Associate Principal/Director (Healthcare)

Seneca Group; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

401(k)

401(k) Matching

Paid Time Off

Paid Holidays

Short and long-term disability

Employee Assistance Program

Job summary

Seneca Group, a Cumming Group affiliate, seeks an Associate Principal/Director for healthcare projects in Seattle. You will guide complex programs from strategic planning through design, construction, activation, and closeout, while mentoring teams and sustaining client relationships.

Ideal candidates bring 15+ years in healthcare development with strong leadership, regulatory knowledge, and financial acumen to support business development and account growth.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Real Estate, or related field.
• 15+ years of demonstrated experience in healthcare development, project management, or related leadership roles.
• Experience leading healthcare master planning, capital programs, and client-facing engagements.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex healthcare projects and programs from planning through activation and closeout.
• Provide strategic leadership to clients, project teams, and office operations.
• Mentor and develop senior project staff; drive culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
• Support healthcare business development and account growth through strong client relationships.

Skills

Healthcare development

Project leadership

Client relationship management

Budgeting & forecasting

Stakeholder communication

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Real Estate, or related field

Master’s degree (preferred)

Job description

At Cumming Group, you will work on some of the world's most exciting projects in a dynamic environment where your success is measured by the impact you make. We are one of the fastest-growing project and cost management consultancies in the United States, as reflected in our top 10 rankings in ENR. With over 60 offices globally, an extremely diverse project portfolio, and double-digit year-over-year revenue growth, the opportunities to make your mark are limitless!

This position is with Seneca Group, a Cumming Group affiliate, who delivers top-tier real estate advisory and development management services on projects ranging from 10,000 to over 1 million square feet across corporate office, education, luxury residential, civic and cultural, healthcare, and life sciences across North America and select EMEA and APAC markets. As part of Seneca Group’s continued growth, we are seeking a skilled Associate Principal/Director with healthcare experience delivering large to medium-scale projects. This position with be based in our Seattle, WA office with opportunity to support other markets if interested. This role will play a key part in providing superior client service, delivering exceptional projects, and supporting the continued growth of the firm.

If you’re looking to join a team of exceptional people working with recognized clients on high-profile, complex projects - and make a real impact - we’d love to meet you.

Overview

The Associate Principal/Director is a leadership role responsible for guiding complex healthcare capital projects and programs while providing strategic leadership to clients, project teams, and the broader office. This position builds upon core development management responsibilities with an elevated focus on healthcare planning and delivery, client and account leadership, mentorship, and contribution to office operations and growth.

The Associate Principal/Director serves as a trusted advisor to healthcare executives, facilities leaders, clinical stakeholders, and project teams, leading projects from strategic planning and programming through design, regulatory review, construction, activation, and closeout. In parallel, the role actively shapes team culture, develops future leaders, supports healthcare business development and account growth, and partners with firm leadership to advance Seneca Group’s strategic objectives.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Development & Project Leadership

• Lead one or multiple complex healthcare projects or capital programs of varying scale, including work within active and critical-care environments.
• Establish and oversee healthcare development and delivery strategies, including feasibility and business-case analysis, programming, phasing, regulatory and entitlement pathways, procurement strategies, budgets, schedules, activation planning, and delivery plans.
• Maintain accountability for project and program scope, cost, schedule, quality, safety, operational continuity, and risk management throughout the project lifecycle.
• Oversee entitlement, permitting, Department of Health and other healthcare regulatory review, agency coordination, and compliance efforts.
• Direct and integrate multidisciplinary teams, including architects, engineers, contractors, medical equipment planners, technology specialists, infection prevention representatives, transition/activation teams, and other specialty consultants.
• Review and validate cost estimates, value engineering and target-value-design recommendations, contractor pricing, contingencies, escalation assumptions, and healthcare-specific allowances.
• Negotiate and administer major consultant, construction, medical equipment, and development-related contracts in alignment with client procurement and governance requirements.
• Provide senior-level construction management oversight to ensure alignment with healthcare operational, clinical, infection prevention, safety, quality, and development objectives.
• Direct phasing, shutdown, interim life safety, infection control, and operational readiness strategies for work in occupied healthcare facilities.
• Oversee transition, activation, move-readiness, and occupancy planning in coordination with client operations, clinical teams, and end users.

