Stanford Law School

Jason Estacio

Jason Estacio is the Director of Facilities and Operations at Stanford Law School. He has managed the complexities of higher education facilities and operations for 21 years. Jason’s experience and early background have significantly contributed to his development as an effective leader.

He shared his valuable insights for the 2025 edition of Education Insider. These insights offer valuable guidance and foresight based on his experience in the industry.

1. Strong Foundation for Career Growth

My path to this role was a unique blend of formal training and hands-on experience. While my early background was in loss prevention and auditing, I've always been mechanically inclined—an aptitude I developed from a young age working with my father on cars and home construction. This foundation proved invaluable when I took over the facilities department in a previous role.

I immersed myself in the work by shadowing technicians, treating each investigation and repair as a practical education on building systems. To build upon this field experience, I completed the IFMA FMP training, which provided the operational and business framework to complement my practical knowledge.

This combination of skills allowed me to advance steadily. When my predecessor left Stanford Law School, my proven track record and comprehensive understanding of both the technical and business sides of facilities management led the CFO to appoint me to the interim Director position and then ultimately promoted me to Director.

2. An effective leadership approach

My hands-on problem-solving mindset is the foundation of how I lead facilities and operations projects. I believe you cannot effectively manage buildings from behind a desk, so I make it a priority to walk the spaces, observe how they're used, and speak directly with faculty, staff, students, and technicians. This on-theground approach allows me to gather crucial, real-time feedback on everything from environmental conditions to spatial layout, ensuring our operational decisions are grounded in the experience of our community.

“I believe that you cannot effectively manage buildings from behind a desk, so I make it a priority to walk the spaces, observe how they're used, and speak directly with faculty, staff, students, and technicians.”

This mindset is especially critical when leading large-scale construction or renovation projects. While an architect provides a design, my role is to ensure a balanced vision with the practical needs of the people who will use the space every day. By integrating direct user feedback into the planning process, I help find the optimal balance between aesthetics and function, ultimately delivering spaces that are beautiful and operationally efficient and truly serve the needs of the Stanford Law School community.

3. Building Strong Teams through Versatile Hiring

The most effective practice for building strong, efficient facilities and operations teams is hiring versatile, well-balanced individuals. Given the broad nature of our work—spanning everything from data-driven space management, academic classroom management, coordinating maintenance, and event setup—it's critical to find people who can bridge both worlds. The ideal employee can analyze information effectively and is willing and able to perform practical, physical tasks. This versatility forms the foundation of a team that can handle diverse day-to-day operations, enhanced by fostering a culture of continuous learning where knowledge is actively shared between all team members.

For high-stakes projects, exceptional leadership is essential. Because no project unfolds perfectly, you need a leader who is a strong communicator and team-builder. This person must be able to unite different groups and make quick, sound decisions to solve inevitable problems. Since success depends on coordinated team effort rather than individual performance, leadership navigates challenges, keeps projects moving forward, and holds the team together under pressure.

4. Guiding Principles for Success

The most critical principle to balance construction deadlines, capital planning, and cost control is comprehensive upfront planning. This means investing significant time initially to discuss with stakeholders, plan thoroughly, and verify all details before moving forward. This approach is especially important when working with older buildings where as-builts don't always match reality, requiring extra diligence to avoid costly surprises during construction. By dedicating time to this planning phase, potential issues are identified and resolved early, ultimately saving time and money while ensuring projects stay on schedule.

Equally important is building strong partnerships with the right professionals who share your commitment to functionality and quality. This means working with architects who prioritize delivering functional designs that meet the university community's actual needs rather than focusing on portfolio pieces. It also requires partnering with contractors who can engage early in the process and have strong engineering teams capable of thoroughly reviewing drawings for accuracy and conflicts. While this thorough vetting process is time-consuming initially, it significantly reduces change orders and increases the likelihood of on-time completion, ultimately delivering high-quality results within budget and timeline constraints.

5. Challenges that Require Urgent Rethinking

Budget constraints emerge as the most critical challenge demanding urgent attention in higher education facilities management. Unlike sustainability initiatives, which can be developed progressively over time, or space limitations that allow for strategic planning solutions, budget cuts create immediate operational disruptions that cannot be delayed or phased in gradually. The ripple effects are severe: reduced capital investment, workforce reductions, and increased operational demands on remaining staff create a dangerous imbalance between resources and responsibilities.

What makes budget pressures particularly urgent is their direct conflict with the continuous nature of academic operations. Research projects, maintenance, classroom needs, and student services operate on schedules that cannot accommodate reduced capacity, yet facilities teams are expected to maintain the same level of support with fewer people and resources. This mismatch requires immediate strategic intervention to redesign operational models, prioritize critical functions, and develop more efficient management approaches. While sustainability and space challenges can be addressed through long-term planning, budget constraints threaten the immediate ability of universities to fulfill their core educational and research missions.

6. Advice to the Future Leaders

As someone who has navigated the complexities of higher education facilities and operations for 21 years, my advice is simple: you absolutely have to love what you do. Working in higher education isn't easy—you'll encounter politics, egos, and endless red tape—but it's incredibly rewarding when you're passionate about supporting the academic mission. The key to making a lasting impact is evaluating everything through the eyes of your users. We're not the students spending their entire day on campus or the professors struggling with new technology. Take the time to truly understand their experiences and challenges, because that's what will drive meaningful change.

To be effective, you need to know your buildings inside and out and build a well-balanced team that isn't singularly focused on just one area. Embrace the technology tools available to you— AI, databases, and other systems that can make your work more effective and efficient. The complexity of institutional demands can be overwhelming, but when you maintain a user-centric approach, leverage diverse expertise, and use data-driven tools strategically, you'll find ways to navigate even the most challenging situations while creating environments where learning and discovery can truly flourish.