Executive Director, Campus Major Capital Projects

University of California - San Francisco; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 350,000 - 520,000; Full time

Job summary

UCSF is seeking an Executive Director for Campus Major Capital Projects to lead a multi-year program with 2–4 billion dollars in potential investment. The role oversees governance, strategy, and performance across a complex portfolio of high-value projects.

You will manage Directors and teams, aligning resources to achieve institutional goals within a dynamic campus environment. The position requires high-level negotiation, risk management, and executive communication to ensure successful

Qualifications

• 15+ years leading large and complex capital programs and projects (> $70M TPC).
• Bachelor or higher in architecture/engineering/construction/real estate or related fields.
• Experience leading managers and multidisciplinary teams with governance structures.
• Expert knowledge of capital planning and project delivery processes (planning to closeout).
• Advanced financial acumen with large capital portfolios and long-range plans.
• Experience establishing program governance, executive reporting, and escalation paths.
• Executive leadership in strategic planning, workforce planning, and continuous improvement.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and negotiation with executives.

Responsibilities

• Provide executive leadership for UCSF's Major Capital Projects Program (>$2B to $4B over 10 years).
• Ensure governance, performance, financial stewardship, and delivery standards for the portfolio.
• Lead Directors and project leaders, coordinating internal and external resources.
• Represent the program with executive governance bodies and stakeholders.

Skills

Executive leadership

Program governance

Financial stewardship

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic planning

Risk management

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Planning, Business Administration, Real Estate Development, Urban Design, City Planning, Landscape Architecture, or related field

Master's degree in related field

Job description

Description & Requirements

Under the general direction of the Associate Vice Chancellor - Campus Design & Construction, the Executive Director, Campus Major Capital Projects provides executive and operational leadership for UCSF's Major Capital Projects Program, a multi-year capital program anticipated to represent approximately $2 billion to $4 billion or more over a 10-year period and consisting of multiple concurrent Major Projects with individual Total Project Costs greater than $70 million.

The Executive Director has overall accountability for executing Major Capital Program strategy, governance, performance, financial stewardship, organizational capability, resource planning, project delivery standards, and executive communications. The position contributes to portfolio priorities, governance and performance expectations; evaluates organizational and delivery capacity; deploys resources based on portfolio requirements; and provides executive oversight of Directors, Associate Directors, project leaders, and multidisciplinary internal and external resources responsible for delivery of the Major Capital portfolio.

The Executive Director leads through a flexible organizational structure that may change based on the size, complexity, risk, delivery model, and composition of the Major Capital portfolio. The position establishes appropriate accountability, delegated authority, project controls, escalation pathways, and leadership capacity to support successful delivery of the program and its constituent projects.

In addition to program-level executive responsibility, the Executive Director selectively serves as the senior Owner's Representative and working project executive for Major Projects based on organizational need, project complexity, institutional significance, risk, delivery model, or other portfolio requirements. For directly assigned projects, the position maintains executive accountability for project strategy, scope, budget, schedule, risk, integrated team leadership, stakeholder engagement, negotiations, change management, and successful delivery.

As a senior member of the Campus Design & Construction leadership team, the Executive Director partners with the Associate Vice Chancellor in department-wide strategy, operations, workforce and workload planning, financial and organizational performance, policy deployment, standardized project delivery practices, continuous improvement, customer and stakeholder engagement, and coordination across UCSF Real Estate and the University. The Executive Director represents the Associate Vice Chancellor and Campus Design & Construction in institutional and operational matters within delegated authority and provides senior leadership continuity as required.

Department Overview

The organization of UCSF Real Estate is focused on the development, planning, delivery, and management of physical space for UCSF. Key responsibilities include a unified approach to oversee the active UCSF growth planned on a multi-site campus and to manage the complex metropolitan environments affecting capital assets and projects and efforts to align municipal challenges with maximum effectiveness in support of the UCSF mission.

UCSF Real Estate is an integrated unit that enables the alignment of development, planning, design, construction, and management of facilities and a lease portfolio of 1M square feet across UCSF. Services are provided through the following departments: Building Permit Services, Campus Design and Construction, Campus Planning, Construction Contract Administration, Health Design and Construction, Health Major Capital Projects, Real Estate Services, Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Capital Program Management and support through Business Intelligence, and Finance, Administration and Operations.

