Director, Buildings

The International Living Future Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to catalyze the transformation toward communities that are culturally rich, socially just and ecologically restorative. ILFI’s flagship program is the Living Building Challenge, the world’s most ambitious and holistic performance standard for resilient, healthy, and green buildings. ILFI offers other certifications, transparency labels, education, and events that enable organizations and individuals to communicate their commitment to a healthier world. 

We believe that the building industry can shift dramatically far faster and more radically than many assume. We also believe that the industry can and should address ecological impact, social impact, health impact and cultural impact as intersecting issues. Living Buildings are beacons for change, data points for skeptics, inspirational stories for young people, and test beds for innovation. We seek to affect change in the building industry by envisioning a Living Future and showing it’s possible to embody that future in practice and policy.

Job Description

The Director, Buildings, serves a key role on the Buildings Group of the International Living Future Institute. The Buildings Group manages all aspects of ILFI’s building scale programs including the creation and maintenance of visionary standards, tools, and resources to push the building industry toward a Living Future. Informed by research, industry feedback, collaborative partnerships, and forward-thinking dialogue, the Buildings Group defines the philosophy, performance goals and metrics, and advocacy frameworks for reaching the highest bar of holistic performance in climate, health, and equity for buildings, products, and organizations within the building industry.  

The Director is specifically responsible for directing the evolution, development, and maintenance of ILFI’s building programs which currently include the Living Building Challenge (LBC), Zero Energy Certification (ZE), and Zero Carbon Certification (ZC). This role requires someone who can think big picture, holistically, and into the future; and someone who can dive into specific details and topics as needed. It requires a broad knowledge base in regenerative design and experience/expertise in program development, project management, partnership buildings, and staff management.

STATUS: Full-time, exempt
REPORTS TO: Vice President, Buildings
LOCATION: Remote within the United States

Job Responsibilities 

Program Development

• Envision and direct periodic updates to and development of ILFI’s building programs including the Standards, Handbooks, and related resources. This includes managing the process of:
  • gathering and incorporating internal and external input and feedback; 
  • developing and managing the scope, timeline, budget, and work plan; 
  • managing staff and consultants assigned to the work; 
  • managing internal cross-team coordination; 
  • drafting, reviewing, and finalizing all written and graphic content
• Understand, integrate, and lead the alignment of concepts and strategies between different regenerative building tools, standards, certifications, and rating systems.
• Lead and support the development of processes, protocols, and guiding principles for Standard and Handbook updates for ILFI building scale programs. 
• Lead and support the development of processes, protocols, and guiding principles for gathering data, input, and feedback on ILFI’s building programs from diverse internal and external stakeholders. 
• Support the development of grant proposals and deliverables as needed to further the evolution of ILFI’s building standards and research. 
• Assist the VP of Buildings, with developing and advancing the long-term vision of ILFI’s Standards.

Innovation, Industry Leadership, and Collaboration

• Manage and support ILFI’s building-related Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) and Technical Advisor leaders. Direct the process to synthesize and incorporate TAGs’ and advisory members’ contributions toward strategic development and continuous improvement of ILFI’s building Standards and related resources.
• Lead a team that stays up-to-date on the latest relevant research, literature, and industry best practices and provides thought leadership on regenerative design, construction, and operations practices in the built environment.
• Manage the research process (including interviews, surveys, literature reviews, and other activities) on topics related to regenerative design, construction, and operations.
• Support the publication and presentation of research results at industry conferences, events, and publications (including ILFI’s blog, Trim Tab) for the purpose of improving the content and understanding of ILFI’s mission, vision, and Standards in the broader industry. 
• Direct and support organizational partnership and collaboration that aligns with ILFI building program initiatives; maintains working relationships, and organizes collaborative projects of mutual interest.

People Management 

• Day-to-day management and support of the program development work team: establishing goals, work planning, performance management, and cross-team coordination.
• Onboarding and training of new team members in collaboration with HR. 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

We know that you may not have all the skills listed below and we encourage you to apply if you meet the majority of the requirements.

• 10+ years of professional experience in architecture, building science, engineering, consulting, or another relevant area.
• Minimum of 2 years experience in a supervisory role.
• Bachelor’s degree in architecture, design, environmental studies, building science, construction management, engineering, or directly related field or equivalent experience.
• Demonstrated familiarity with ILFI’s philosophy, certifications, and labels.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and creating an inclusive work environment.
• Ability to inspire teams to set priorities and meet deadlines, preferably with experience leading and managing people and projects in a remote work environment.
• Ability to travel for work, with travel anticipated for approximately 10% of the position workload
• Ability to work both collaboratively in a team and independently.
• Experience with program development, project management, analytical research, and problem-solving.
• Excellent communication skills (written, oral, and public speaking).
• Comfortable learning new software applications; experience with MacOS, Google Workspace, Asana (or similar), and Salesforce strongly preferred.

Desired Qualifications

• Master’s degree in architecture, building science, engineering, consulting, energy and carbon research, or another relevant area; and/or extensive professional experience beyond the minimum required in a directly related field may be equivalent.
• Experience developing/managing voluntary standards, especially related to buildings or the built environment.
• Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite software applications, specifically Adobe InDesign and Illustrator.
• Living Future Accreditation and/or LEED Accreditation. Employees who are not already Living Future Accredited will be supported in achieving their LFA within one year.

Additional Information

Our mission at the International Living Future Institute is to build a future that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. We are committed to that vision within our organization and work to create a team that is equitable, inclusive, and diverse by hiring and supporting staff from a wide variety of backgrounds. We are committed as an organization to foster better cultural competency, equity, and diversity within our culture and policies and work to support staff in every phase of their career. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the application and interview process. If you require any accommodations, please reach out to us at employment [at] living-future.org.
 
The salary range for this position is $82,343 to $89,987 and is supplemented by ILFI’s generous benefits package that includes employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and dependents as well as employee life insurance, short-term disability, and a 403(b) retirement plan. Annual time off benefits include three weeks of paid annual leave, 12 days of sick leave, 19 days of paid holidays, and paid volunteer time. ILFI offers a collaborative, team-oriented, and mission-driven remote-first workplace with staff distributed across the United States. We offer a $50/month stipend to offset home internet costs. 

• ILFI offers a collaborative, team-oriented and mission-driven remote-first workplace with staff distributed across the United States. We offer a $50/month stipend to offset home internet costs.