---
title: 'Director of Capital Projects at Riverdale Country School'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-of-capital-projects-riverdale-country-school-bronx-172ev832k23f'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Director of Capital Projects at Riverdale Country School

- **Company:** Riverdale Country School
- **Location:** Bronx, NY
- **Compensation:** $150k–$175k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/riverdale/882341ba-ebac-4419-a2e8-e1d94d30b5d3

## Job description

Riverdale Country School is a Pre-K through grade 12 independent school in New York City committed to empowering lifelong learners by developing minds, building character, and creating community in order to change our world for the good. Riverdale seeks to reflect that belonging is the foundational core of community building in how we work collaboratively and support the school’s mission and empowers all community members to thrive in mind, character, and community. Riverdale enrolls about 1,300 students who collectively reside in 117 different zip codes. We seek to employ people who engage in all aspects of work with a student-centered approach, an open mind, passion, and a willingness to support the greater community.

Position Overview

We are seeking an experienced Director of Capital Projects to plan, lead and manage capital projects on behalf of Riverdale Country School.  Current and future capital projects include, but are not limited to, the following:

- New science facility (design in progress; $50M budget)

- New performing arts facility

- Miscellaneous capital projects to support school needs

- Master planning for both the Hill and River Campus and execution of recommendations

The Director will be responsible for helping ensure that these projects are delivered on schedule, within budget, and consistent with the institution’s goals, design requirements, quality standards, and operational needs.

Prior experience managing sizeable capital projects is required. The successful candidate must be highly organized, detail-oriented, comfortable working with multiple stakeholders, and capable of managing complex communication among institutional leadership, board members, owner’s representative, consultants, vendors, and contractors.

This role requires both technical construction knowledge and the judgment to operate in a highly visible environment with senior institutional leadership.

## Key Responsibilities

- Serve as the steward for the institution’s goals around program, priorities, standards, and expectation setting.

- Oversee day-to-day project coordination on behalf of the institution.

- Monitor project schedule, budget, quality, procurement, and construction progress.

- Coordinate regularly with the Head of School, Facilities Committee of the Board of Trustees, Director of Facilities, Development team, owner’s representative, design teams, consultants, and contractors.

- Prepare and manage regular project updates for leadership and relevant committees, including presentations to the Facilities and Finance Committees.

- Participate, often expected to lead, in project meetings, site walks, committee updates, and leadership briefings as needed.

- Work with the owner’s representative and consultants to identify and resolve project issues promptly.

- Track key project milestones, open issues, approvals, risks, and required decisions.

- Work alongside the project team to review project schedules, change orders, payment applications, meeting minutes, and other project documentation associated and required for capital projects.

- Assist in managing overall exposure and project risks, including cost escalation, delays, scope changes, permitting issues, logistics, and campus or operational impacts.

- Gather relevant information to help ensure that decisions are made in a timely manner and that responsibilities are clearly assigned, understanding when to escalate to senior institutional leadership.

- Support communication between construction professionals and non-technical stakeholders, focusing on instruction critical requirements such as cleanliness, security, disruption, and other.

- Serve as the primary facility transition liaison for the school teams to help ensure the project is delivered in a manner that minimizes disruption to school operations.

- Maintain clear records of decisions, approvals, commitments, and action items.

- Understand stakeholder needs and priorities, and lead RFP and evaluation processes to select architects, engineers, and other consultants.

- Plan the process for permitting, community board engagement, approvals, and zoning requirements.

- Work with the owner’s representative to select design team partners, and develop and manage bid processes to select the Construction Manager and relevant subcontractors.

- Continually support value engineering and cost reduction measures throughout preconstruction and design.

Required Qualifications

- Prior experience managing or overseeing sizeable capital projects, preferably projects of similar scale and complexity.

- Experience with capital projects of approximately $50 million or larger strongly preferred, both new construction and renovation.

- Strong understanding of construction project management, project accounting, budgeting, scheduling, procurement, change orders, project closeout, and other workstreams required for capital projects.

- Ability to coordinate effectively with owner’s representatives, architects, engineers, consultants, general contractors, and institutional leadership.

- Strong written and verbal communication skills.

- Ability to prepare clear, concise project updates for senior leadership and board-level stakeholders.

- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.

- Ability to identify risks early and help drive solutions.

- Experience working in a school, nonprofit, institutional, cultural, campus, or mission-driven environment preferred.

- Ability to balance capital project priorities with the operational needs of an active institution.

To apply for this position, please click on the red “Apply for this Job” button. Please submit a resume and cover letter.  If there are pronouns we should use in potential future communications, we invite you to share that information with us.  For information about this position and all open positions, please visit the Careers page of Riverdale’s website.

Benefits of Full Time Work at Riverdale Country School

Working at Riverdale Country School is a purposeful and meaningful career choice that comes with many benefits including:

Transportation: Shuttle service is available to/from the 242nd St / Broadway subway station. Limited stops are also available near transit hubs in Manhattan including the Metro North Harlem Station and subway lines – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R, A, B, C, and D. If there is need in the community, we can also run a shuttle from the Henry Hudson Parkway / 246th St bus stop which connects to the #7, #10, and Express Buses to/from Manhattan.

