Facilities & Maintenance Director

About the Sawdust Art Festival

Located in the heart of Laguna Beach, the Sawdust Art Festival is a premier non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and sustaining our vibrant local artist community. Operating on a beautiful multi-acre property featuring eucalyptus groves, waterfalls, and beloved handcrafted structures, we host over 200,000 visitors annually across our iconic Summer Festival and Winter Fantasy events. We are a dynamic, hands-on environment where creativity meets complex logistics—supporting over 180 exhibiting artists, booking over 100 musical acts, and managing high-volume hospitality operations. We thrive on teamwork and excellence, offering a unique workplace where your hard work directly builds the magic of the festival experience every single day.

We are seeking an enthusiastic, self-driven Facilities & Maintenance Director to lead the operations, maintenance, and strategic vision of our multi-acre property. This is a multifaceted "Working Director" role. You will balance hands-on light construction (framing, carpentry, electrical) and general maintenance with high-level administrative duties, including spearheading a massive 5-to-7-year capital improvement project. You will work shoulder-to-shoulder with a lean off-season crew to build seasonal structures, then shift gears during the summer to manage a larger seasonal staff.

Location: Laguna Beach, CA
Type: Full-time
Reports to: General Manager
Direct Reports: 3 to 10
Hours: 40 hours per week, with flexibility of start/end times. Seasonal needs may shift the work week/schedule. Must be able to work OT when needed.
Status: Non-Exempt
Hiring Range: $40.50 to $46.00 per hour

Key Responsibilities & Construction Duties

• Strategic CapEx Planning: Act as the primary project manager for a multi-year property overhaul, including rebuilding permanent structures and overhauling underground piping and cabling.
• Hands-On Construction: Work actively with the year-round crew to physically build out Towne Square and other seasonal infrastructure (fencing, gazebos, light posts).
• Site Maintenance: Monitor and perform routine maintenance on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems, ensuring compliance with ADA accessibility standards and safety protocols.
• Vendor Management: Negotiate and coordinate routine inspections and emergency repairs with outside vendors, including primary landscaping and tree trimming contracts, standpipes, fire extinguishers, hoods, and more.
• Attention to Detail: Take pride in the small details of the customer experience, from clean landscaping, keeping up on cobwebs, tables are clean, water stations are always operable, touch-up paint taken care of immediately, etc.
• Project and Task Management: From regular maintenance needs to specific projects, keep active lists of tasks in progress, calendared, or waiting to be calendared or budgeted.

Leadership & Staff Management

• Team Leadership: Direct the year-round maintenance crew, proactively developing a friendly, energetic, and detail-oriented team environment.
• Seasonal Scaling: Oversee the daily direction of the seasonal workforce responsible for high-volume site cleaning, trash mitigation, and restroom sanitization for 200,000 annual visitors.
• Administrative Oversight: Manage department schedules and time-tracking via Paycom, track project budgets, and create clear maintenance reports for executive leadership.
• Ownership: Collaborate with the general manager on large, strategic projects and plans, but own the regular, annual cycle duties and responsibilities of the department. Be proactive and embody a continuous improvement mindset.