Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust and one of New York City’s preeminent office and high-street retail landlords. Vornado’s portfolio is concentrated in the nation’s key market — New York City — comprising approximately 26.7 million square feet in 60 premier properties, including iconic assets such as 1 Penn Plaza, 888 Seventh Avenue, and the PENN District. Vornado is consistently recognized as the industry leader in sustainability, holding the distinction of being the largest owner of LEED-certified property in the United States, with more than 27 million square feet of LEED Gold or higher certification, and has achieved ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year with Sustained Excellence seven times. Through its Vision 2030 program, Vornado is committed to achieving carbon neutrality across its portfolio by 2030. The company’s Board of Directors and senior management regard Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) as among its highest strategic priorities.
Position Summary
The Vice President of Engineering is a senior leadership role with primary accountability for the portfolio-wide deployment of energy management tools and technologies, and for providing expert engineering support to Vornado’s development projects. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President – Chief Sustainability Officer, with management support from the Senior Vice President, Field Operations. This executive drives the implementation and integration of building energy management platforms, automation systems, and data-driven performance tools across Vornado’s approximately 26.7 million square feet of commercial properties, in direct support of the company’s operational optimization strategies including Vision 2030.
This role demands a technically fluent engineering leader with deep expertise in building energy management systems and technology deployment, a strong grasp of development project workflows, and the ability to translate sustainability strategy into scalable, portfolio-wide operational solutions.
Principal Responsibilities
Development Project Support
- Managing all aspects of new construction from conceptualization through completion, acting as Owner's Representative and overseeing design and construction aspects for due diligence on new acquisitions.
- Oversight of Engineering consultants to drive best-in-class design
- Support bid/buy procurement of all MEP/FP/IT trades
- Support trade coordination, construction, testing & commissioning, and turnover to operations
- Review energy modeling results and impacts to LEED or other green building certifications.
- Early-phase MEP design reviews for constructability and operability, so systems are designed to be maintained by Vornado's own team post-occupancy
- Value engineering participation, commissioning oversight, and smooth construction-to-operations handover with full documentation transfer
- Supporting the leasing team during lease negotiation and managing the successful completion and close-out of construction projects to ensure tenant occupancy.
Existing Building Improvement Identification & Capital Planning
- Systematic MEP condition assessments across the portfolio to identify aging or end-of-life equipment
- Supporting and/or managing all aspects of major renovation projects from conceptualization through completion, acting as Owner's Representative and overseeing design and construction aspects for due diligence on new acquisitions.
- Manage a portfolio-wide retro-commissioning (ReCx) program — retro-commissioning is performed on existing buildings to bring them back to the functionality of the original design intent, or even better, while identifying energy conservation measures with strong payback periods.
- A rolling five-year capital improvement plan prioritized by code compliance urgency, equipment risk, energy savings, and Vision 2030 alignment
- Piloting emerging smart building technologies and measuring post-project performance to validate returns
Portfolio-Wide Energy Management
- Lead the end-to-end deployment of portfolio-wide energy management systems and technologies — including BMS/EMS platforms, interval data analytics, and AI-driven optimization tools — across all assets in Vornado’s portfolio.
- Define and manage a portfolio-wide energy management tool roadmap: evaluate, select, procure, configure, and continuously improve energy software and hardware platforms in coordination with IT, sustainability, and property management teams.
- Establish and track key performance indicators for energy management tool deployments; report progress against energy reduction, decarbonization, and Vision 2030 targets to the CSO and senior leadership on a regular cadence.
- Partner closely with the Chief Sustainability Officer to align engineering operations with Vornado’s Vision 2030 carbon neutrality roadmap, Science Based Targets, and portfolio-wide energy and decarbonization commitments.
- Plan and drive adoption of energy efficiency, decarbonization, and smart building technology programs across the portfolio to manage utility costs and support greenhouse gas reduction goals.
- Manage the Energy Manager and determine job responsibilities including Local Law compliance for BPS.