Professional Development: A generous professional-development budget provides for conferences, skills training, and onsite training in areas such as mindfulness, coaching, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Grants and Stipends: All employees are eligible for Frankel Fellow grants, known as “passion grants,” which pay for enrichment activities. More than 120 grants have been made to faculty and staff since the program started in 2014. Stipends are available for coaching, affinity group facilitation, advising clubs with significant out-of-school time, and chaperoning trips (including global trips!).

Sabbatical:  Full time teaching faculty are eligible for a sabbatical after 10 years of employment.

Health Benefits: Riverdale offers and subsidizes health, dental, and vision insurance.  In addition, the school offers a flexible spending account through which employees can use pre-tax dollars to pay for health-related expenses.

Retirement:  Employees are eligible to join our Defined Contribution retirement plan through TIAA.  The school contributes 7% of an employee's annual salary to their retirement account.

Vacation:  Riverdale Country School has a generous time-off policy for staff in addition to vacations afforded by the school calendar.

## About Riverdale Country School

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Riverdale Country School is an independent, coeducational, Pre-K through Grade 12 day school in New York City that develops minds, builds character, and creates community for lifelong learning.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Independent, Nonprofit School)
- **Headquarters**: Bronx, New York, United States
- **Founded**: 1907
- **Founders**: Frank S. Hackett

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Primary and Secondary Education (Pre-K–12 college-preparatory day school)
- Target customers: Families in the New York City metropolitan area seeking a rigorous, values-driven private school education
- Mission statement: "Empower lifelong learners by developing minds, building character, and creating community in order to change our world for the good."

## Products & Services
- **Lower School (River Campus, PreK–Grade 5)** : Full-day academic program with specialist subjects (STEM, Spanish, arts, physical education) and a homebase structure. Includes associate teaching roles for early-career educators.
- **Middle & Upper School (Hill Campus, Grades 6–12)** : College-preparatory curriculum with advanced coursework, extracurriculars, athletics, and counseling support.
- **Software Solutions Engineering (Technology Department)** : In-house development and integration of Google Cloud‑centric platforms, AI‑enabled solutions, and internal tools to support the school’s academic and administrative operations.
- **Culinary & Campus Services** : Farm‑to‑table dining program led by a Sous Chef and culinary team; grounds maintenance and athletic field preparation.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not applicable (nonprofit educational institution)
- **Key Metric**: Tuition for the 2025‑26 school year is $57,140; the school serves approximately 1,200 students across two campuses covering 27.5 acres.
- **Notable Partners/Affiliations**: Ivy Preparatory School League, New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAISAA)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew ~2.6% year‑over‑year (to 298 employees); the school actively invests in technology (e.g., AI in solutions engineering) and runs a robust professional‑development program.

## Competitive Advantages
- Long‑standing reputation (founded 1907) with deep roots in the Riverdale community.
- Strong commitment to faculty and staff development: generous professional‑development budget, sabbatical after 10 years (half‑year at full pay or full year at half‑pay), and Frankel Fellow (“passion”) grants that have funded more than 120 enrichment projects since 2014.
- Age Smart Employer Award (2018) from the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, recognizing programs that support workers of all ages.
- Attractive physical campus: 27.5 acres in the Bronx with easy access via faculty shuttles from Manhattan and subway stations.

## Strategic Focus
- Embracing technology and artificial intelligence in solutions engineering and classroom practice (as highlighted in the Software Solutions Engineer role).
- Continuous improvement of curricular offerings and community engagement (e.g., lower school STEM integration, global fellows program).
- Maintaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment across hiring and programming.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Collaborative and mission‑driven; employees describe a supportive, innovative atmosphere that values continuous learning and community immersion.
- **Work Policy**: All listed positions are in‑person, full‑time, and operate on a 12‑month schedule (except teaching roles that follow the academic calendar). Shuttle service from Manhattan and nearby transit hubs is provided.
- **Benefits & Perks**: Health/dental/retirement plans, on‑site daycare, yoga, professional‑development conferences and training, sabbatical eligibility, and passion grants. The school also offers stipends for projects beyond regular duties.
- **Engineering/Technology**: The Technology department works with Google Cloud, AI, and modern solutions engineering; mentorship and onboarding are emphasized.

## Sources
1. [Riverdale Careers Page (Lever)](https://jobs.lever.co/riverdale)
2. [Riverdale Country School – Careers Overview](https://www.riverdale.edu/riverdale-careers/)
3. [Riverdale Country School – LinkedIn Company Page](https://linkedin.com/company/riverdalecountryschool)
4. [Riverdale Country School – Indeed Company Page](https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Riverdale-Country-School)
5. [Riverdale Country School – Leadership & Administration](https://www.riverdale.edu/about/whos-who-at-riverdale/)
6. [Riverdale Country School – Homepage](https://riverdale.edu)

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