City of Palo Alto

  • Facilities Manager (Public Works)

  • City of Palo Alto
  • Palo Alto, California United States View Map

Job Description

Description

This recruitment is being conducted by Berkeley Search Consultants.

You can view the recruitment brochure and submit your application directly onBerkeley Search Consultants website.
The City
 Incorporated over 125 years ago with a staff of 1,110 full-time employees, an adopted budget of $1.03 Billion (2026), and is headed by City Manager Ed Shikada. The government of the City of Palo Alto exists to promote and sustain a superior quality of life in Palo Alto. In partnership with the community, their goal is to deliver cost-effective services in a personal, responsive, and innovative manner. Our values consist of:
• Quality: Superior delivery of services
• Courtesy: Providing service with respect and concern
• Efficiency: Productive, effective use of resources
• Integrity: Straight-forward, honest, and fair relations
• Innovation: Excellence in creative thought and implementation.

The city operates five libraries, 4,000+ acres of parks, preserves, and open spaces, a junior museum and zoo, an art center, three large community centers, a Municipal Golf Course, and 471 miles of streets, reflecting its c ommunity-oriented ethos. The city is governed by a seven-member elected City Council and an appointed City Manager.

The Department
The Public Works Department’s Public Services Division supports the reliable delivery of essential City services. Within the division, the Facilities team is responsible for the operation, maintenance, repair, security, and improvement of a diverse portfolio that includes public safety facilities, libraries, community and recreation centers, administrative offices, and other buildings supporting essential operations.

The Facilities Manager leads a facilities operations team of approximately 16 employees and directly oversees a Project Manager and an Engineering Technician. An extensive network of contractors and consultants supplements the team with specialized expertise in maintenance, inspections, building systems, and project delivery.

About the Position
The City of Palo Alto seeks an experienced Facilities Manager to lead a comprehensive municipal facilities program. Reporting to the Assistant Director of Public Works for Public Services, this position provides strategic leadership for facilities operations, contract maintenance, capital maintenance planning, and service delivery across the City.

The Facilities Manager will balance a demanding flow of day-to-day issues and contract activity with a broader, forward-looking approach to the City’s facilities portfolio. The position leads a talented team, manages an extensive contractor network, serves as a key Public Works partner to City departments, and works closely with the Engineering Services Division to plan and prioritize larger facility investments.

This opportunity calls for a leader who understands facilities operations and building systems, communicates well across departments, and can translate operational needs into sound priorities and long-term plans. The ability to connect maintenance, capital planning, energy performance, and the City’s Sustainability and Climate Action Plan (S/CAP) goals will be especially valuable.

The Ideal Candidate
Palo Alto seeks a practical, credible facilities leader who can manage immediate operational demands while elevating the program’s strategic focus. The ideal candidate will combine broad technical knowledge with well-developed people, contract, and project management skills and understand how to translate facility needs into sound budgets, scopes, contracts, schedules, and decisions.

The successful candidate will be visible, calm, collaborative, and comfortable serving as a key representative of Public Works across the organization. This individual will communicate clearly, set expectations, support and develop employees, create opportunities for internal growth, address performance issues directly and fairly, and earn trust across departments. Sound judgment, follow-through, and organizational awareness will be essential.

This role is well suited to someone who can move comfortably between day-to-day service priorities and long-term facilities planning. The next Facilities Manager will provide clear direction, strengthen coordination among staff, contractors, departments, and Engineering Services, and bring genuine interest to energy performance, electrification, and other forward-looking City goals.

Salary range for this position is $127,150 to $190,736 annually . ; salary supplemented by attractive benefits.

First review of applications will be on Monday, November 30, 2026.
The City of Palo Alto reserves the right to close this posting once a sufficient number of applications have been received.

To be considered for this opportunity, upload a compelling cover letter and resume using the "Apply Now" feature at Berkeley Search Consultants.

Contact for Questions

Amanda Kreller, Director, Executive Search
Phone: 510-898-9313
Email: akreller@berkeleysearch.com

See our Benefits at a Glance Bookletfor more details.
Learn more about our Compensation Plan HERE.

