Executive Director, Capital and Engineering

Jobtailor; Burlington (NC); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor seeks an experienced Senior Capital Projects Leader to oversee enterprise capital planning, portfolio management, and long‑range forecasting across global operations.

You will partner with executive leadership, finance, and operations to align investments with business strategy, ensure safety, and drive cost discipline while delivering on schedule and quality targets. This role reports to the CFO and leads 100–200 professionals worldwide.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering required.
• 5+ years executive leadership of large multidisciplinary teams.
• 15+ years in capital project delivery, engineering, construction, or asset reliability.
• 10+ years project planning and execution across facilities portfolios.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise capital planning, portfolio prioritization, and long‑range forecasting.
• Set and enforce capital project management standards and stage‑gate controls.
• Partner with executives to align investments with strategy and targets.
• Provide transparent senior‑level portfolio reporting on cost, schedule, and value.
• Oversee construction management to ensure safety, efficiency, and compliance.
• Define contractor management expectations and site safety culture.
• Drive continuous improvement in methods, contracts, and cost controls.
• Ensure strong front‑end planning and rigorous engineering design.
• Lead a global team of 100–200 staff and contingents, mainly in the U.S.
• Champion engineering standards and design reviews across disciplines.
• Provide strategic leadership over Reliability Engineering and asset lifecycle.
• Integrate reliability into project design, equipment selection, and commissioning.
• Collaborate with operations to drive proactive reliability programs.
• Mentor high‑performing Construction, Project Engineering, and Reliability teams.
• Establish accountability and succession plans for key roles.
• Foster a safety‑driven, collaborative, innovative culture.
• Ensure compliance with codes, regulations, and internal policies.
• Identify and mitigate technical, execution, and financial risks.
• Represent the organization with regulators and strategic partners.
• Establish strategic vendor and engineering firm alliances.
• Benchmark against industry leaders and adopt best practices.

Skills

Executive leadership

Capital portfolio management

Construction management

Strategic planning

Risk management

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical Engineering

Job description

Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise capital planning process, including portfolio prioritization, business case development, funding governance, and long-range capital forecasting.
• Establish and enforce capital project management standards, stage‑gate controls, cost discipline, risk management, and assurance processes.
• Partner with executive leadership, finance, operations, and supply chain to align capital investments with business strategy, growth plans, and financial targets.
• Provide transparent portfolio reporting to senior leadership, including performance against cost, schedule, scope, safety, and value realization metrics.
• Oversee all construction management activities to ensure projects are executed safely, efficiently, and in compliance with regulatory, environmental, and quality standards.
• Set expectations for contractor management, constructability reviews, site safety culture, and labor productivity.
• Drive continuous improvement in construction methods, contracting strategies, and cost control practices.
• Ensure strong front‑end planning, sound engineering design, and technical rigor throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lead a team of 100–200 colleagues and contingent staff located across the globe, with the majority based in the U.S.
• Champion engineering standards, design reviews, value engineering, and integration between engineering, procurement, and construction.
• Provide strategic leadership over Reliability Engineering to optimize asset lifecycle performance, availability, and total cost of ownership.
• Integrate reliability principles into capital project design, equipment selection, and commissioning to support long‑term operational excellence.
• Partner with operations and maintenance leaders to drive proactive reliability programs, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Build, lead, and mentor high‑performing teams across Construction Management, Project Engineering, and Reliability Engineering.
• Establish clear accountability, development plans, and succession pipelines for critical technical and leadership roles.
• Foster a culture of safety, collaboration, innovation, and disciplined execution.
• Champion a zero‑incident safety culture across all capital activities.
• Ensure compliance with applicable codes, standards, environmental regulations, and internal policies.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate technical, execution, and financial risks across the capital portfolio.
• Represent the organization with regulators, industry groups, and strategic partners.
• Establish strategic alliances with key vendors and engineering firms.
• Benchmark against industry leaders and adopt best practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 5 or more years of executive‑level leadership experience managing large, multidisciplinary teams and enterprise‑scale capital portfolios.
• 15 or more years of progressive experience in capital project delivery, engineering, construction, or asset reliability within industrial, manufacturing, energy, utilities, healthcare, or complex facilities environments.
• 10 or more years of experience in project planning and execution across a diverse portfolio of facilities projects.