Workplace & Facilities Lead (West Coast)

Cognition•San Francisco, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Cognition is hiring a senior, hands-on Workplace & Facilities Lead to manage its West Coast workplace and the facilities team responsible for keeping the San Francisco office running. The role owns facilities operations end to end, manages and grows the existing team, and ensures the office runs smoothly, including on Friday nights and weekends. As the company scales, the lead will build the systems, vendor relationships, and team structure needed to support the workplace’s growth. The position oversees building operations, maintenance, security coordination, space readiness, budgets, vendor performance, and preventive maintenance. It also plans for headcount growth, moves, build-outs, new-space readiness, and workplace events, working with teams across Employee Experience, Recruiting, Security, and Finance. The lead sets standards for the employee experience and may personally support high-traffic days, major events, and incidents.

Requirements

At least 8 years of experience in workplace, facilities, or real estate operations.
At least 3 years of experience managing teams.
Experience running facilities at a fast-growing technology company or in a high-end hospitality environment.
Strong vendor management and contract negotiation skills.
Ability to own a budget and make tradeoffs.
Calm, decisive leadership and ability to handle incidents and competing priorities.
Flexible schedule, including some Friday nights and weekends.

Nice To Haves

Experience opening new offices or managing build-outs.

Responsibilities

Manage, coach, and grow the existing facilities team, setting clear ownership and expectations.
Develop staffing and coverage plans for weekdays, evenings, and weekends.
Hire for new roles as the team and office footprint grow.
Own building operations, maintenance, security coordination, and space readiness.
Manage vendor relationships and oversee contracts, service-level agreements, and performance for custodial, security, maintenance, and culinary vendors.
Build and manage the facilities budget and track spending against plan.
Establish preventive maintenance, issue tracking, and escalation processes.
Partner with Jeff to divide workplace responsibilities and design the team structure as the company grows.
Plan for headcount growth, including space planning, moves, build-outs, and new-space readiness.
Partner with Employee Experience, Recruiting, Security, and Finance on shared workplace needs.
Support large events and offsites from a facilities and logistics standpoint.
Set and uphold standards for the Cognition office experience.
Use employee feedback and data to determine workplace improvements.
Provide hands-on support during high-traffic days, major events, and incidents.