Closing Date/Time: Continuous
City of Palo Alto

City of Palo Alto

650-329-2376

The Community


The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, is a community of approximately 68,000 residents and nearly 100,000 jobs. Located on the mid-Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technology, medicine, and green innovation. The community's treelined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage, and, at the same time, many world-class businesses maintain or started offices here, such as Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Amazon, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Houzz, Rivian, SAP and SAP Ariba, Tesla, and Varian Medical Systems. Numerous start-ups are also at home in Palo Alto, arguably making it the start-up capital of the world. Stanford University is foundational to the history and prestige of Palo Alto, reflected in the community's dedication to lifelong learning. Stanford's cultural and educational offerings are integral to the vibrancy and charm of Palo Alto, while the City's exceptional K-12 school district ranks among the top public-school systems in the country. With more than 50% of adult residents holding a graduate degree or higher, Palo Alto is frequently listed as one of the most educated cities in the nation. Palo Alto boasts a genuine sense of community and an active citizenry with strong environmental values. Beautiful neighborhoods are complemented by vibrant commercial corridors and a bustling economy featuring premium shopping and dining options. Excellent healthcare facilities, performing arts, and diverse recreational opportunities are some of the community's incredibly desirable and cherished amenities. To learn more, visit https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Manager/Latest-News

City Government

Palo Alto is a full-service charter city with a council-manager form of government. The seven-member City Council is elected at large, and the City Council annually selects the Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its members. The Mayor and City Council appoint the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor. The City Manager is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the City. Palo Alto is organized into 15 departments/offices with 1,093.10 authorized positions in FY 2025. There is also a FY 2025 capital budget of $316.2 million. Palo Alto owns and operates its own utilities, including electricity (carbon-neutral), gas, water, wastewater, and an expanding fiber network. This dynamic municipal environment ensures an ever-engaging platform for unique problem-solving and advances new initiatives, including sustainability, broadband, and effective service delivery. Community assets also include five libraries, 36 parks, five community centers, a museum and zoo, youth centers, a general aviation airport, an 18-hole golf course, a regional water treatment plant, and wildland open space preserves at the San Francisco Bay and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains offering 41 miles of walking/biking trails in addition to its police, fire, and ambulance services. Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, and the City's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals are part of what sets it apart. Since the City's first Climate Protection Plan was passed in 2007, Palo Alto has set goals that exceed State and Federal targets. Today, the City's goal to reduce emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 (the "80x30" goal) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 guides sustainability efforts. An award-winning City, Palo Alto is recognized nationally as innovative and well-managed. City services and performance also receive impressive marks from community members in the Palo Alto Community Survey.

Many of those ratings put City programs and services in the highest percentiles among the hundreds of benchmark cities. Palo Alto makes decisions through comprehensive processes and proactively seeks to involve its extremely informed, educated, and engaged residents. Projects are naturally a cooperative effort among the City Council, Boards, Commissions, Committees, engaged residents, neighborhoods, businesses, property owners, and staff.

Join an Award Winning Team 

Palo Alto is an award-winning City recognized nationwide as innovative and well-managed. Palo Alto is one of a small number of California cities with a AAA bond rating. Recently, Palo Alto became one of the most livable cities in the U.S. by Livability.com. It's the only city to receive the Platinum Beacon Award in sustainability best practices by California’s Institute for Local Government. We offer a variety of career paths that relate to building and improving communities. The City has fourteen departments employing 1,000 full-time staff. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and building inspectors keep us safe. Engineers and public works staff build and re-build the physical infrastructure. City planners help envision and shape future community growth. Recreation, arts and library professionals enhance community life. Utilities provides electric, gas, water, sewer and other services. Internal services departments help manage, staff, and protect the City.

Want to learn more about our benefits? Learn more by reviewing our "Benefits at a Glance Booklet."

Contact Us

Phone: 650-329-2376   

Email: Recruit@paloalto.gov   

Location: City Hall, 1st Floor | 250 Hamilton Ave 94301 | View Map

 

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