Development Project Manager

Placers Professional, a division of Placers; Wilmington (DE); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Placers Professional, a division of Placers, is seeking a Development Project Manager / Owner’s Representative to serve as the primary owner’s advocate through the development lifecycle in Delaware. You will provide executive leadership, financial oversight, quality assurance, and cross-functional coordination with external partners and internal leadership.

This role emphasizes accountability, risk management, and decision support across all project phases without direct execution of

Qualifications

• 5+ years managing complex real estate, capital improvement, or construction projects.
• Experience as Owner’s Rep or PM preferred.

Responsibilities

• Represent the owner's strategic and financial interests across external design, engineering, and construction partners.
• Coordinate day-to-day project workflows, milestones, and cross-team dependencies.
• Hold contractors, architects, and consultants accountable for commitments, specs and timelines.
• Monitor project budgets, spend forecasts, and change order requests to mitigate financial exposure.
• Provide executive reporting on project health, risks, and milestones.

Skills

Project management

Executive communication

Financial acumen

Risk management

Tools

Project management software

Scheduling tools

Budget tracking

Contract analysis

Job description

Are you a strategic real estate or construction leader who thrives on driving accountability, protecting owner investments, and guiding complex developments from concept to completion?

We are seeking a Development Project Manager / Owner’s Representative to serve as our primary representative and strategic liaison throughout the development lifecycle. In this role, you will operate with a true owner’s mindset—providing executive-level leadership, financial oversight, quality assurance, and cross-functional coordination across external partners and internal leadership.

Note: This role does not directly execute construction or design work; rather, you will drive accountability, manage risk, and provide decision support across all project phases.

Key Responsibilities

Owner Advocacy & Stakeholder Alignment

• Represent the owner’s strategic and financial interests across external design, engineering, and construction partners.
• Build collaborative working relationships across external vendors, regulatory agencies, and internal leadership.
• Translate high-level business goals into measurable project metrics, deliverables, and performance standards.

Project Execution & Quality Assurance

• Coordinate day-to-day project workflows, milestone tracking, and cross-team dependencies to prevent communication gaps.
• Hold contractors, architects, and consultants accountable for contractual commitments, specifications, and timelines.
• Facilitate recurring project status meetings, document decisions, and drive resolution on outstanding action items.
• Monitor project budgets, commitments, spend forecasts, and change order requests to mitigate financial exposure.
• Evaluate cost-benefit trade-offs and scope changes with project partners prior to owner commit decisions.
• Maintain a project risk register, identifying potential schedule delays or critical path issues early to implement mitigation strategies.

Reporting & Decision Support

• Provide clear, concise executive reporting on project health, financial exposure, risks, and upcoming milestones.
• Formulate data-backed recommendations when owner decisions are required for scope, cost, or schedule adjustments.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 5+ years managing complex real estate, capital improvement, or construction projects (Owner’s Rep or PM experience preferred).
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in project management software, scheduling tools, budget tracking, and contract analysis.
• Core Competencies: Strong financial acumen, conflict resolution skills, proactive problem-solving, and executive communication.

Measures of Success (KPIs)

• Delivery: Projects completed within approved scope, schedule, and budget constraints.
• Risk Mitigation: Proactive identification and resolution of potential issues before impact occurs.
• Transparency: Timely, accurate risk and budget reporting provided to owner stakeholders.
• Accountability: Effective management of external vendor schedules, quality standards, and deliverables.