We are seeking an experienced, self-starting Program Specialist, Facilities Maintenance to lead our Workplace Repair and Maintenance efforts in Palo Alto, California. This role is designed for someone who can operate independently, serving as the primary onsite leader for Facilities Maintenance. The ideal candidate acts as the central coordinator for all maintenance activities, balancing the technical needs of the facilities with the expectations of leadership. You must be able to effectively communicate with engineers to ensure technical accuracy, but your primary focus is the strategic management of workflow: prioritizing incoming tickets, coordinating our engineering partners, and ensuring an impeccable environmentCollaborating with our engineering teams, prioritizing key tasks, and ensuring seamless operation.. We are looking for a highly organized communicator who can transition seamlessly between technical troubleshooting and executive-level briefings.
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Team Leadership: Lead and hold accountable a team of outsourced facilities engineers, ensuring work is performed to Rivian’s standards for quality, safety, and responsiveness.
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Vendor Management: Manage third-party vendor and contractor relationships, focusing on scheduling preventative maintenance and upholding customer service standards when interacting with corporate staff.
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Operational Prioritization: Act as the central intake for all facility maintenance requests; triaging and prioritizing the daily ticket flow and ongoing maintenance to ensure resources are directed toward the highest-priority needs.
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Executive & Stakeholder Liaison: Serve as the primary point of contact for Palo Alto-based leaders and executives, providing clear and professional updates on facility maintenance status and managing expectations.
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Strategic Oversight: Provide high-level management for all maintenance and repair activities, leveraging technical knowledge to guide engineering teams.
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Internal Communication: Proactively communicate planned outages, maintenance schedules, and facility changes to all staff with clarity and empathy to minimize operational disruption.
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Emergency Response Management: Lead the onsite response for facility emergencies (e.g., power outages, leaks), managing both the technical resolution and the necessary stakeholder communications during and after business hours.
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Site Operations Partnership: Collaborate closely with the broader Site Operations team to maintain a comprehensive, real-time view of all maintenance schedules and repair statuses.
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Budget & Compliance: Assist in the annual facilities operating budget for assigned sites and partner with the Safety team to ensure full code compliance.
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Quality Assurance: Oversee the successful completion of both preventive and corrective maintenance tickets, ensuring all work by external partners meets the required specifications and timelines.
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Landlord Communication: Coordinate essential maintenance, repairs, and services directly with the respective landlords and communicate as needed to ensure these items are properly addressed and maintained.
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Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
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5+ years of experience in facilities management and workplace services
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Project management experience highly preferred
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Upholds a positive, collaborative attitude
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Immense attention to detail
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Excellent communication, organization, and problem-solving skills
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Proficient with Google Workspace and Bluebeam Revu
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A service-oriented personality, self-motivated, confident and energetic
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Ability to be flexible and change practices that are not accomplishing needed results
