About the Norton Museum of Art:
Founded in 1941 by Ralph Hubbard Norton and his wife Elizabeth Calhoun Norton, the Norton Museum of Art is Florida’s largest art museum, renowned for its distinguished collection. The Norton Museum of Art welcomes visitors to experience the transformative power of art through intimate and creative encounters with wide-ranging collections and programs of the highest quality. With holdings spanning Contemporary, Early European, Modern, and Asian Art, as well as Photography, the Norton serves as a cherished institution within its community.
Our Commitments:
To uphold our mission and ensure the Norton’s relevance to our community, we are dedicated to the following principles:
- Art: We celebrate and share excellence in the arts in all its forms.
- Audience: We cultivate meaningful dialogues and relationships with a diverse and inclusive audience.
- Ambassadors: Our employees, Trustees, volunteers, and partners are the vital links connecting Art and Audience.
- Foundations: We are committed to preserving the Norton’s fiscal and physical legacy for future generations.
Position Summary:
Reporting to the Director of Facilities & Operations Logistics, the Facilities Manager oversees the maintenance and operation of the museum’s buildings, grounds, and infrastructure. This includes the main museum building—with its full-service restaurant and kitchen—as well as several ancillary residential properties. The Facilities Manager ensures that all facilities are well maintained, fully functional, and aligned with the museum’s mission to provide exceptional experience for visitors, staff, and collections.
This role is responsible for daily building operations, preventive maintenance, and coordination of repairs involving mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and environmental systems to ensure optimal conditions for both people and artworks. The Facilities Manager also supervises the maintenance team, fostering high performance and productivity, and collaborates closely with the Housekeeping and Gardening teams to uphold the overall appearance and condition of the museum campus to the highest standards.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
Building Operations & Maintenance:
- The manager responds to emergency requests, manages maintenance programs, coordinates with vendors, monitors energy consumption for conservation, and ensures compliance with building codes and safety standards. Specifically,
- Oversee the maintenance and repair of museum facilities, ancillary properties, and parking lots, including HVAC, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, lighting, and life safety systems.
- Oversee maintenance of HVAC system, including chillers, boilers, cooling towers and air handlers, complying with system maintenance requirements as recommended by HVAC control specifications and climate control parameters.
- Monitor Metasys (building automation system) workstation and provide trend reports on a weekly basis and maintain archive of trends.
- Monitor the backup generator and pump operations to ensure efficiency.
- Maintain proper inventory of equipment, tools and supplies.
- Assist with the overall maintenance of the parking lot and residential properties.
- Coordinate the purchase of all maintenance supplies in accordance with Museum purchasing procedures.
- Conduct periodic assessments of the electrical panels and lighting systems.
- Implement and manage preventive maintenance schedules for building systems (Metasys, Trane, Hiperweb) to ensure optimal building performance.
- Coordinate building access, security systems, and fire safety compliance in collaboration with Security and Operations teams.
- Perform and/or direct all on-going maintenance such as painting, light carpentry, plumbing, minor electrical, light bulb replacement, appliance repairs, window wash, pressure wash and other routine repairs.
- Maintain documentation of building systems, warranties, maintenance records, and vendor lists.
Event Support
- Collaborate with the Event Logistics team to prepare museum spaces for public programs, private rentals, and special events as needed.
- Assist with setup, breakdown, and coordination of facility systems, including lighting, HVAC, audio-visual equipment, and accessibility accommodations.
- Ensure safety, security, and smooth operations during events, responding promptly to any facility-related issues.
Environmental and Collections Support
- Ensure that temperature, humidity, and lighting levels in galleries and storage areas meet museum conservation standards.
- Work closely with Curatorial, Registrar, and Exhibition and Design teams to monitor and adjust environmental systems as needed.
- Support exhibition installations and special projects requiring facility modifications or infrastructure adjustments.
Vendor & Contractor Management
- Manage relationships with external service providers, contractors, and vendors for maintenance needs.
- Solicit bids, review proposals, and ensure work is completed to specifications, budget, and safety standards.
Health, Safety & Compliance
- Ensure compliance with all local, state, and federal building codes, OSHA regulations, and environmental health and safety standards.
- Lead emergency preparedness and response planning related to building systems, weather events, and facility incidents.
- Conduct regular safety inspections and risk assessments.
Leadership & Supervision
- Supervise facilities staff, including maintenance technicians and contractors. This includes directing, scheduling, assigning tasks, and monitoring performance.
- Train, coach evaluate team members and assist in the hiring process.
- Foster a culture of teamwork accountability, and excellence in facility care.
Administration
- Develop and update standard operating procedures (SOPs) in coordination with the Director.
- Prepare reports as needed.
- Assist the Director with monitoring budgeted maintenance expenditures and explain variances.
- Maintain logs and work orders.
- Assist with space planning.
- Develop and maintain a master list and map of the facility to assist with trouble shooting issues that may arise.
Other duties may be assigned.
Requirements & Qualifications:
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Facilities Management, Engineering, Architecture, ore related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- 5+ years progressive experience in commercial building operations or facilities management, preferable in a cultural, museum, or institutional environment.
- Demonstrated experience managing building systems (HVAC, electrical, mechanical, plumbing).
Skills & Abilities
- Strong technical knowledge of building systems (Trane, Metasys aka Johnson Controls, and Hiperweb are preferred) and preventive maintenance practices.
- Familiarity with museum standards for environmental control and collections care (e.g., AAM standards) preferred
- Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and communication skills.
- Proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities effectively.
- Proficiency with facilities management software and Microsoft Office.
- Ability to operate general maintenance equipment, including drills, saws, hand tools, table saw, drill press, ladders/lifts, motorized/manual forklifts, vacuum cleaners, extractor, buffer, wet mop, and brooms in a safe and efficient manner.
Physical Requirements
- Ability to stand, walk, climb ladders, lift up to 50 lbs. as needed.
- Available for after-hours emergencies or maintenance calls as required.
Additional Information
This position is full-time and may require occasional evening or weekend work to support museum events, installations, or emergencies.
Hours & Compensation :
Monday-Friday 9am-5pm, occasional nights, weekends and on-call as needed.
Full-Time, Exempt
Compensation: Commensurate with experience
Location Requirements:
At the time of employment, employees are expected to be located within reasonable commuting distance of the museum. Commuting Distance means they are located in South Florida, and able to commute to and from the Museum in a single day.
- Museum Location: 1450 South Dixie Hwy, West Palm Beach, FL 33413
Benefits Offerings:
The museum provides competitive compensation and generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees. Note: Benefits may differ based on employment status.
- Medical, Dental, Vision, Worksite plans & Additional Life Insurance
- Basic Life Insurance and AD&D, employer paid
- Short-term Disability Insurance, employer paid
- Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts
- 401(k) retirement plan and 2% employer match
- Considerable paid time off, plus 4 additional discretionary days, and 9 recognized holidays
- Flex Work options; hybrid & flexible schedule after an employee’s 90-day probationary period. NOTE: FlexWork is not suitable for all positions.
- 20% discount for staff in the Museum store
- 10% discount at The Restaurant
- Membership to the ROAM Museum network
How to Apply:
Note: Nothing in this job description restricts management’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.
Norton Museum of Art is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. Norton Museum of Art makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.