The UCSF Campus Design & Construction department is responsible for providing comprehensive capital project delivery services to the research, academic, administrative, campus life services units on the Parnassus, Mt Zion, ZSFG (Zuckerberg San Francisco General), Mission Center, Mission Bay, campuses including leased properties and satellite locations in San Francisco and throughout the greater Bay Area and Fresno. Project types include new "ground up" buildings, seismic upgrades of existing buildings, major infrastructure & technology upgrades, major facilities investment and deferred maintenance programs, renovations and upgrades of existing labs, offices, education space, student and faculty housing facilities, and full floor renovations.

The team is responsible and accountable to ensure projects are delivered in accordance with all project objectives including cost, scope, and schedule, remain compliant with all public contract code, UCOP, and UCSF policies, and satisfy the customer requirements. The team serves as the focal point of Campus capital project delivery and relies deeply on close partnerships within real estate and a wide variety of additional stakeholders across UCSF to provide a comprehensive solution for capital project and program delivery services. The current program is $2.8B and consists of more than 200 projects.

The combined UCSF Campus and Health organizations include approximately 198 UCSF and 38 contract personnel; operating/recharge budgets of more than $62.2M per year; current year capital project expenditures of $900M; and oversight and responsibility for > $13.3B long-range capital development.

Qualifications

• Required Qualifications - 15+ years of progressively responsible experience leading large and complex capital programs and projects, including direct leadership and individual projects with total project costs greater than $70M and excessive oversight of multiple concurrent major projects.
• - Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Planning, Business Administration, Real Estate Development, Urban Design, City Planning, Landscape Architecture, or a related field, and/or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience and training.
• - Demonstrated experience leading managers, senior project leaders, and multidisciplinary internal and external teams, including establishing governance, accountability, delegated authority, performance expectations, and organizational capacity.
• - Expert knowledge of capital planning and project delivery, including planning, design, procurement, contracting, construction, commissioning, project controls, budgeting, scheduling, risk management, change management, and closeout.
• - Advanced financial and business acumen with demonstrated experience managing large capital portfolios, budgets, forecasts, contingencies, financial risks, and long-range capital investment plans.
• - Demonstrated experience establishing and maintaining program or portfolio governance, executive reporting, project performance standards, escalation pathways, and decision-making processes.
• - Executive and operational leadership experience, including strategic planning, workforce and resource planning, organizational development, performance management, and continuous improvement.
• - Advanced executive communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and consensus-building skills, with demonstrated ability to advise senior leaders and communicate complex program and project matters to executive governance bodies.
• - Demonstrated ability to analyze complex problems, evaluate alternatives, establish priorities, and make or recommend decisions that balance scope, cost, schedule, quality, risk, operational requirements, and institutional objectives.
• Preferred Qualifications - Master's degree in Architecture, Engineering, Construction Management, Planning, Business Administration, Real Estate Development, or a related field.
• - Demonstrated experience delivering complex, multi-phased construction projects in an occupied academic medical center, university, governmental, institutional, or comparable complex campus environment.
• - Current professional licensure as an Architect or Professional Engineer.
• - Advanced knowledge of UCSF, University of California, or a comparable complex university, academic, research, institutional, or multi-campus organization, including its mission, governance, strategic priorities, and capital planning processes.
• - Experience with Integrated Project Delivery, ICDC/Big Room environments, Lean design and construction practices, Progressive Design-Build or other collaborative/alternative project delivery models, and/or Public-Private Partnerships (P3).
• - Demonstrated experience developing and implementing organizational improvement, standardized work, or Lean/continuous-improvement systems within a complex capital project delivery organization.
• - Relevant professional certification demonstrating advanced expertise in capital project, program, construction, or collaborative/Lean delivery, such as: Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Construction Manager (CCM), Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), or Lean Construction Institute or comparable Lean design/construction training or certification.
• - Certification or formal training in Lean principles, collaborative project delivery, or continuous improvement.