Vice President Construction
An established commercial construction organization is seeking a Vice President of Construction to lead the performance, capability and long-term development of its construction operations. This executive will oversee the project portfolio, strengthen operational discipline, develop construction leaders and ensure projects are delivered safely, profitably and to a consistently high standard.
This is a portfolio leadership role, not a position intended to become the default troubleshooter for every project. The successful candidate will establish the leadership structure, operating standards and accountability required for project teams to own execution while providing decisive executive oversight where risk or performance requires intervention.
The Opportunity
The Vice President of Construction will be a member of the senior leadership team and will translate business objectives into clear construction priorities, measurable outcomes and scalable operating practices. The role leads project management, site operations and construction-related safety oversight, while working closely with finance, estimating, business development and people functions.
Key Responsibilities
Executive and Portfolio Leadership
- Contribute to business strategy, annual planning and senior-level decision-making.
- Set construction strategy, priorities, performance standards and measurable outcomes aligned with organizational goals.
- Maintain executive oversight of a portfolio of concurrent projects without displacing project-level accountability.
- Provide accurate, forward-looking reporting on project performance, capacity, risk and resource requirements.
- Identify operational constraints and emerging risks early and lead timely corrective action.
- Ensure construction systems, leadership capability and delivery capacity scale responsibly with the business.
Project Delivery and Commercial Performance
- Drive portfolio performance across revenue, margin, cash flow, schedule, quality and client service.
- Establish minimum standards for project controls, scheduling, forecasting, reporting and risk management.
- Oversee significant project issues involving financial exposure, delay, contractual disputes, quality deficiencies or client concerns.
- Hold project leaders accountable for reliable cost-to-complete forecasting, change management and timely financial reporting.
- Ensure contractual obligations, constructability concerns and delivery risks are understood and actively managed.
- Turn lessons learned into practical improvements that are implemented consistently across future projects.
Clients Quality and Safety
- Set expectations for client communication, collaboration and service, and support key relationships when executive involvement is required.
- Establish and maintain consistent quality-management standards and address recurring deficiencies or rework trends.
- Provide executive oversight of the health and safety management system and ensure operational leaders remain accountable for site compliance.
- Review significant incidents, trends and corrective actions, and ensure safety professionals have the authority and support required to be effective.
- Escalate or stop activities that present unacceptable safety, contractual, financial, quality or reputational risk.
Leadership Talent and Capacity
- Build and lead a high-performing construction leadership team capable of operating without unnecessary executive intervention.
- Clarify roles, decision rights and performance expectations across project management and site operations.
- Coach senior project leaders and develop internal succession for critical construction roles.
- Maintain a forward-looking workforce and capacity plan for active and anticipated projects.
- Oversee the effective assignment of project leaders, site leaders and supporting resources.
- Partner with the people function on recruitment, onboarding, performance management, compensation and leadership development.
Operational Excellence and Business Support
- Develop repeatable project-management and site-operation standards that reduce dependence on individual knowledge.
- Sponsor practical process manuals, playbooks, onboarding programs and reporting tools.
- Manage the construction department budget and forecast staffing, technology, training, equipment and resource requirements.
- Provide senior construction input on major pursuits, schedules, methodologies, contractual risks and resource requirements before commitments are made.
- Collaborate with estimating and business development to assess whether proposed work aligns with organizational capacity, risk tolerance and financial objectives.
- Support effective handover from preconstruction to construction and participate in significant client presentations or negotiations when required.
Decision Making Authority
- Assign and reallocate construction personnel across projects within approved plans.
- Establish and enforce construction operating standards.
- Require project recovery, risk-mitigation and performance-improvement plans.
- Recommend hiring, promotion, compensation, reassignment and termination decisions.
- Approve departmental expenditures within delegated authority.
- Recommend whether opportunities should be pursued, accepted or declined based on capacity and risk.
Measures of Success
- Portfolio profitability and forecast accuracy.
- Schedule reliability and effectiveness of project recovery plans.
- Client satisfaction, relationship health and repeat business.
- Quality, deficiency and rework trends.
- Health and safety performance and management-system compliance.
- Timeliness and reliability of project reporting.
- Leadership capability, employee retention and succession readiness.
- Resource utilization and accuracy of capacity forecasting.
- Adoption and sustained use of standardized construction processes.
- Timely identification and mitigation of material project risks.
Qualifications and Experience
- Postsecondary education in construction management, engineering, architecture, business or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and senior construction experience.
- Significant progressive leadership experience in commercial construction or general contracting.
- Demonstrated accountability for a portfolio of concurrent construction projects.
- Strong command of project financials, forecasting, contracts, scheduling, change management, construction risk and operational planning.
- Experience leading project managers, site leaders and multidisciplinary construction teams.
- A record of developing leaders and building practical, scalable operating systems.
- Strong executive judgment, commercial awareness and client-management capability.
- Working knowledge of applicable construction, occupational health and safety, and regulatory requirements.
- Experience working within a structured business operating system is an asset.
Compensation
Expected annual base salary range: $165,000 to $175,000, plus eligibility for a performance-based incentive. Final compensation will reflect the successful candidate's experience and qualifications.
Application Process
This search is being conducted confidentially. Additional information about the organization and opportunity will be shared with candidates selected to advance in the process. Applicants are asked to submit a resume and a brief summary of their relevant construction leadership experience.
The organization is committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Accommodation is available upon request throughout the selection process.
