Facilities Manager

We’re Blue River, a team of innovators driven to create intelligent machinery that solves monumental problems for our customers. We empower our customers – farmers, construction crews, and foresters - to implement safer and more sustainable solutions, driving increased profitability with less reliance on scarce labor. We believe that focusing on the small stuff – pixel-by-pixel and task-by-task - leads to big gains. 

Blue River Technology aligns with John Deere’s vision to “innovate on behalf of humanity” by quickly identifying and solving high-value, high-uncertainty challenges in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics. BRT acts as a research and development flywheel, building not only new products but also new platforms that reliably create value for both Deere and its customers. From fully autonomous machines to highly precise farming equipment, BRT and Deere are partnering to create technical breakthroughs in industries like agriculture and construction. 

Our people are at the heart of what we do. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, this mission-driven team is eager to define the new frontier of robotics. We are constantly asking hard questions, rapidly iterating, and getting our boots in the field to figure it out. We won’t give up until we’ve made a tangible and positive impact on the planet!

This role is an on-site position at the Santa Clara office of Blue River Technology, located in Santa Clara, CA.

Summary

The Facilities Manager is responsible for the effective management of day-to-day and long-term facility management for Blue River Technology’s Santa Clara office. This role is crucial in ensuring seamless operations, maintaining employee safety, and fostering a positive office experience for our teams. This position reports to the Sr Manager, Facilities and Test Site Operations. This role is an on-site position at the Santa Clara office of Blue River Technology, located in Santa Clara, CA.

Job Responsibilities

The primary job responsibilities include the following: 

• Facility Management:
  • Proactively oversee and enhance the Santa Clara office building, overseeing space management and planning, ensuring a clean, safe, and positive work environment for our employees. This includes supervising hotel desks, shared areas, kitchens, restrooms, garages, workshops, labs, parking lots, and other facilities.  
  • Provide excellent customer support to Blue River Technology employees and teams by proactively collecting and resolving their facility requests and tickets in a timely, responsive manner.
  • Manage building services for the Santa Clara office, i.e., janitorial, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and interior plant maintenance.
  • Building maintenance: oversee the maintenance and repairs of the facility, including routine inspections and preventive maintenance.
  • Project/construction management: oversee all facilities-related projects, especially any new construction or installation, ensuring the project team has a viable project plan, accurate cost estimates, etc. 
  • Vendor management: ensure compliance and management of vendor contracts, including adherence to contract terms and performance standards.
  • Management of food and beverage suppliers for the cafeteria and kitchens, ensuring snacks and drinks are appropriately stocked.
  • Lead and mentor direct report(s), providing guidance and support to ensure high performance and professional growth.
• Safety & Security:
  • Ensure the safety of the facility and its occupants, including maintaining fire protection systems, emergency generators, and elevators.
  • Perform daily facility walkarounds to identify potential environmental and workplace hazards, program deficiencies, and liabilities, and work with the appropriate personnel to correct and improve.
  • Perform monthly safety audits in all lab areas to identify potential environmental and workplace hazards, program deficiencies, and liabilities, and work with the appropriate personnel to correct and improve.
  • Responsible for hosting Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Fire Department site inspections, and maintenance of associated records.
  • Ensure the facility complies with local, state, and federal regulations, including environmental and safety programs.
  • Maintain regular communication and a collaborative working relationship with John Deere Security and the John Deere security liaison.
  • Responsible for reporting EHS metrics into the appropriate John Deere systems.
• Financial Management: 
  • Budgeting: proactively manage the facility's budget and staffing.
  • Conduct monthly cost analyses on facility operations to identify opportunities for savings and efficiency improvements.
• Other responsibilities:
  • Collaborate with other BRT support functions (e.g., IT, People, Finance) in a productive, customer-centric manner.
  • Ensure service requests are submitted in accordance with established procedures (Jira).
  • Office furniture program management.
  • Refuge and recycling program management, including e-waste management.
  • Administer the company-owned bicycle program.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Experience and Skills

• 7 or more years of experience managing facilities operations.
• Customer-focused attitude with a high level of professionalism.
• In-depth understanding of CA local, state, and federal standards and regulations pertaining to the operations of a facility and relevant environmental, health, and safety practices and policies.
• Experience with planning and maintaining facility budgets, contract handling, and contract negotiation.
• Sound judgment and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Certified Facility Manager (CFM) credential, or equivalent.

At Blue River, we’re passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity.  While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we’re investing in our programs, including recruiting, mentorship, career development, and learning & development to ensure they support our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. We support each employee in living a full life, enabling a thriving career, and accomplishing a meaningful, challenging mission while collaborating with incredible people. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align completely with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation. 

The US annual base salary range for this position is $133,000 - $199,000, along with eligibility for Blue River’s bonus and benefit programs.

Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process. During the recruitment process, we may identify an alternative role or level to which you are more suited. If your ideal role at Blue River differs from the advertised position, we will provide an updated pay range as soon as possible during the hiring process.

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