Real Estate & Facilities managers and teams; clarify accountability, build succession capability, assess staffing needs, and support performance, compensation, and development decisions.
Build productive partnerships across departments and functions, tenants, brokers, architects, engineers, contractors, and public agencies, including city and county emergency management officials.
Keep leadership and teams informed about significant property-specific issues and facilities management developments.
Monitor industry practices, technology, market conditions, and workplace trends and translate relevant developments into practical recommendations for First Command.