- Manage submeter system, incentive programs and management of demand response programs, with support from Energy Manager
- Ensure engineering operations support and sustain Vornado’s LEED, ENERGY STAR, GRESB, and Fitwel certifications across the portfolio.
- Champion the transition from preventive to predictive maintenance strategies, leveraging data analytics and IoT-enabled building systems to reduce energy consumption and operational costs.
Engineering Operations Leadership
- Support the SVP, Field Operations with executive oversight of engineering service activities across the portfolio, including interface with corporate personnel, compliance with all performance specifications, and achievement of quantitative cost savings and qualitative customer service objectives.
Financial & Capital Management
- Own the operating and capital budgets for engineering projects where VP is responsible for the projects and performance; provide input and justification to annual operating plans and multi-year capital infrastructure plans for assigned assets.
- Develop cost and energy savings estimates to inform payback analysis to justify improvements and/or energy conservation measures.
- Measure, monitor, and report to the CSO the cost savings and value-add contributions of the engineering team on a regular basis.
Technology, Systems & Compliance
- Ensure all assets leverage building management systems (BMS) and platforms such as ANGUS to track, optimize, and report on building performance across the portfolio.
- Support the SVP, Field Operations in overseeing the review and implementation of third-party maintenance reports; establishing standards for document retention, including drawings, schematics, equipment manuals, and warranty documents.
- Provide oversight and direction on the development, commissioning, and close-out of critical infrastructure projects, ensuring proper documentation archiving.
Stakeholder Engagement & Strategic Planning
- Serve as the primary engineering liaison to Development, and Capital Markets and as a resource to Portfolio and Property Management teams and Leasing teams; foster strong cross-functional relationships.
- Provide input and support to strategic planning initiatives; work with Portfolio Property Managers to identify portfolio-wide savings and operational improvement opportunities.
- Participate in regional and portfolio-level planning processes to develop and execute engineering strategies aligned with Vornado’s corporate objectives.
- Represent Vornado in professional and community organizations relevant to building engineering, sustainability, and real estate operations.
Qualifications & Experience
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field required.
- Advanced degree (M.S. or M.Eng.) in engineering, facilities management, or a related discipline preferred.
- Minimum two-year technical degree in HVAC, electrical engineering, or related field may be considered in lieu of a four-year degree when combined with exceptional industry experience.
- Professional Engineer (P.E.) license required.
Experience
- 12+ years of progressive engineering and facilities management experience, with a minimum of 8 years in commercial real estate (office and/or mixed-use).
- 6+ years of senior supervisory experience, including direct management of senior engineering staff, or multi-building engineering teams.
- Demonstrated experience managing engineering operations for a large, complex, mixed-use urban portfolio in New York City or comparable market.
- Extensive experience in union environments, including direct management of collective bargaining agreements and union relations.
- Strong background in sustainability and energy management programs, including experience supporting LEED, ENERGY STAR, and GRESB certification processes.
- Proven track record managing multi-million dollar capital and operating budgets for engineering services.
Technical Skills & Knowledge
- Comprehensive expertise in commercial building HVAC, electrical, plumbing, life safety/fire protection, and building automation systems.
- Hands-on knowledge of critical systems including emergency/standby generators, automatic transfer switches (ATS), uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, and power distribution.
- Technical proficiency in building management systems (BMS), ANGUS or equivalent CMMS platforms, and life safety systems.
- Working knowledge of NYC Local Law 97 carbon emission compliance requirements, NYC DOB, Building Construction Codes, FDNY, and DEP regulatory frameworks.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and project management tools.
- Ability to read and interpret architectural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing drawings, specifications, and technical documents.
The starting base salary for this New York position is expected to be between $250,000 to $300,000 annually. Actual salary will be determined based on skills, experience (to the extent relevant) and other job-related factors, consistent with applicable law.
Vornado Realty Trust is not offering relocation for this position based in New York, NY.
Vornado Realty Trust is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, or status as a qualified individual with a disability.