Client & Account Leadership

• Along with the Principal, serve as the primary senior point of contact for assigned healthcare clients, programs, and accounts.
• Build and sustain long-term, trusted client relationships through proactive communication, responsiveness, and performance excellence.
• Lead executive and stakeholder decision-making processes by presenting clear analyses, options, recommendations, and implications for patient care, operations, cost, schedule, and risk.
• Identify opportunities to expand services within existing healthcare accounts and support revenue growth through repeat work, program extensions, and follow-on capital initiatives.
• Partner with firm leadership to support healthcare proposal development, interviews, contract negotiations, account planning, and staffing strategies.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Lead, mentor, and develop internal project teams through coaching, performance feedback, and professional development planning.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Guide senior project staff in managing complex healthcare client relationships, clinical and operational stakeholder needs, regulatory requirements, and project challenges.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and training of new team members.

Office & Firm Leadership

• Contribute to healthcare business development by participating in pursuits, supporting account strategies, and fostering relationships with healthcare owners, designers, contractors, and industry partners.
• Represent Seneca Group’s values and leadership philosophy in both internal and external settings.
• Promote best practices, knowledge sharing, and process improvements across teams.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Maintain regular attendance during normal business hours, with on-site presence at the office and project sites as required.

Knowledge & Skills Required

• Demonstrated expertise in healthcare development and project management, including delivery of complex projects and programs in active healthcare environments.
• Advanced knowledge of healthcare design and construction standards, terminology, clinical program types, and regulatory review processes.
• Demonstrated understanding of infection prevention requirements, including ICRA/PCRA processes and procedures in critical-care and occupied environments.
• Experience partnering with clinical end users, facilities, infection prevention, IT, security, equipment planning, and operational leadership through design, construction, activation, and implementation.
• Familiarity with Lean Construction, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), target value delivery, and modular/prefabrication strategies.
• Proven ability to lead large, multidisciplinary teams, facilitate clinical and operational stakeholder engagement, and mentor senior professionals.
• Strong financial acumen, including capital planning, development budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, and evaluation of project and program contingencies.
• Advanced problem-solving and risk management capabilities, including management of operational continuity, infection prevention, phasing, shutdowns, and patient/staff impacts.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level presentations.
• Ability to balance project execution responsibilities with broader business and leadership objectives.
• Strong client leadership skills with a consultative, solutions-oriented mindset.

Preferred Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required in Construction Management, Engineering, Architecture, Real Estate, or a related field.
• Minimum of 15+ years of demonstrated experience in healthcare development management, project/program management, design, engineering, construction, or facilities capital delivery, including significant leadership and client-facing responsibilities.
• Deep sector-specific expertise in healthcare, including hospitals, ambulatory care, clinical, diagnostic, research, infrastructure, and/or occupied-facility renovation projects.
• Experience managing construction and renovation work in active healthcare facilities, including complex phasing, shutdowns, temporary conditions, and continuity-of-operations requirements.
• Knowledge of Washington State Department of Health requirements and local healthcare entitlement and permitting processes; comparable regulatory experience in other jurisdictions is also valued.
• Experience leading healthcare master planning, capital program planning, medical equipment coordination, transition/activation planning, and/or major infrastructure renewal is preferred.
• Established healthcare client and industry relationships and market presence within the Puget Sound and/or broader Pacific Northwest region.
• Experience contributing to healthcare business development, account growth, pursuit strategy, staffing, and office operations.
• Experience delivering large-scale, complex development projects.

Seneca

The salary range for this full-time role is $200,000.00-$250,000.00 per year. Ranges are determined based on the position, geography, client and industry experience and level, and represent a good faith effort to provide a fair and equitable salary. This range reflects base salary only, and not the total compensation package. Cumming Group reserves the right to pay more or less than the posted range, depending on a candidate’s experience, skills, and qualifications, including client requirements.

Cumming Group is committed to providing Equal Employment Opportunity in its personnel policies and practices. It is Cumming Group’s policy to recruit, hire, train and promote Team Members and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, marital status, registered domestic partner status, genetic information, sexual preference, sexual orientation, gender (including gender expression and gender identity), pregnancy (including childbirth or related medical conditions, including breastfeeding), military service, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical disability, mental disability, veteran status or any other protected classification under federal, state, or local law. All such decisions are based on (1) individual merit, qualifications, and competence as they relate to the particular position, and (2) promotion of the principle of equal employment opportunity.

All other terms and conditions of employment, such as compensation, benefits, transfers, layoff, return from layoff, training, education, and social and recreational programs, are administered without regard to the characteristics described above. To this end, Cumming Group complies with all provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as amended, all of the rules, regulations and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor, and all similar state and local laws.

In addition to base salary, Cumming Group offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Medical
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• 401(k)
• 401(k) Matching
• Paid Time Off
• Paid Holidays
• Short and long-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program