If you have the ability to solve complex spatial issues, working as a facilities planner could be your ideal position. As a facilities planner, you’ll serve as the resident design expert of an organization. You’ll make recommendations for best possible uses of space, helping to ensure employees at your organization are working in the most efficient manner.

Skill Set

As a facilities planner, you have in-depth knowledge of the construction process, and understand building codes, documents, blueprints and other relevant industry documents. You’re an effective communicator and can easily explain building practices and procedures, even to those with no industry experience. You have a solid grasp on safety practices and are dedicated to incorporating them into your everyday work space. You’re also tech savvy, with the ability to operate a computer and learn complex software programs.

Primary Responsibilities

A facilities planner is tasked with helping an organization resolve space planning issues. In this position, you’ll be analyzing a company’s office building, to determine the most efficient use of space. You’ll provide options for ways to improve existing space and if necessary, recommendations for new locations. This can include ideas such as moving departments around to other areas of the building to make better use of space. You’ll conduct periodic building audits to ensure that layouts, employee work spaces and furniture location are correct, updating documents accordingly. You may also be responsible for ensuring that a work space is properly set up for each new hire, finding the employee a place to work and ordering proper equipment prior to her arrival.

Additional Tasks

You may be responsible for administrative tasks such as helping to coordinate department moves, planning meetings, and creating move-related work orders. You may be required to own employee occupancy documents, continuously updating data such as number of employees, vacant work spaces and other pertinent facility information (two). Periodically, you may also be tasked with reviewing real estate contracts to ensure the building meets compliance standards.

Education and Other Requirements

To be hired as a facilities planner, you’ll typically need to have a bachelor’s degree in architecture, interior design or a relevant technical field. Knowledge of planning software like CAFM and AutoCAD is particularly valuable.